Why do people behave so badly behind the wheel of a car? Why do reporters and the police use passive language to describe automobile crashes and traffic violence? How do the words we use make a difference in street safety? Dr. Tara Goddard, one of the top scholars studying what it is that cars do to our brains and the way we treat each other in the world, has some thoughts — and she’s done the research.

Tara is an associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. Her work focuses on creating a just transportation system through safe roadway design and inclusive transportation planning.

We talked with her about “motonormativity,” how race influences how drivers treat pedestrians, and why language matters if we want to change the conversation about whom streets are for.

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LINKS:

Follow Tara on Bluesky.

Some of Tara’s studies: 

• “Racial Bias in Driver Yielding at Crosswalks” (Transportation Research)
• “Does News Coverage of Traffic Crashes Affect Perceived Blame and Preferred Solutions? Evidence from an Experiment” (Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives)
• “Windshield Bias, Car Brain, Motonormativity: Different Names, Same Obscured Public Health Hazard” (Transport Findings)

Some other things we discuss in the episode:

Dr. Ian Walker’s research and our interview with him (Episode 99: Car Brain with Dr. Ian Walker)

Sarah’s piece, “How I Became an Urban Monster in Just 10 Minutes” (Bloomberg CityLab)

“Death of Cyclist in Paris Lays Bare Divide in Mayor’s War Against Cars” (New York Times)

“The glare of the sun caused the westbound vehicle to jump the curb” (Emily Walters on Bluesky)

Laura Laker’s new “Road Collision Reporting Guidelines”

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This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded at Brooklyn Podcasting Studio by Josh Wilcox. Our music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our transcriptions are done by Russell Gragg.

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