How Toxic Masculinity Plays Out on Our Roads

Look up traffic fatality stats for almost any country in the world, and you’ll find that men are almost always drastically over-represented among the dead, even in countries like the Netherlands and Sweden which have made the most progress towards Vision Zero. But if good road, vehicle and systems designs aren’t saving as many male-identified lives, what will — and why is it so hard to talk about cultural forces without denying the dangers of our built environment?

On this episode of the Brake, host Kea Wilson sits down with researcher and urban planning professor Tara Goddard to talk about how toxic masculinity plays out on our roads and what can we be done to stop it. Listen in, and check out the resources below mentioned in the show:

• Tara’s recent presentation on transportation safety culture at Portland State University
• Cara Daggett’s “Petromasculinity: Fuel and Authoritarian Desire”
• “French Warn Parents of an Underestimated Roadway Danger: Toxic Masculinity”