Such a perspective can be quite enlightening. Only behind the wheel does it make perfect sense. The ideology of individual car ownership is deeply ingrained in industrial culture and shared by the general public as well as by transport planners of all political strips. It is seen as an inevitable and desirable feature of life. It is this ubiquitous and routine nature of automobile use that explains our neglect of the topic for critical analysis.
Problems caused by automobile use are so ordinary and diffuse that they escape attention.
A major oil spill poses a visible and dramatic threat to a local ecosystem. Thus, they get great public attention and emergency measures follow quickly. Additionally, oil companies are called to account, and often must pay damages. Autos, on the other hand, for which the bulk of the oil is destined, receive little critical notice even though the threat of their pollution to the environment is enormous. A major oil spill involves one event that is considered extraordinary.