Description: Road safety research has traditionally involved a focus on individuals in which social norms are considered but rarely discussed in detail. Outlining the existing body of research on young drivers in particular, In the Company of Cars shows the contribution that considering road safety from a social and cultural perspective could make to the reduction of death and injury on the roads. It highlights the involvement of driving cultures, as distinct from car cultures, in the social framing of cars and the ways in which they are utilised.
Review Quotes: 'I strongly recommend this empirically rich book which details how different social groups live with their cars. This book makes a major contribution to developing analyses of those complex connections between social life and the machines that mobilise that life.' John Urry, Lancaster University, UK 'Redshaw approaches driving as a social and cultural practice, in a highly original, theoretically and empirically informed, manner that helps us understand our relations with the car as complex, ambiguous, pleasurable, and meaningful.' Graeme Turner, University of Queensland, Australia 'Anyone who is in any way affected by cars should read this book. Moreover, many of Redshaw's findings should be incorporated into the assessment criteria for obtaining a driver's licence in Australia. Her emphasis on young drivers arises from a genuine concern to reduce Australia's unacceptable road toll.' M/C Reviews, August 2008