Into the Fast Lane: Vienna Learns to Drive

VIENNA, Austria, October 18 --

- at the Vienna Technical Museum Until 28th February 2007

The exhibition "Into The Fast Lane" studies the spell which the car has cast on the city: its many benefits as well as the many conflicts. By looking back at a century of traffic through the rear-view mirror of history, the exhibition explores whether - and how - we can face a future behind the wheel.

The car started life as a vehicle for sport and recreation. Men and women from privileged backgrounds acquired automobiles with a view to making excursions, taking part in beauty contests at the Schönbrunn Palace or flower parades in the Prater park, or even entering races. When it came to conventional road traffic, however, cars were looked on less favourably: pedestrians and carriage drivers in particular had become accustomed to moving around the streets at a pace that suited them. It took radical educational measures lasting decades before the streets were virtually surrendered to motor cars alone. Protests against the emissions and noise emanating from automobiles began at an early stage. In 1910, when there were 4,000 cars on the streets of Vienna, people said the city was choked with traffic. Today there are 600,000 cars on the roads.

Traffic City: Activities for children

Children will have a chance to think about how cars and people coexist in a city. They can play an active part in traffic planning or designing road signs, have a go in an electric car or a railcar, and learn how different kinds of propulsion actually work. They can also find out about sensory perception in a tunnel and discover concepts like 'afterglow'.