The Secret Life of Cars

You may not have wondered how a car makes you feel, but BMW has.  That’s what Richard Morrison found out.  Says the “driver interfaces psychologist” at BMW:

We’re constantly asking the question: what kind of psychological space is a car?

Well, of course, we’ve all wondered that.  And we’ve wondered how many people call their car by a nickname (26 percent of women), the importance of cup-holders (they make you feel safe).  And you’ve wondered how many people sing in the car (four times as many during the morning rush hour as the evening rush hour).  It’s all there in BMW’s Secret Life of Cars.

But the big question is why people drive their cars rather than take public transportation.  The answer is perfectly simple.

Time and again, car owners identified the “cocoon-like security” of the car — the enjoyment of personal space, the chance it gives for “me time” — as the reason why they prefer to drive, even where public transport is cheaper and more convenient[.]

But you knew that.