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"Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do"

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by TonyPSchaefer, Oct 15, 2009.

  1. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I mentioned this book in another thread and said I would start a thread and I'm just now getting around to it.

    My bro-in-law suggested that I read this book. I got the audiobook and am listening to it in my car (the irony isn't lost). I have to say that it's very good. The author, Tom Vanderbilt, (http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Vanderbilt/e/B001JRYR0W/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1) has clearly done a great deal of research and puts things into the perspective of human interaction, group think, logic, mathematics, statistics, and international variance. I find the breadth of the explanations as fascinating as the depth.

    I don't want this thread to turn into a "I always knew that those other jerks are horrible drivers" thread. In fact, Vanderbilt explains that our perception of the world and our behavior in it creates the false sense that we are good drivers at all. He cites examples of people being video recorded (and they know they are) completely not noticing children, animals, road barriers, and other things that could have turned the situation tragic. But the driver didn't even see them to realize that he almost hit them. In the driver's mind, all is well and he's an excellent driver.

    Anyway, I like to listen to audio books as I drive and like to pass on a good one when I hear it.

    Go to your local library or whatever and see if you can find this book. Trust me, once you've read it you will want others to read it also.
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307277194/ref=s9_simz_gw_s1_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=060W3PVJ3YWKYZNF9KT3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
     
    #1 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 15, 2009
  2. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    Your signature line makes it even more ironic:

    "Proud father of Priapus: the '04 Tideland BC9 with an OEM EV button and sense of self-righteousnes"
     
    #2 a_gray_prius, Oct 15, 2009
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    He does have some personality issues.

    I'm not smug; my car is.
     
    #3 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 15, 2009
  4. Spectra

    Spectra Amphi-Prius

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    Was I four years too late to get an Original Equipment Manufacturer EV button ?:(?
     
    #4 Spectra, Oct 15, 2009
  5. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Which is why I'm thinking of leasing one of these bad boys



    Assuming I can write it off, that is ....
     
    #5 jayman, Oct 15, 2009
  6. greenthumb25

    greenthumb25 New Member

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    there is some truth to this actually... you're all good until you hit somebody
     
    #6 greenthumb25, Oct 15, 2009
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    no....more like 8,000 miles too far to the right to get one. they widely available in Japan
     
    #7 DaveinOlyWA, Oct 15, 2009
    1 person likes this.
  8. octavia

    octavia Active Member

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    That's interesting. My reading list over floweth at the moment but this might be fun to pick up over Christmas break. What does it say about someone who's driving style is changing?
     
    #8 octavia, Oct 16, 2009
  9. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    There certainly have been studies that prove beyond any doubt that a slow and steady pace is faster and moves more cars in the same timeframe than does stop-n-go traffic. For that reason, some countries have installed variable speed limit signs that change the speed limit as congestion increases. At the same time, photo enforcement increases.

    All Prius drivers know that stopping and starting kills our mileage. We are more conscious of this fact because we receive instant feedback and because we tend to attribute more importance on mileage than on speed. But what this book reiterates time and time again is that the patient and knowledgeable driver drives without aggression, paces themself and often reduces the time they spend commuting.

    The main problem with traffic, it seems, is that everyone is out for themselves. There are some great comparisons to the animal kingdom. If variable speed limits were instituted, there would still be those who would say "screw this, I'm out of here." And when people see that they would say, "if they're going to speed then I'm going to speed also" and the whole thing falls apart. It's not only because they feel they are gaining over everyone else but also because they feel that they are losing to the speeders. So, unfortunately, even the best plans can rapidly be unraveled by only a few selfish thinkers.
     
    #9 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 16, 2009
  10. Spectra

    Spectra Amphi-Prius

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    Hear - hear ! (or is it "here, here" ? or "hear, here" ? etc ...)

    I haven't read the book, but I have been driving since gas was $0.34/gal. And over time, my perspective has changed since I was 16 and driven by little more than the immortality derived of testosterone.

    Pardon my negativity here, but I beleive that nasty driving attitudes are based on increasingly numerous individuals who feel so thoroughly powerless & miserable, that their only recourse is to out-nasty the next person on the road.

    There, in the insular privacy of their cars, with bass-speakers turned up off the chart, their few thrills in life come from causing others to swerve & respond to their aggressive, unpredictable behavior. In those short moments, these sorry individuals imagine their superiority.

    It is not about being in a hurry: When harrassed by these creeps, I watch to see where they go once they pass me.
    Ans: Frequently, they just zoom into the next parking lot, mall, or Burger-Taco-Wendy-Ronald-McDonald.

    And so, it is about the selfishness of personal insecurity, taken out against public safety (<which, of course, includes their own).

    Go figure .... :noidea:
     
    #10 Spectra, Oct 16, 2009
  11. nerfer

    nerfer A young senior member

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    I've read some statistics, and I'm making these up here because I can't remember it exactly, but something like 80% of drivers consider themselves good drivers, and in the same survey, people considered 75% of other drivers on the road as poor drivers.

    I know one common perception is that you need to stay close to the car in front of you so people don't jump into your lane, pushing you farther back in the relative stream of cars. But typically, the kind of driver who jumps into your lane will also jump back out when he/she thinks it's to their advantage. It's better to look at some recognizable vehicle in the next lane and see over several miles how driving slow & steady vs. stop & go makes a difference, if at all.
     
    #11 nerfer, Oct 16, 2009
  12. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    around here, traffic circles have proven very effective. now if more people would learn to drive them, but i guess driver education is addressed as well

    that attitude was born when the telephone was invented. took a while, but people could be much different when not face to face.



    rare is the person who can give an honest evaluation of their driver's skill. studies show that less than 10% voluntarily give up their license due to age. ( of those more than 75% is women) the rest are "convinced" to do so by friends and family or in more tragic circumstances, by the courts
     
    #12 DaveinOlyWA, Oct 17, 2009
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