The War Against the Automobile, by B. Bruce-Briggs
Wilson, James Q.
BOOKS IN REVIEW - "The War Against the Automobile, by B. Bruce-Briggs"compost of smells at McSorley's was once described by a Bellevue intern as having more benefit to the mentally disturbed than psychotherapy.) By contrast, evenings, especially on weekends, are...
...Now wait a minute...
...Do not take my word for all this...
...Some American cars today are slightly better than they once were in these respects, but on the whole they still drive like a lobster boat in a following sea...
...The economists who have done the basic empirical work on the superior efficiency of private automobiles drive Volvos, wear knit ties, and teach at Eastern universities...
...Bruce-Briggs makes, I think, some mistakes...
...A good place to enjoy it would be while riding on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco, a vast and lovely monument to regressive taxation and engineering incompetence, or on the New York City subways, a vast and ugly monument to the glorious (and at the same time, practical) visions of a bygone era...
...The car has not destroyed our cities...
...BOOK REVIEW The War Against the Automobile B. Bruce-Briggs / E.P...
...They are "elitist" and anti-American...
...Perhaps McSorley's enduring place in the history of American saloons is most felicitously stated by the simple declaration lettered in white across its front window: "WE WERE HERE BEFORE YOU WERE BORN...
...They are, among other things, "Porsche populists...
...They are a pox, a scourge, and besides they wear corduroy jackets and knit ties...
...I oppose the 55 mph speed limit and cheer every truck driver who comes up with a new way to evade it...
...In his onslaught against the critics of the automobile, Bruce-Briggs is determined to take no prisoners...
...I will declare my bias at the outset: I am hopelessly in love with good automobiles (of which more are manufactured today than once was the case...
...Like her, and like Bill and Old John before him, Danny has kept the bar's traditions intact for the benefit of present and future generations of ale drinkers...
...The car has destroyed the collective (misJames Q. Wilson is Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government at Harvard...
...But I also believe that, whatever one's bias, it is possible to take evidence seriously and make reasoned judgments about the costs and benefits of forms of transportation...
...The other is that smog is damned unpleasant—it makes my eyes water and itch, and I can't drive in a straight line while blinking and scratching...
...In the first seven chapters of his book, Bruce-Briggs gives a lively and on the whole accurate summary of many of the studies of safety, fuel, pollution, and the automobile industry and, in the process, reduces to rubble many of the ideological stereotypes that substitute for thought on these matters...
...I know that medical studies fail to show clear evidence of adverse health effects from smog, and I am glad Bruce-Briggs points that out (most people think it is a proven carcinogen...
...30 The American Spectator February 1978...
...I drive a Porsche, wear knit ties, and teach at an Eastern university...
...In the half-dozen years since women were admitted, they have become as much a part of the bar's evening trade as men,and in fact make no protest about having to share its one-room privy—complete with three bathtub-sized urinals—with their male counterparts...
...Dutton / $10.95 James Q. Wilson This is a witty, devastating attack on some of the conventional criticisms against the automobile and on some of the favored remedies for its real and alleged defects...
...On weekend nights the college boys who jam the back room get some pretty gamy ideas after downing a few ales, and often a waiter will stand guard at the door when a female customer is inside...
...One is that the long-term health effects from any environmental cause are notoriously difficult to establish by public health research precisely because they are long-term and part of a complex environmental system...
...takenly called "mass") transit system and for a very good reason: By almost any measure, the car is a more efficient and more pleasant mode of transportation...
...When steering a full-sized Chevrolet or a Ford station wagon, I sometimes feel I should make no manuever without first hoisting signal flags warning all other craft that I am about to change, slowly, ponderously, and uncertainly, my course...
...These critics are part of the "New Class" of educated professional persons who seek to aggrandize state power by taking the credentials and lessons of Ivy League schools and turning them to the service of their own interests and ideology...
...Devastating attacks, in literature as in war, are likely to destroy more than just the enemy, however, and this is no exception: Bruce-Briggs' fusillade cuts down everything in its path, but a few stray bullets injure some innocent bystanders...
...Many stand, consuming their mugs of ale while ogling the bits and pieces of history adorning the walls...
...Detroit is not a monopoly...
...I do not include in my list of good automobiles the Volvos and Ramblers that are required driving for faculty members at Eastern universities...
...Instead, the reader should enjoy the critical skills of Bruce-Briggs and his wide familiarity with the literature on the car and its effects on our society...
...Now you know the worst...
...If women want total equality, I don't see why the concept shouldn't extend to restrooms," says McSorley's current owner Danny Kirwan, who took over its management for his mother (now deceased...
...And smog...
...McSorley's will probably be here when we're gone, too...
...The 55 mph speed limit cannot be shown to have saved many lives...
...He is simply wrong to defend the poor engineering Detroit has devoted to the most important parts of a car—not the engine (Detroit has done marvels with that), but the suspension, steering, and brakes...
...Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who is referred to as the "Clausewitz of the war on the automobile," drives a Cherokee (you can't get more Middle American than that), wears bow ties, and has a dim opinion of Eastern universities, some of which have gone out of their way to make life miserable for him...
...But two objections are in order...
...I think some finer distinctions are in order, and until they arrive, I urge the reader to skip chapter eight...
...By contrast, evenings, especially on weekends, are noisy...
...Crowds of young men and women pack the place...
...Ralph Nader dresses like an undertaker who sells Thom McAnn shoes on the side, generally doesn't drive at all, and doesn't teach at an Eastern university (though he studied at two...
...Detroit is not being unreasonable in saying that the air quality standards imposed by Congress are unreasonable—it is Congress that is unreasonable...
...The former are unwieldy, boxy, gutless examples of Swedish bad temper and the latter are the best argument anyone could ever make as to why George Romney should not have been taken seriously as a presidential candidate...
...Automotive advertising does not mesmerize the consumer into mindless purchases...
...read the book, study the (simple) tables, and form your own conclusions...
...For example: Vast areas of the country have not been paved over by the highway lobby...
Vol. 11 • February 1978 • No. 4
