Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

Interesting study of the science, engineering, and psychology of driving: drivers, roads, vehicles, and the environment in which they interact. As the father of three young drivers, I have a first hand awareness of the dangers of driving. Each of my drivers and each of my three vehicles were involved in at least one "accident" (Vanderbilt talks about the inadequacy of that term to describe incidents that are not purely random or unavoidable) in a nine month period. I didn't realize until my kids started driving how risky (and expensive; my car insurance is unthinkable!) it is to put 3,000 pounds of steel moving at such high speeds in such close contact in the hands of such young drivers. Driving never seemed so daunting, complex, and risky when I was a 16-year-old new driver.

Risk is a subject that Vanderbilt devotes much time to examining. Drivers and highway designers often misunderstand and misjudge risks, and therefore the steps necessary to reduce or avoid them. For example, Vanderbilt talks about the failure of safety devices like anti-lock brakes and seat belts to achieve the expected level of risk reduction, and drivers' inability to correctly assess the risk of actions like tailgating, speeding, or passing. Perhaps most interesting are his discussions about signage, of which there may be too much, and "safe highways", which might be safer if not so designed for "safety."

While "Traffic" is fun and philosophical, it isn't prescriptive. Vanderbilt doesn't have or offer any answers to address any of these problems. The best result of the book perhaps is to make the reader a more aware driver--for at least a few miles down the road.

(Audibook, abridged). Full of great insights, not only into the externalizations of traffic, but my own internal psychological state of mind as a driver - I thought I was unique in many things but it turns out I'm like most other people. There are a ton of ideas and perspectives and I think it would take some time to fully absorb them, to drive and test them out in the real world, to observe the things described. Unfortunately I chose the audiobook version which is a poor choice for information-dense material since there is no pause in the pace and a lot of the material went by quicker than I could remember. However I did learn a lot and someday I might pick up the book as a reference to dip into here and there in smaller pieces. I really appreciated Vanderbilt's focus on people and human nature versus the more mundane things like chaos theory and mathematics. It's a challenging and powerful book if you use to question your own beliefs about yourself as a driver. Who knew a book about traffic could be so deep, or that driving could be so fascinating a subject.

This book is a great read it offers factual information in an interesting manner.
If you ever sat in traffic and thought you could do a better job in traffic/city planning this book will make you realize how complicated it really is.

I have not read this book, so this review is about the actual pages of the book, which are those terribly cut pages that look like some kid in kindergarden using dull kiddy scissors cut the pages. I hate those pages, and had I known this book had them I would not have ordered this book!

"Traffic" freaked me out. I knew that 40,000 people died each year on our roads. And I knew that a car accident was the most likely way that trauma would encroach into my world. Vanderbilt gives me lots more things to worry about (like Dr's have the 2nd highest accident rate, pick-up trucks are dangerous to everyone else, new cars have higher accident rates then older cars, and intersections are bad news for bikers, runners, and drivers.

This is a book I'd like my girls to read as a prerequisite to getting their license (and I'll install the driver cam that Vanderbilt writes about being effective in teaching young drivers defensive skills).

Read the book. Slow down on the roads.