Danger on the roads! Masculinity, the car and safety

Abstract

Malcolm Vick argues that road safety campaigns that attempt to get young men to act rationally on the roads have limited success because they overlook powerful cultural constructions of masculinity that underpin and shape young men's actions. In this paper, Vick identifies ways in which the media use the motor vehicle to offer masculinity. He suggests intervention in the production and circulation of these models, and the subsequent weakening of the association between dominant forms of masculinity and high-risk riding/driving behaviour, as an effective strategy to reduce the danger presented by young men on the roads.