Traffic Life : Passionate Tales and Exit Strategies
Edited by Stephan Wehner
An Anthology
 
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The Autoholics Anonymous Car-Free Pledge Carbusters 'Hi, my name is Jane and I'm an autoholic.' Admittedly, the idea of a 12-step self-help program for car addicts might seem amusing at first, but this is intended to be totally se- rious. That is, we're quite serious about our aims but we're light-hearted enough to call ourselves 'recovering car ad- dicts.' As we all know, many serious social and environ- mental problems can be linked to car use. We address this by being proactive and working to change our individual and collective behaviour. The Twelve Steps of Autoholics Anony- mous 1. We admitted we were victims of the transportation in- dustry seduced by speed, status, and sense of power- that we had become isolated and passive consumers of distances whose shape and length we could no longer control. We admitted we were not free but enslaved ­ 234 ­
  
Carbusters 235 and powerless in this situation. 2. We came to believe that Human Power and Access By Proximity could restore a balance in ourselves, and between the human and the natural environment. 3. We made a decision to build up our will to create per- sonal and social change, and to transform our lives. 4. We made a searching and fearless inventory of the im- pacts of our car addiction. 5. We admitted to ourselves, and to another human be- ing, the exact nature of our wrongs and the wrongs committed in the name of motorists or on behalf of the automobile-petroleum-highway system. 6. We were entirely ready to overcome all the obstacles- laziness or sedentary lifestyle, lack of equipment or in- frastructure, lack of supportive friends or family, low- density development, misguided zoning laws or plan- ning policies, unenlightened officials, industrial might, etc.-standing in the way of personal and social change. 7. We humbly asked Those In Power to remove any re- maining obstacles, and when and where this failed, we took personal and community action to remove them (the obstacles as well as Those In Power). 8. We made a list of all persons and beings past, present and future, our driving had harmed, and became will- ing to make amends to them all. 9. We made direct amends to such people and beings wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. We continued to take inventory of our ongoing progress and impacts, and when our behaviour caused unnec- essary damage to others or the environment, we prompt- ly admitted it and took action to mitigate it.

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