Traffic

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

By: Tom Vanderbilt

Narrated by: Marc Cashman

Would you be surprised that road rage can be good for society? That most crashes happen on sunny, dry days? 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.

Based 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 examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are. As Vanderbilt shows, driving is a provocatively revealing prism for examining how our minds work and the ways in which we interact with one another.

Ultimately, Traffic is about more than driving: it’s about human nature. This audiobook will change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. And who knows? It may even make us better drivers.

©2008 Tom Vanderbilt (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2008

“Traffic gets about as close to the heart of modern existence as any book could get . . . Engagingly written, meticulously researched, endlessly interesting and informative, [it] is one of those rare books that comes out of the depths of nowhere.”
–Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

“A surprising, enlightening look at the psychology of human beings behind the steering wheels . . . Jammed with delicious you’ve-got-to-be-kidding moments . . . My solution to the nation’s vehicular woes would be to make this good book required reading for anyone applying for a driver’s license.”
–Mary Roach, The New York Times Book Review

“Smart and comprehensive . . . A shrewd tour of the much-experienced but little-understood world of driving . . . A balanced and instructive discussion on how to improve our policies toward the inexorable car . . . Vanderbilt’s book is likely to remain relevant well into the new century.”
–Edward L. Glaeser, The New Republic

“A delightful tour through the mysteries and manners of driving.”–Tony Dokoupil, Newsweek

Interesting Content, Well Narrated

While this book may not have all of the answers, it is far more thoughtful and thorough than some of the reviewers let on. I read/listen to mostly science books and biographies, but I got this book on a whim and was pleasantly surprised.

The author is philosophical and witty, and is rarely patronizing or redundant. The content flows nicely and the narration is spot on - making it well suited for the audio format. If you are looking for a good audiobook that is a change of pace from your typical genre, give this book a try.

Thought provoking look into the psychology of traffic.

Very intriguing, especially for a recovering traffic engineer. I am fascinated with the human element, having conducted dozens of real world traffic modeling analysis, the algorithms could never quite capture it all the way.

Fascinating

What did you love best about Traffic?

This book drew my attention to all sorts of aspects of traffic that I had never thought of: most dangerous moves at an intersection, when to merge, why straight roads should have some curves, etc.

What did you like best about this story?

Vanderbilt does a great job of tying together a bunch of distinct studies and aspects of traffic. Also, Vanderbilt does a great job of defining technical terms so the reader can keep up with the engineering.

Any additional comments?

The narrator is easy to understand, and is easy to listen to.

Traffic information!!!!

I enjoyed learning about traffic statistics and how everyone has a subjective opinion about traffic norms.

Thumbs up. May not be for everyone.

You know, I'd have to disagree with the first member review.

I purchased this audio book to take a break from science fiction and I blazed through this book while... listening to traffic. Yes, the author does present a lot of various studies and data, but he manages to put everything into a sort of context that progresses smoothly. Heck - he's even able to make a joke every once in a while.

He presents different aspects of traffic: psychology, sociology, traffic engineering, safety devices, etc. All these various topics seem to merge together in the final conclusion, no pun intended. So, I think in the end, you have to be able to tolerate through a lot of numbers, so to speak, otherwise I'm sure you might get kind of lost in the presentation of the material. If you don't care about understanding the various mechanisms in traffic, you're not going to get anything out of this book.

I did really enjoy this book - a lot of the topics I found personally interesting and I walked away with a slightly different perspective of the world around me.

Just Okay

I was really excited about this listen but to my disappointment this book did not live up the expectations. With that said, while it didn't wow me, it was good and there were several interesting points that I did take out of it. Not bad but nothing special either.

Answered many questions

I've been driving since I was eight, 50 years. I study traffic and think about it. in addition, as a paramedic, I've responded to thousands of traffic collisions. I've seen how costly mistakes are. this book does a fantastic job of explaining human behavior, safety, traffic flow, road systems, and risk.

many of my observations were confirmed; many questions answered; and many ideas validated. all of this was presented with God research and data, lots of stories and global observations, and considerably ready to understand explanations.

the narrator has a good voice, toner, and cadence, but sooner chapter and section breaks were difficult to parse from the primary text.

I heartily recommend this book for anyone interested in safety, traffic congestion/flow, and opportunities for improvement (collective and individual).

An Approachable Intro into Traffic Psychology

This is a great introduction to anyone interested in traffic flow as its journalistic not academic, covers a wide range of topics, and ultimately raises more questions than answers. The book confirms some suspicions many of us have but typically only ponders explanations rather then pose as any sort of authority. The sections about self-driving vehicles may become obsolete in ten years but the book can still serve as a peak onto our odd driving tendencies right now. The narrator for the audio book conveys the information perfectly.

This is a fascinating book.

A fascinating and somewhat disturbing book. It's a good reality check for anyone that wants to take a look at the way we move around in this world.

should be required for all drivers.

absolutely loved this book as a commuter doing 134 miles a day through Sacramento. really opened my eyes to hire and why people and myself drive the way we do. and I don't think I'll complain anymore about "if they only built one more lane". sure the book is statistics heavy, but that serves to reinforce the points made.