The car has long been a central part of American life whether we see it as a symbol of freedom or a symptom of sprawl, we define ourselves by what and how we drive. He explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our quest for safety, and even identifies the most common mistake drivers make in parking lots. He uncovers who is more likely to honk at whom, and why. He shows how roundabouts, which can feel dangerous and chaotic, actually make roads safer and reduce traffic in the bargain. He demonstrates why plans to protect pedestrians from cars often lead to more accidents. Vanderbilt examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are.

Item #296884 ISBN: 0307264785 Would you be surprised that road rage can be good for society? Or that most crashes happen on sunny, dry days? That our minds can trick us into thinking the next lane is moving faster? Or that you can gauge a nation s driving behavior by its levels of corruption? These are only a few of the remarkable dynamics that Tom Vanderbilt explores in this fascinating tour through the mysteries of the road.īased on exhaustive research and interviews with driving experts and traffic officials around the globe, Traffic gets under the hood of the everyday activity of driving to uncover the surprisingly complex web of physical, psychological, and technical factors that explain how traffic works, why we drive the way we do, and what our driving says about us. VANDERBILT, TOM Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

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