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MotonormativityMotonormativity (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] CoinageThe term was coined by psychologist Ian Walker and colleagues in a 2023 study.[2][3] Description and significanceMotonormativity is not a bias confined just to motorists, but is a feature of car-centric societies.[4] 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.[4] This effect has been documented not just in famously car dependent North America, but around the world.[5] ExamplesWalker 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.[4] 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 do not have use of a car.[2] See also Look up car brain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. References
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