The first comprehensive history of auto regulation in the United
States.
Regulation has shaped the evolution of the automobile from the
beginning. In Moving Violations, Lee Vinsel shows that, contrary to
popular opinion, these restrictions have not hindered technological
change. Rather, by drawing together communities of scientific and
technical experts, auto regulations have actually fostered innovation.
Vinsel tracks the history of American auto regulation from the era of
horseless carriages and the first, faltering efforts to establish speed
limits in cities to recent experiments with self-driving cars. He
examines how the government has tried to address car-related problems,
from accidents to air pollution, and demonstrates that automotive
safety, emissions, and fuel economy have all improved massively over
time. Touching on fuel economy standards, the rise of traffic laws, the
birth of drivers' education classes, and the science of distraction, he
also describes how the government's changing activities have reshaped
the automobile and its drivers, as well as the country's entire system
of roadways and supporting technologies, including traffic lights and
gas pumps.
Moving Violations examines how policymakers, elected officials,
consumer advocates, environmentalists, and other interested parties
wrestled to control the negative aspects of American car culture while
attempting to preserve what they saw as its positive contributions to
society. Written in a clear, approachable, and jargon-free voice,
Moving Violations will appeal to makers and analysts of policy,
historians of science, technology, business, and the environment, and
any readers interested in the history of cars and government.
