We’ve talked about “motonormativity” on the show before, typically in the context of the behavior we excuse when people are behind the wheel or how we think ao but parking and car dominance in public space. But what if the way we think about criminal consequences for drivers who harm pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers and their passengers is another form of that phenomenon? Does a focus on punishment for “reckless” or “dangerous” drivers let everyone else off the hook and never force them to look at the larger harms of a transportation system based around personal car ownership? Those are the questions asked by Ian Loader, a professor of criminology at the University of Oxford, who argues that the law’s focus on “motonormative punishment” is just another way of masking the larger problems caused by a car-dominant society. In a new study, Professor Loader proposes a vastly different way of thinking about criminal punishment organized around five harm reduction principles.
SHOW NOTES:
Read Professor Ian Loader’s study, “Beyond Motonormative Punishment: On Road Safety as Environmental Regulation.”
Curious about motonormativity? Listen to our episode with Dr. Ian Walker, who coined the term.
Learn more about the concept in our episode with Dr. Tara Goddard and our episode with Marco te Brömmelstroet.
Order our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Buy a certified, pre-owned e-bike from Upway. Listen to the episode for the latest discount code and save $100 off any purchase of $800 or more with code TWOC100. Visit Upway.co to get rolling.
Thanks also to Cleverhood. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get 15% off the best rain gear for walking and cycling.