Prof. Ian Walker

HOT RESEARCH NEWS! Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people making rational judgements about driving en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motonor... Our new study shows where this bias comes from AND how it makes people think they're odd for supporting changes to the transport system 🧵

Meet Will, the Cambridge plumber who gets to many of his jobs by e-cargo bike. Will founded Veloplumb in 2023, with a simple idea: many plumbing jobs don’t need a van full of equipment. 'I really believe in it, it boosts mental health to be outdoors, exercising and of course doing some plumbing!

"[Our research] found: - Every additional 100kg of vehicle weight was associated with a 6% increase in odds of pedestrian fatality; - Every additional 10cm of height was associated with an 11% increase in odds of pedestrian fatality. " theconversation.com/big-us-style...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... I think many will be disheartened. I know some MPs are in favour of lifetime bans in certain cases. How can we persuade those in power to reverse their motonormative thinking here?

Just had a storm preparedness email from National Grid, which contained something I didn't know: dial 105 to report power cuts. One to remember ahead of the weekend?

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could work out how to do the kind of slightly overwrought landscape processing so beloved of photographers on 500px. From last night's dog walk

Worth watching: a well argued and enthusiastic explanation of the water, we are all swimming in: motonormativity. "Pluralistic ignorance" got me curious: it's the the weird waters of everybody's ideas about what other people think. These ideas are generally wrong. You are not in the minority.

UK Social researchers! Is there a good way to ask people which LSOA they live in without asking for too much personal data? I don't want to have to ask for individual addresses for privacy reasons, but "first part of postcode" is too broad to link to LSOA. Feels like there should be a method...

Delivery robots are dangerous, especially for pedestrians who are disabled, are blind or partially sighted and families with young children. Please support our campaign by writing to your council and telling them to take action: https://bitly.livingstreets.org.uk/4i0AxVq

I recently gave a talk on pluralistic ignorance and motonormativity in New Zealand, and it's now online if you might want to see it

What hope is there when this is how driving instructors park and teach pupils that this is acceptable. Kids, pick a responsible teacher. You cannot pass your test with behaviour like this.

Really excited to be getting formally involved with such an incredible organisation. Let's fix those streets!

Oil up again. Walking and cycling are still free, and most car journeys are single occupant, under three miles or both. Make the switch. #BikeIsBest

Everyday motonormativity. This morning I drop my daughter at the train station by cargo bike. I park close to the entrance, next to a parked van, and in the “shadow” of street furniture to not bother pedestrians. I come back 5 mins later to 2 security agents worried. While I unlock the bike,

Couldn't resist summarising today's talk like this

Reading our university's daily news briefing and I think we're pushing back the boundaries of bathos

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods - 'more research need'.. Well from 2022 to 2025, funded by the NIHR, we (& colleagues) did that research. And we have 10(!!) peer reviewed articles so far, with more on the way. Here's a summary of our papers so far (all open access so get reading):

Walking or wheeling to school helps children – and adults – feel calmer, more focussed and ready for the day ahead. Celebrate International Walk to School Month with us – and enter our prize draw to win a Sprite Neochrome scooter worth £139.95 from Micro Scooters. livingstreets.org.uk/October

Look what I found on the Welsh Goverment website

New study shows link between cars and traffic

Had a little time to wander around the botanical gardens today

New motornormativity just dropped @ianwalker.bsky.social

My hotel has a jacuzzi clearly made for three people. BAN THIS SICK FILTH

A report on 5 years of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in East Oxford shows that they have reduced road casualties by over 100. The report by the Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT) also points to the health benefits of reduced air pollution and performance of Cowley Road shops.

I suspect some of the FoI request I have to deal with fall into this category

Today in Australia I met somebody wearing a motonormativity T-shirt she got from a graphic designer in Japan, and now I kind of know how Victor Frankenstein must have felt

New Zealand has more cars than USA and Australia, per capita. Why is this problem invisible? How could we fix it? Join us on Friday as we discuss with Prof. @ianwalker.bsky.social from Swansea University. Get your free tickets events.humanitix.com/motonormativ... @cyclewgtn.bsky.social

Sigh. Welsh Gov are going to "fix" congestion with more road capacity. Obligatory Mumford quote here...

Oh snap bsky.app/profile/psim...

Classic motornormatvity . Cars are presented as natural and inevitable rather than the result of policy choices and planning.

"Cycling and walking to work were associated with better physical health, mental health, and life in general than driving." doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

Lest we forget, the police took quite some time to decide that it was terrorism when a bomb went off in public with an obvious political motive - presumably because cars

Autonomous vehicles offer to entrench, for another generation, the idea that the any other use of urban streets must come second to the rapid movement of metal boxes

If you want to help Wheels for Wellbeing with their incredible work, a small donation would make a big difference: cafdonate.cafonline.org/11192#!/Dona...

Really enjoyed joining @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk this week to learn about Wheels4Me - an amazing inclusive cycle hire project providing adapted cycles for people with disabilities. with @walkwheelcyclet.bsky.social Pedal UK & Motability Foundation

#InternationalWalkToSchoolMonth starts today! Spend quality time together and start the day with a smile. Share your photos with us throughout the month for a chance to win a Sprite Neochrome scooter from Micro Scooter. Terms and conditions apply: livingstreets.org.uk/October

If you're in my GP's office any time soon, prepare yourself for what many are calling the greatest mnemonic of all time. Come for E and P, but sit down and clap for I.

Senedd Members have rejected a Reform motion calling for the Welsh Government to scrap default 20mph speed limits

READ: If you haven’t seen this yet, please take a look. Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people from making rational judgements about driving. This study co-authored by @ianwalker.bsky.social looks at where this bias comes from & how it works. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

There is a lot of "oh dear" to go around in the results of this very thorough Pew study on the issues with synthetic samples, but this strikes me as particularly "oh dear" www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/20...

A tree that's had long experience of the wind. From this morning's dog walk #wales