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Mirkat's Reviews > Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us)
by
by
You are not stuck in traffic. You are traffic.
Most drivers are not nearly as proficient as they think they are. Many drivers, based on their inflated sense of their own skills, think they can drive just as well, even if they divide their attention between their driving and their phones. But they are (at times catastrophically) wrong.
Measures designed to make driving safer can actually make it more dangerous, since they facilitate faster driving and less attention to surroundings.
Individual drivers make choices based on their own self-interest, but those choices are often detrimental to the entire driving system, with the cumulative effect of slowing down traffic flow.
I found this book, overall, interesting and informative. Certain facts were downright counter-intuitive. At times, I felt I was being bogged down somewhat with the density of some of the data, but I think it's a worthwhile read/listen.
Still skeptical that roundabouts are safer for pedestrians. My own personal example is a roundabout at an intersection that is part of one of my favorite running routes. Several years back, the roundabout replaced traffic lights. In my experience, the traffic lights provided a clarity that has been removed. The road that I have to cross now has a crosswalk meant to stop westbound drivers entering the roundabout and another for eastbound drivers who have just exited it. There is signage indicating that drivers must stop to allow pedestrians to cross. I can't even tell you how often drivers roll right through, apparently not even considering the possibility of stopping for lowly on-foot travelers. Usually, my only hope of crossing is if no drivers are close enough to be a problem.
Most drivers are not nearly as proficient as they think they are. Many drivers, based on their inflated sense of their own skills, think they can drive just as well, even if they divide their attention between their driving and their phones. But they are (at times catastrophically) wrong.
Measures designed to make driving safer can actually make it more dangerous, since they facilitate faster driving and less attention to surroundings.
Individual drivers make choices based on their own self-interest, but those choices are often detrimental to the entire driving system, with the cumulative effect of slowing down traffic flow.
I found this book, overall, interesting and informative. Certain facts were downright counter-intuitive. At times, I felt I was being bogged down somewhat with the density of some of the data, but I think it's a worthwhile read/listen.
Still skeptical that roundabouts are safer for pedestrians. My own personal example is a roundabout at an intersection that is part of one of my favorite running routes. Several years back, the roundabout replaced traffic lights. In my experience, the traffic lights provided a clarity that has been removed. The road that I have to cross now has a crosswalk meant to stop westbound drivers entering the roundabout and another for eastbound drivers who have just exited it. There is signage indicating that drivers must stop to allow pedestrians to cross. I can't even tell you how often drivers roll right through, apparently not even considering the possibility of stopping for lowly on-foot travelers. Usually, my only hope of crossing is if no drivers are close enough to be a problem.
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Reading Progress
December 3, 2014
– Shelved
December 9, 2017
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Started Reading
December 23, 2017
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Finished Reading
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That's why roundabouts are evil! If all the drivers in the line are expecting the traffic not to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, you get that very situation. While with a traffic light, everyone knows what to do.[I was thinking about books I read in my pre-GR days.... :) ]
Roundabouts are fantastic in their proper place. They should not be in places that have enough pedestrian traffic to warrant a crosswalk.
If a crosswalk is painted, a pedestrian signal light should also be installed. There is such a think that is a lot cheaper than a full-blown traffic light and that only responds to an actual button press & is otherwise dark/neutral.
Heh. Sorry we got me started on a rant. I am interested in traffic and had high hopes for this book and am still feeling the pang of disappointment. Feel free to disregard if you're not interested in this conversation. :)
Sounds as though we agree that roundabouts and pedestrians don't mix well. The intersection I have in mind has a fair amount of pedestrian traffic, and I'd have been pleased if it had been left in its old configuration, with traffic lights. I also drive the same road on occasion, though the direction I come from doesn't take me across the walks in question....Another intersection in my city that has been reconfigured with a roundabout is one that I didn't use as a pedestrian but used to drive to access a shopping center. It's a fairly complicated roundabout, directing drivers to a couple of different "local" roads as well as the highway, and I hate it! I just don't even go that way, anymore....
Yes, it sounds like your engineers aren't earning their money. I've seen one of those like your shopping center one and it is a mess. But then, is there a good way to design the parking and flow at a shopping center, at least without a multi-story garage, limited ways in & out?What do you think of the book's assertion about how to merge when a lane is being lost to construction or major accident? I've been watching, and either I misunderstood what he was claiming, or he's wrong. Something about nobody should anticipate and/or if someone is on the soon-to-be-lost lane driving past all those who are already positioned correctly, he's right to do that?
The roundabout to the road I'd use to get to the shopping center isn't actually at the shopping center itself... It's just the road I used to take to get there. It was kind of a "back" way to get there, as opposed to the heavy-traffic road "front" way to get there.As for the author's claims about late merging, I kept shaking my head so hard! I am definitely Team Early Merge. It was kind of humorous when he declared that each driver in the non-ending lane should allow one car in, to smoothly incorporate all the later mergers. OR: They could merge early and not be jerks!
I did think maybe he was onto something when he described signage that tells everyone exactly WHEN to merge. I imagine that could work, perhaps combined with some kind of traffic lights/signals....
Ha! Ok, so, have we talked you into taking a star off your rating of the book yet? :grin:
Heh. No, I still like it, despite its imperfections. :)
Of course the pedestrian always has the right of way. And that's how it should be. But yes, please, wait for a truly clear moment to make your crossing.
That's just one of dozens of problems I had with the book back when I read it, when it was new. Most of what he said was obvious, to me, and most of what was counter-intuitive was deservedly so because it was more special-case than universal.
Too bad I wasn't a member of GR when I read it, so my review would be here. :(