"Traffic: Why We
Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" by Tom Vanderbilt (Knopf,
ISBN 9780307264787, $24.95)
"Traffic" is terrific. Yes, it has a bit of the pop readability of "Freakonomics"
and "The Sushi Economy" and "The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the
World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger" in that it entertainingly
dissects the every day, and often obvious, underpinnings of our modern
world. Yes, it has more statistics than we care to know. And yes, it offers
no simple solutions.
But Vanderbilt gives us a nice ride. We all hate traffic. We all think we
are better drivers than we are. We all blame the other guys for rude road
behavior. We all think there is not enough free parking. We all blame the
car companies for unsafe vehicles. We all rant at the lack of and quality of
roads.
... And we are all wrong.
Vanderbilt presents history, scientific studies, international examples,
anecdotes and interviews to show that basically the problems with traffic
are finally the problems with people. It doesn't seem to matter whether man
was on his own legs, on horseback, in carriages, on bicycles, or in cars –
he has always had traffic problems. Although technological advancement was
expected to improve these problems, things usually got worse. Today we have
great hopes that on-board GPS, video rear view, distance sensors, etc. will
reduce traffic problems and "accidents," but Vanderbilt suggests there is
nothing in history to support this hope.
Since cars and traffic are such a big part of everyone's life (even those on
bikes and afoot,) there is something fascinating in Vanderbilt's book for
everyone. If nothing else, we can memorize a few salient facts to throw
around at cocktail parties ...or with passengers while stuck in traffic.
Review by
Bruce Jacobs,
August 7, 2008
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