Traffic, Part 1 of Ad Nauseam

I've just started reading "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do" by Tom Vanderbilt, and so far it's been fascinating. Granted, I'm only on the second chapter, but already there's been a great deal of interesting material. Vanderbilt points out early on that traffic as we know it is a very new and very different type of social interaction than what humans have spent millenia perfecting. So much of the activity of driving runs counter to our social instincts. For example, when you're in traffic, the one person who most affects you--namely, the dude in front of you--can't see you. You're looking at his back. Think of the things that humans are really well adapted for: speech, reading body language, sending and deciphering complex and subtle social cues. For the most part, these are rendered useless when you're behind the wheel. You're mute. Is it a surprise, then, that we get angry?

A few years ago I had a job with the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. I became a certified League Cycling Instructor and started teaching bicycle safety classes--something I continue to do. I wasn't interested in being Harriet the Helmet Harpie, what fascinated me was the social aspect of riding a bicycle in traffic. Cyclists have--and, I'll admit, deservedly so--a terrible reputation amongst motorists as being reckless, ignorant/negligent about the rules of the road, etc. Among many folks in (and out of) the bicycle advocacy world, the emphasis can be on getting cyclists to obey, which is a good start*--but not enough. Simply following the arrows will only get you so far--and so safe. Whether on a bicycle or behind the wheel of a Hummer, you have to communicate with the people around you.

Traffic is a social system. It's a group of strangers who have to interact and cooperate. But hiding behind tinted windows, staring at someone's bumper, talking on your cell phone... that's not exactly playing to our strengths as social animals. So, what is happening out there? Let's find out.





*The great irony I enjoy whenever I teach classes is that my students--if they drive a car--already know what to do; it's the same set of rules. The complications are somewhat technical (where to position the bike at intersections etc) but mostly social.