A Book About Traffic
Dec 16th, 2008 by Alex
Over the past week or two I read Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us).
Why the other lane always seems faster, why we suck as drivers, how our eyes and minds betray us on the road, issues of congestion, why dangerous roads are safer, among other topics. The text is entertaining, informative, and is more about people than traffic per say. Driving is complicated, but less so than the all of the individual and group interaction that we each experience on the road.
A few quotations that struck me as poignant, though not all necessarily related to traffic.
We rely on stereotypes as “mental shortcuts” to help us make sense of complex environments in which there is little time to develop subtle evaluations.
On the cost of driving…
Once you have shelled out for a car, the comparatively marginal cost of another trip is barely noticeable — in other words, there is little incentive not to drive.
I’d never heard of this one, but it seems to be true.
The old dictum about what keeps a university running smoothly: “Beer for the students, parking for the faculty, and football for the alumni.”
Overall I found the book interesting and enjoyable, but it’s definitely not a light read. Meticulously researched, there’s over 100 pages of detailed end notes (rather than footnotes). The text is just shy of 300 pages. The reference to content ratio is impressive. It isn’t that it’s difficult to read or comprehend, but more than it’s a lot to digest. There are dozens of little jewels tucked away within these pages.
After reading this book, you start seeing things differently. I feel like I’m perceiving my driving ability differently, taking more notice to things that I’ve taken for granted for a long time. I’ve also found that my driving habits have been altered slightly as a result. I’ve slowed down a bit. I’ve been cutting back on distractions. Small changes, but I think for the better.
That bit about universities is so true.