Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City

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 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 streets had to be socially reconstructed as places where motorists belonged. It was not an evolution, he writes, but a bloody and sometimes violent revolution. Norton describes how street users struggled to define and redefine what streets were for. He examines developments in the crucial transitional years from the 1910s to the 1930s, uncovering a broad anti-automobile campaign that reviled motorists as "road hogs" or "speed demons" and cars as "juggernauts" or "death cars." He considers the perspectives of all users--pedestrians, police (who had to become "traffic cops"), street railways, downtown businesses, traffic engineers (who often saw cars as the problem, not the solution), and automobile promoters. He finds that pedestrians and parents campaigned in moral terms, fighting for "justice." Cities and downtown businesses tried to regulate traffic in the name of "efficiency." Automotive interest groups, meanwhile, legitimized their claim to the streets by invoking "freedom"--a rhetorical stance of particular power in the United States. Fighting Traffic offers a new look at both the origins of the automotive city in America and how social groups shape technological change.Peter D. Norton is Assistant Professor in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Virginia.

Genres: History, Urbanism, Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Cities, Transport, Politics

396 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 2008

About the author

Also writes as Peter Norton

Reviews

[Macartney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched account of how forces redefined the street, its uses and its users in the early part of the 20th Century. Norton documents how the "Motor Age" was not inevitable but actually a concerted effort on the part of automobile manufacturers and enthusiasts to upend ancient pedestrian rights in favor of car domination. A valuable reminder that the paradigm in which we find ourselves is not "natural" or "by happenstance"; once we realize that, we then have the power to be able to change it. Norton repeats himself a bit within and between chapters, but that's strictly because he's writing as an academic and thoroughly and painstakingly making and proving his points. Introduction alone is a must-read for everyone.

[Payton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got excited when I saw this since I've so loved finding out, via Wolfgang Sachs' "For Love of the Automobile," that our public streets were stolen by the auto industry less than a century ago -- and especially excited to see that someone has documented that process as it took place here in the homeland of car culture. Looks quite promising.

[Kevin Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A long time "want to read" this was a Christmas present.

A scholarly monograph- this book could be dry, but I would have done another 1000 pages on this subject. As someone with a basic acquaintance to urbanism the villain origin story of America's relationship to car has always been on my mind. The book details a world where people rightfully regarded cars as murder machines which killed thousands of children annually and then describes how the auto industry fought against this understanding both in the realm of public opinion and in policy circles.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible and amazing book! Just makes me increasingly more frustrated of our car dominant society that has no other options for people.

[Erok · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a good origin story. This one is about that awkward time when all of the sudden, a whole bunch of automobiles started showing up in our cities. People without cars, kept doing what they had been doing, walking around, playing baseball in the streets, etc, but they inconveniently kept dying because people kept running them over. Turns out, as soon as the car came around, people with them automatically had a bloated sense of entitlement. The book drills down into the struggle between the old ways and the new, and how the industry fought to win the hearts, minds, and streets from the people, and were able to turn these public spaces into a private sphere for the few. Along the way, they were able to criminalize and marginalize walking, while resisting any regulation to their rights to speed and parking, altering everything in their path. Eventually, engineers had to turn their skills to engineering traffic, and while at first they were trying to slow down and prevent recklessness, they eventually went to the darkside and were engineering how to make as many cars go as fast as possible, taking it to its logical place we now see. Hindsight is 20/20, but it's odd that people actually bought into their odd utopia of the automobile city. It's kinda sad how little has changed in a century.

[Alain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is right up there with Jane Jacobs' "Death and Life of Great American Cities" as a pivotal text to understand how and why the urbanity of North American cities was subverted by an organized effort from the auto industry to rebuild cities in a way that imposes car use.

[Ben Goldfarb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating (but not shocking) to learn that the car-centrism of our cities did not arise organically, but was the product of concerted auto industry lobbying.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although dense, this book is definitely worth reading if you wish to better understand how space has been reconfigured in favor of cars in the United States. It is an impressive work of history, sociology, and urban planning.

[David Moss · Rating 2 out of 5]

The great amount of research that went into this work was unfortunately bogged down in the reading by a real issue with redundancy and a mediocre facility with writing in general. This lead me to wonder how much time was spent editing the book. If you are really interested in the topic of the changing use of the street to accommodate the automobile, then you might be able to struggle through it. However, if you're just looking for a fun quick read that seems mildly interesting, you're unlikely to forgive the redundancy and actual read through to completion.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this book. It presents a detailed history of the motor age and it's effect on cities and transportation, which is essentially a history of my own profession of transportation engineering. It shed light on some of the darker elements of that history as well, something that not many discuss. I found parts of the book overly dense and difficult to read, and overall I thought the book could convey the same ideas more concisely.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Academic and a little hard to read, but so much incredible information

[James Midkiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was once a time when newspapers blasted automobiles as a deadly intrusion on city streets, when groups organized macabre parades to remember those killed by vehicles, and when the personal car was not an acceptable, much less necessary part of US society.

Automotive interests recognized this as a grave threat to selling more vehicles, hence beginning in the mid-1920s it applied its financial power to remake popular perception, expert opinions, and ultimately the city itself. The US government, owing to its deference to business interests, also gave motordom not just a seat at the table but practically the pen itself to rewrite official policy. The world pre-motordom came to a close.

This book is not for the general public as it is a dense historical work documenting the early history of the fight over the automobile's role in US cities. _Fighting Traffic_ was fastidiously researched, but this unfortunately made it a less engaging read and meant that much of its evidence has already been cited by numerous articles, podcasts, and other books since. And lastly, the book merely touched on such fascinating topics as the death of US streetcars and the birth of the US interstate highway system, even while repeating points it had already made.

There was once a time when 38,000 Americans did not die every year from automobile crashes, the highest capita rate in the developed world. If we revisit our history before the carnage and destruction of automobiles, we can change our future.

[Ankita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in interplay between technology and society, or anyone passionate about the future of autonomous and electric vehicles.

Fighting Traffic, a historical account of the advent of personal cars, although a dry read at times, highlights the various struggles of introducing cars, the impact it had on different social groups, and the never-ending power struggle between those groups.

More importantly, this book raises concerns such as 1) ownership of shared systems and technology, 2) division of responsibilities between private and public sectors, 3) resistance to adopting new technologies and whether it is fair to push the adoption on the public? 4) is the technical performance sufficient to ensure reliability of a technology?

Addressing these concerns is crucial for the technology sector at large, but more so for the AV/EV space. There's a lot to learn from the history of transportation to build the future of transportation.

[Matthew Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the concerted effort by "motordom" (an amalgam of automobile companies, auto sales, petrochemical companies and driving enthusiasts) to change both the national conversation around street usage as well as to instill a kind of car hegemony in the minds of Americans from the 1920s - 1930s as response to the justifiable rage of the public at the skyrocketing rates of death caused by the onset of the motor age. (of particular note were mass demonstrations in which cars there were parade floats where a cars was depicted as a modern Moloch, devouring children).

Instructive if you too have questions to how we created a world so in thrall and subservient to the car, but also instructive if you want to think about the ways ideology is at first insurgent, then dominant and hopefully in the near future, residual and then, earth help us, barely more than a whisper.

[Sri Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with the intention to deep dive into understanding road safety behaviours and the source of road design standards. This book very eloquently contributed to my syntheses. While the discussion on the evolution of vehicles from horse carts to automobiles shed light on the parallel influence on road design and space ownership distribution, the brilliant description of the motordom movement makes one realise the presently experienced impartiality towards automobiles.

Unfortunately, all evidence and societal influence presented in this book are about the Americas. But it is not impossible to draw parallels with the Indian context.

[Tom L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect book, set in 100 years ago, mapping the adoption of cars, street changes, lobbying, activism, corruption, new laws, effects on cities and society. Reading the hundred years old newspaper headlines with the feeling that nothing changed, was probably the author's intention and I enjoyed the feeling. For me the only issue was the structure of the book which was not chronological but thematic. It made the reading neverending.

[Jonathan Salmans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It provides an understanding that most modern Americans think about streets in a way that privileges the convenience and safety of other street users. This way of thinking is a modern development, and there are alternative ways to think about streets that are more compatible with safety, freedom and efficiency.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible

This is one of those books that you read and never see the world the same after. You will never see a street, pedestrian, sign or a traffic light the same. Truly an incredible piece of work. It is written in a more academic format so beware, but nonetheless it is still extremely engaging.

[Nabiul Afrooz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book to read if you are interested about the origin story of America's obsession with cars. The book is well-researched, full of interesting information. The writing and organization leaves something to be desired though.

[Katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read. If you want to understand how paradigm shift takes place, this is the book. It is amazing to uncover and learn the truth behind the car-oriented reality we accept as our choice today.

[Jon Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains the the politics and social change engineered by Motordom in the 1920s, which upended the old street paradigm favoring multiple uses, especially walking. Thereafter, motorized vehicles were the favored street users.

[Alexandre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otimo livro que aponta, no contexto americano, como o automóvel acabou com a ocupação Democratica dos espaços urbanos.

[Andrew]

As mentioned at https://twitter.com/jddneary/status/1...

[Danna]

Recommended by The War on Cars founder on a TFD interview.

[Chris Wilby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scourge of the motor vehicle in an upcoming world. More dangerous than world wars.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly well researched with eye opening sources. I encourage you to keep going through the beginning and get to the really good stuff at the end.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely informative. Big Auto is criminal!!!! FYI, gets into the minutiae regarding economics, interest group politics, etc. so if that’s not your thing, it will be kind of dry.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stroll into the middle of any American city today, and provided you are not in Detroit, odds are better than not you will be sent flying by a car. Streets are the province of the constant flow of automobile traffic, and anything else -- bicycles, horses, skateboards, pedestrians -- is most unwelcome. This is a comparatively recent development, however; for most of human history, streets were an integral part of the human landscape, the site of markets and ad hoc playgrounds. Fighting Traffic details how streets became instead traffic sewers, moving the most cars as quickly as possible, and does so with impressive heft. Its scope is more massive than its size, as in the course of rendering a social history of the urban fabric, Norton also details the shifting evolution of economic and legal assumptions that policy became a manifestation of.

The automobile was a novelty in human history, not just for its speed but for its cheapness. Although horse-drawn wagons and carriages took up as much space per vehicle as cars, if not more, horse teams were so expensive that their ownership was not universal. Even so, cities throughout history have had congestion problems and attempted to deal with them through legal means. Mass-produced automobiles, however, became so popular in the early 20th century that even the poor owned them, and they flooded city streets. As their numbers increased, so to did the fatalities they inflicted, driven at speed by people unaccustomed to such power. The rising spike in deaths prompted public outcry and attempts to bring the beast to heel -- and so began the war. At the same time that concerned citizens were attempting to curb the car, automobile owners and auto manufacturers were mobilizing to expand its horizons.

The battle that emerges throughout the two decades of the 1910s and 1920s has a fascinating cast of players who frequently switched sides on one another. The auto lobby first used citizen-groups like safety councils to begin shifting the responsibility of reducing fatalities to pedestrians. In urging for laws to define the rules of the road, they managed to turn ageless human behavior -- crossing the street -- into a crime called jaywalking. The safety councils were unreliable allies, however, eventually insisting that the safety of the community was most imperiled not by ambling pedestrians, but the reckless speed of the drivers. The nascent traffic control movement was then employed with good effect; in the early days policemen were charged with keeping the roads in good order, but they were soon usurped by engineers. The changing world of the 20th century had come to favor their like; cities were now tied together by massive engineering projects like gas pipelines and water mains. In the wake of their success, why not treat the streets like a public utility, one run by experts? The reign of engineers would accomplish much in driving people out of the streets; the implementation of synchronized traffic signals so spurred the rate of traffic that pedestrians were forced by survival instinct to cower at the crosswalk until given sanction to pass by the new machines. But tasked with making transportation more efficient, the engineers eventually stood their ground against the auto lobby: cars, after all, are far from the most efficient mode of transportation. They don't use space terribly well, and they require parking -- acres and acres of parking!

The continuing and rising popularity of cars, however, made victory seemingly inevitable. Not that cars had triumphed merely owing to the free market; they were, after all, given a free hand and their roads public financing whereas the trolleys were stifled by regulation. Once cars took to the road in numbers, they effectively destroyed any room for other choices. The book leaves off at the start of the 1930s, before traffic masters like Miller McClintock began their dream of "gashing through" the cities with auto-only highways, but even so their triumph was accomplished in physical fact and in law and culture. Fighting Traffic's history of the city's initial conquest by the automobile impresses with its thoroughness and organization; Norton is almost lawyer, building a case point by point and constantly reinforcing it. His ambition was not merely to deliver a history of the city's driven evolution, but to examine how opposing social groups overcome one another in the political sphere, using modes outside the law -- like the clubs' use of organizations like the Boy Scouts to shame pedestrians for not obeying their new signal masters, and of course the newspapers. The scholarly bent makes it slightly daunting for lay readers, but it's worth digging into.

Related:

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, Peter Vanderbilt
Getting There: The Epic Battle Between Road and Rail, Stephen Goddard
Asphalt Nation, Jane Holtz Kay

[Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Revolutions, however, turn the world upside-down… The street is a motor thoroughfare.”

The quality and depth of the research is undeniable, and is reason alone to pick up this book. At times, the writing does leave something to be desired.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before the 1920s, streets were shared space- pedestrians, horses and cars intermingled on major streets, while children played in minor ones. But as automobile speeds kept rising, thousands of pedestrians were slain. As a result, by the early 1920s, the automobile industry and related industries such as the auto parts, tire and rubber companies (or, as some industry representatives called them, "motordom") were on the run. Because of autos' bad public relations and the difficulty of driving in congested downtown traffic, dealers sold 12 percent fewer vehicles in 1923. And yet a decade or two later, American streets were being torn up in order accommodating the automobile, and street laws were changed to limit pedestrian access. How did this happen? Norton explains how motordom hijacked local government in a variety of ways.

First, motordom decided to take over the street safety issue. While much of the public understandably blamed cars for dead pedestrians, motordom began a public relations campaign of "blaming the victim", by mounting anti-jaywalking campaigns and persuading cities to enact anti-jaywalking ordinances. For example, Packard (one of the early car companies) built an imitation tombstone resembling some cities' monuments to child pedestrians killed by cars. However, its tombstone was marked "Erected to the Memory of Mr. J. Walker: He Stepped From the Curb Without Looking." In this campaign, motordom often had the support of local media; car companies advertised heavily in local newspapers, and occasionally used the threat of lost advertising revenue as a club to bring newspapers into line. Newspapers printed AAA press releases as newspaper stories, and motordom launched an accident news service that took accident reports supplied by newspapers, recast the reports to reflect the news service's own views about the accident, and then created statistics that shifted the blame for accidents to pedestrians. AAA also funded safety campaigns in public schools, designed to tell children that streets were for cars and not for children.

Second, motordom created its own "experts" to lobby city officials. The Los Angeles auto club created a "Traffic Commission" headed by a local car dealer, which hired Miller McClintock, a Harvard graduate student, as a consultant. Before being hired by the car lobby, McClintock favored more efficient use of existing streets, and wrote that widening streets would merely attract more traffic. After going on the motordom payroll, McClintock endorsed wider streets and created a new traffic code for Los Angeles, which fined jaywalkers and rejected limitations on downtown parking. Studebaker (a car company) then hired McClintock to establish a foundation which trained engineers how to design cities for cars. The Studebaker-subsidized engineers then went to work in cities throughout the country, presenting themselves as impartial experts. After Studebaker suffered financial difficulties, the auto industry as a whole took over the institute, paying stipends to its "students" to cover expenses.

Third, motordom took over the federal government. Herbert Hoover, then the Secretary of Commerce, believed in letting industries participate in drafting regulations. So he created a committee to draft a model traffic code. Most of the committee was dominated by motordom, so they drafted a model ordinance, the Uniform Vehicle Code, which codified its views.

Fourth, motordom got a guaranteed revenue source from the state and federal governments: the gas tax, which was used to carry out motordom's agenda of wider, faster streets.