About this episode
Can driverless cars really be the “safe, sustainable, and inclusive ‘mobility solutions’ that tech companies and automakers are promising us”? In his newest book, Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving , technology historian Peter Norton argues that we should treat these utopian promises about driverless vehicles with a great deal more caution and skepticism . Autonorama exposes how, from its inception in the Depression era, the automobile was a subject of controversy; believe it or not, not everyone initially wanted cars around. Over time, however, a shift occurred that caused us to see automobiles as the solution, and a not a problem, for our transportation needs in cities. Today on the Strong Towns Podcast , host Chuck Marohn is interviewing Peter Norton about Autonorama . They discuss the history behind our shift in perception toward cars—up to our current societal fixation on driverless cars, the wrong answer for a problem we can solve with resources we already have, and without doing further harm to ourselves and the environment. Additional Show Notes Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving Peter Norton (University of Virginia) Charles Marohn (Twitter)