The car is a dominant feature of life in Australia. This enthusiastic embrace of cars is due in part to the vast distances and relatively low population size, but it is also due to a longstanding emphasis on individual privacy and mobility. The suburban sprawl around towns and cities has been made possible by cars and at the very same time facilitated their uptake and ongoing use. The car is more than just a means of transportation, however, and has increasingly created its own necessity. The number of cars on the roads increases by thousands each year, but particular concern is currently focused on young people as they gain access to cars and develop various ‘driving cultures’, since they are also involved in a high proportion of motor vehicle crashes.1 Driving is for them part of becoming adult, seeking independence and venturing further from home for pleasure, work and study. The embrace of the car by young people, and often the resulting carnage, needs to be addressed from a number of directions, including the full investigation of contributing cultural factors.
