Model Identity

One of the interesting things about going car free (if you're the sciency nerdy type) is observing the attachment between people and vehicles.

Recently a friend discovered in a conversation that the other person lived in the same street as her. After a short period of comparing parts of the street, my friend says "Look out for a blue festiva."

It was said in a friendly tone (not as a warning) but reminded me how car-dependence can isolate us from our community. Clearly car people realise that a chance of a face-to-face encounter with another human being (even one that lives in the same street) is so remote as to be not worth considering. Far more likely is the chance of recognising the colour and shape of an object zooming by.