Traffic We drive the way we do (and what is says about us) By Tom Vanderbilt pg.275

The text is about the human thinking when it comes to driving or anything to do with getting on the road. Tom Vanderbilt talks to different people and studies the behaviors of different drivers on the road. He notices that while drivers rage the passenger is normally not responsive or doesn't take a side half of the time. Tom talks about the way people see their cars or try to express themselves through it .

What was really interesting from the text is that even the most happy of people can and will get road rage. "Psychologists theorize that the actor- observer effect may stem from ones desire to feel more in control". I think what they meant was since people can't do anything but just observe they start getting annoyed with not only with themselves but also because no matter what they do they won't be heard. Another weird detail is that since people feel their privacy is being protected by the safety of the glass it makes people uneasy, one psychologist said, "... someone in a neighboring car is looking at you' it probably made you uneasy.'The first reason for this it may violate the sense of privacy we feel in traffic"' I wonder why the felt uneasy, but then I realized that they thought nobody would be looking at them even though there is no real sense of privacy when out on the road. During driving "The simple habit of braking in response to a red light (i.e, brake lights) something drivers do an estimated amount of fifty-thousand times a year, triggers a burst of activity in the brain". Just to think that the brain does all of this thinking just to stop at a red light that maybe two feet away is just amazing. The newer cars make people drive less cautiosly, "When an older car which may not feel very safe' a driver will probably drive more cautious." I chose this because of just the sense of being in a new car makes them suddenly safe I found stupid no matter what happens no one is safe on the road. "Studies have suggested that drivers of small cars take fewer risks". This was interesting to me because immediately I think of two kids the smaller one always acts more cautiosly while the heavier built one is doing crazy things. The small kid represents the small car while the bigger car represents a truck.

Credits:

Created with images by jeffk - "Traffic"

Made with Adobe Slate

Make your words and images move.

Get Slate

Report Abuse

If you feel that this video content violates the Adobe Terms of Use, you may report this content by filling out this quick form.

To report a Copyright Violation, please follow Section 17 in the Terms of Use.