Motonormativity

Motonormativity (also motornormativity, windshield bias, or car brain) is an unconscious cognitive bias in which the assumption is made that motor car ownership and use is an unremarkable social norm.^[1]

1966 AMC Ambassador DPL advertisement

Coinage

The term was coined by Swansea University psychologist Ian Walker, Alan Tapp and Adrian Davis in a 2023 UK study.^[2][3] The study was replicated in the US by Tara Goddard in 2024.^[4]

Description and significance

Motonormativity is not a bias confined just to motorists, but is a feature of car-centric societies.^[5] Walker has argued that a consequence of motonormative bias is that any attempt to reduce car use is not seen plainly for what it is, but interpreted as an attempt to curtail personal freedom.^[5] This effect has been documented not just in famously car-dependent North America, but around the world.^[6]

A 2024 study found that Americans displayed a significant "windshield bias," where participants were more accepting of negative externalities associated with cars compared to similar non-car scenarios.^[4] This bias aligns with previous research in the UK, highlighting a pervasive societal tendency to overlook the public health hazards of car-centric systems.^[4]

Examples

Aerial view of Arrowhead Stadium in 2013 surrounded by parking lot

Walker has cited certain road safety campaigns targeting children as an example of motonormativity: by encouraging children to wear brightly coloured clothing to avoid being run over, such campaigns normalize the idea of motor traffic as an accepted danger others must adjust to, in a way which in other contexts would be considered victim blaming.^[5]

Motonormativity may affect planning decisions so that, for example, a new hospital is built outside a city even though that makes it less accessible to city dwellers who cannot drive or do not have a car.^[2]

See also

• Car dependency
• Normativity
• Mode of transport
• Transport poverty