Fighting traffic
by Peter D. Norton · first published 2008
25mentions
7recommended by
15HN commenters
2014–2026first – last mentioned
47% recommend53% neutral
Why HN recommends it
History of how US cities fought over regulating cars in the 1920s and who won, showing how streets shifted from shared use to automobile priority; recommended for readers curious about urban transport history and policy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…posts on this thread suggesting we could fix all this by lowering speed limits, etc. That's been known for a hundred years at this point. If you want to get up on the history you can grab a copy of "Fighting Traffic," by Peter Norton. He goes through all the efforts cities made in the 1920's to limit cars, and how the motor lobby formed in opposition to this and little by little reversed the tables to the situation…
on “Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street” ↗…cars when they were first on roads [0]. You can't expect people not to have a problem with drones until we are able to adapt our planning and design to their existence. [0] For more on this, I recommend Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City by Peter Norton.
on “Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer” ↗…significant concerted effort of government and industry together ramrodded them in and sold it through a long propaganda campaign that eventually was accepted. There’s a book about this early history called Fighting Traffic, by Peter Norton. The US came fairly close to banning cars in a number of cities, and to requiring mechanical governors to a 20mph limit in many others. A bunch of places installed memorials and monuments…
on “Cars took over because the legal system helped squeezed out alternatives” ↗> Motorised traffic, and cars in particular, are prioritised over non-motorised traffic […] For a history of how this happened in the US see Fighting traffic: the dawn of the motor age in the American city by Peter Norton. > Before the advent of the automobile, users of city streets were diverse and included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930,…
on “Our self imposed scarcity of nice places” ↗For a good history of this see Fighting Traffic by Peter Norton: * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2924825-fighting-traffic
on “Why Tokyo Works” ↗See also Peter Norton: * PDF: https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2934608/N... * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2924825-fighting-traffic * https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262516129/fighting-traffic/
on “The Invention of ‘Jaywalking’” ↗For the history in the US of how streets when from being 'mixed use' pre-automobiles to being basically only about automobiles see Fighting Traffic by Peter D. Norton: > Before the advent of the automobile, users of city streets were diverse and included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930, most streets were primarily a motor thoroughfares…
on “The built environment and the determination of fault in urban pedestrian crashes” ↗In the U.S., roads were paved for cyclists first. There was a political fight over whether and how to regulate cars to prevent them from crowding out other road users. See "Fighting Traffic". https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Traffic-American-Inside-Tech...
on “Ambulance hits cyclist, rushes him to hospital, then sticks him with $1,800 bill” ↗…consent and to the advantage of a select few who benefited from private automobiles over public transport and other modes of transportation like bicycles. I suggest reading historian Peter Nolan's book "Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City" if you are curious.
on “Luckily I got hit by a car” ↗…and included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930, most streets were primarily a motor thoroughfares where children did not belong and where pedestrians were condemned as "jaywalkers." In Fighting Traffic, Peter Norton argues that to accommodate automobiles, the American city required not only a physical change but also a social one: before the city could be reconstructed for the sake of motorists, its…
on “A Brief Cultural History of the Parking Lot” ↗It was done for automobiles. "Fighting Traffic - The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City" By Peter D. Norton > Summary > The fight for the future of the city street between pedestrians, street railways, and promoters of the automobile between…
on “Self-driving cars are headed toward an AI roadblock” ↗…and included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930, most streets were primarily a motor thoroughfares where children did not belong and where pedestrians were condemned as "jaywalkers." In Fighting Traffic, Peter Norton argues that to accommodate automobiles, the American city required not only a physical change but also a social one: before the city could be reconstructed for the sake of motorists, its…
on “Study supports link between traffic-related air pollution and mental disorders” ↗…included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930, most streets were primarily a motor thoroughfares where children did not belong and where pedestrians were condemned as "jaywalkers." > In Fighting Traffic, Peter Norton argues that to accommodate automobiles, the American city required not only a physical change but also a social one: before the city could be reconstructed for the sake of motorists, its…
on “After months of delay, the House passes infrastructure bill” ↗…“If you look at newspapers from American cities in the 1910s and ’20s, you’ll find a lot of anger at cars and drivers, really an incredible amount,” says Peter Norton, the author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. “My impression is that you’d find more caricatures of the Grim Reaper driving a car over innocent children than you would images of Uncle…
on “In Search of Uber’s Unicorn” ↗…from 2007: https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2934608/N... EDIT: the article references the original author's work and the book (also cited as a source by the show) http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Traffic-American-Inside-Techn...
on “How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”” ↗