Motor vehicles have revolutionised New Zealand society in the last 110 years. They have reduced the travelling time between places, provided personal independence, and prompted wide-ranging changes to private life, business, town planning, architecture, and much else. Owned by only the wealthy few in 1900, they had become integral to almost every part of society within several decades. They made rural areas easier to access and changed the landscapes of urban New Zealand. For all their benefits, cars also facilitated crime, caused night-time disturbance and danger, and contributed to ozone depletion. They have demanded intrusive motorway networks, and with them the adaptation and destruction of city neighbourhoods. Always political, cars have been one of the key determining influences of 20th century life, in New Zealand as everywhere else.
This book will explore the significance of motor vehicles as a social, cultural, and economic force. It will trace the history of government policy concerning motor vehicles and roads, and study the broader impact of motorised transport on New Zealand society. Historian Tim Shoebridge is writing the book, which is scheduled for publication in about 2013.
