Carjacked - book review

Okay, I admit I ride my bike. A lot. You won't catch me dressed as Lance Armstrong with 50 of my closest friends, riding wheel-to-wheel, blocking traffic, and blowing snot rockets (I do blow snot rockets, but not in a group of people, or around cars where children may pick up on this adult hygiene technique).

I am a utility rider. I ride to replace the car, and occasionally for fitness. I hear the dumb comments all the time - "is it safe to ride in traffic?", "Why can't you ride on the sidewalk?", "how come you don't ride on a bike path? It's safer!", and my favorite "bike riders just block traffic, have no right to be on the road, and ignore the law". If you want to debate these questions, it won't be today. Today is about the book - "Carjacked: The Culture of the Automobile and Its Effect on Our Lives".

I don't ride to save the planet. I ride for many reasons, which I will get into in another post. These authors are liberals. This obviously impacted how they wrote the book. The one author - there are two, and they are sisters - is a college professor. She thanks about 15 students at the end of the book for doing most of the research, and presumably some of the writing. Having people work for free for the benefit of the high-minded is typical of a liberal college professor. I wonder if the students feel "workjacked",  or if it was an "internship". But I digress...

There is no doubt that the automobile industry, which includes the oil industry, have had a major impact on the direction civilization has taken. The car has bred urban sprawl, mega parking lots, highway traffic, choking air pollution, a sedentary lifestyle, and many health issues we face. It has shaped our foreign policy, stoked wars, and kept us dependent on foreign energy.

This book is well researched, and very comprehensive. It is also very left-leaning in the conclusions it draws. One item that really piqued my interest was the assertion that since 1 of 5 car loans to subprime borrowers leads to a car repossession, and these loans are at 20% APR, this is a sign of the rich preying on the poor. They miss the other half of the equation, where 4 out of 5 of these low income, high risk borrowers are able to make their payments, and as a result can get better jobs. Looking at the risk pool of subprime borrowers, if  20% of people borrowing money at a rate of 20% APR defaulted, this would provide the investor who put the money out for the car purchases with a return on investment of 16%, which is hardly usury.

It also interspersed data with anecdotes, and the reader needs to be able to differentiate between the two. An anecdote is one person making a statement, data is compiled from research. Look critically at the data, because we know data can be presented in a way that affirms ones' own beliefs, but may not tell the whole story.

In the end of the book, the authors (or "interns", aka "workjackees") provide many great ideas for how to decrease dependence on cars. If each of us planned our car trips in advance, making sure we pack in as many errands as we can, there'd be less traffic, and cleaner air. Take mass transit when possible. I gave this a try a few weeks ago on my return from a business trip. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to walk off my plane in Newark Liberty, and take the monorail to NJ Transit, and NJ Transit to the train station in my town, requiring only 2 rides on NJ Transit - for the sum of $13.50. Use a bicycle to run errands. I do this all the time, including commuting by bike as much as practical. The days I don't ride, I carpool. Bergen County is tough to get around in a car due to the density of population, but a bike can keep up with traffic easily on most roads. I also try to utilize stores and services, including doctors, who are within a bike-able distance from home, or along my commute route. Park your car in the lot, don't drive in circles to wait for the perfect spot.

And please. Don't drive your kids to school. This is so lame. Let them walk, ride a bike, or take the bus. Some day they'll thank you for this.

Here are some other great books from this genre that I've read:
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)
Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
American Idle: A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture (Capital Ideas Series)