Paper short abstract:

This paper will seek to explore how an embodied knowledge of the practice of driving facilitates feelings of ease and comfort in the everyday drivings performed by car commuters as well as what might happen when these familiar sensations and expectations meet unforeseen and unwelcome challenges.

Paper long abstract:

Driving in the West is generally perceived as an unremarkable and routine activity by both car owners and passengers alike. Yet this unremarkableness is, in it's own way, remarkable. Driving is an inherently dangerous activity which claims the lives of thousands of individuals every year and is one in which a large array of physical actions and perceptions must be continually managed all along the way. In spite of this the car, for many people, comes to take on attributes of a living room complete with steaming cups of coffee to drink, comfortable seats from which to chat with a friend on the phone, and music to lose oneself in. One manner in which this familiarity occurs is by becoming a skilled practitioner of driving by way of the accumulation of a large body of stored knowledge. But this knowledge is significantly more than merely an abstract one based on an understanding of traffic rules and the operation of mechanical equipment. It is also very much an embodied knowledge in which a familiarity with sensations, movement, and feedback can all play a crucial role. Based on fieldwork conducted among drivers in both Sweden and the United States my paper will seek to explore how a sense of feeling at ease in a car is established as well as what can happen when familiar sensations and expectations are disrupted.