Autophobes Anonymous Enjoy ACL Festival
By Editor | September 18, 2007
Austin, TX — Autophobes from around the country swooped into town this past weekend, overcoming their fears to attend the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Isopterophobes are terrified by termites. Pyrophobes fear fire. Sociophobes are put off by people. And autophobes … well, they are afraid of automobiles.
But that didn’t stop 327 autophobes from attending the recent Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park. The group excursion was coordinated by Autophobes Anonymous, a national support group for people who suffer from autophobia — the fear of cars.
Image: Arriving autophobes crowd the skies over the ACL festival
According to Zelda Algernon, president of the Texas chapter of Autophobes Anonymous, the typical autophobe does fine with other forms of transportation, but is deathly afraid of automobiles such as cars, trucks and vans.
“When an autophobe encounters a car or truck,” said Algernon, “they experience any number of symptoms that we collectively refer to as ‘the troubles.’ Some lose bladder control, others growl and bark like dogs. Regardless of how the symptoms manifest, it’s just not something you want to see … or experience.”
Algernon went on to explain that autophobes can usually adapt to society by using alternate forms of transportation:
“The good thing is, there are plenty of other ways to get around than by automobile. In the past, I’ve traveled by bicycle, unicycle, rickshaw, hot air balloon, dog sled, helicopter, gyrocopter, and a variety of hoofed animals such as donkeys and llamas. But try to put me in a car, and I’ll scratch your eyes out.”
Experts believe there are more than 5,000 autophobes living within the United States, but Algernon explained how the number could actually be much higher.
“Just look at the Amish,” she noted. “Any one of them could be autophobic without even realizing it, because they don’t go near cars to begin with. So who knows how many of us there really are.”
Sound Off, Austin
Do you suffer from a fear of automobiles … or ferrets, or carnival performers? There is no shame in having an exotic phobia. The key to understanding such conditions is to share information about them. So if you would like to share your phobia with Probe readers, please use the “Comments” box below.
Topics: Austin News |