Have you ever noticed that any fatal incident on the road- whether someone hit black ice and slid of the road, went through a light and crashed because they were speeding, or were drunk and hit another car- it is always called an "accident". In his book Traffic, Tom Vanderbilt explains how dangerous it is to use that word. According to Vanderbilt, an accident is something that is "unpredictable and unavoidable" (66), but very few crashes actually have these characteristics. People often think that they are generally good drivers and crashes are just a stroke of bad luck. In reality, people are always building habits that make their driving an accident waiting to happen, and it is actually lucky that they don't crash. Car crashes are not unavoidable. In fact, "most crashes involve a violation of traffic laws..." (66). What Vanderbilt wants to say is that people have the power to prevent most accidents simply by breaking their unsafe driving habits. This is much harder to do in reality than in theory because most drivers don't even realize that they are driving poorly. This is true of people in every aspect of life, and that is why so many "accidents" occur in the world.
While reading this book, I haven't really learned anything new. It has had some interesting facts and statistics, but the conclusions these facts have drawn me to seem to be no-brainers. I mean, of course people don't want to assume responsibility for what could become a potential accident. Isn't it obvious that people's stereotypical nature would lead them to make assumptions about their fellow drivers? Also, it's no secret that people are egotistical. No one wants to admit that they're wrong. Finally, doesn't everyone know that taking care of all the little problems will prevent big problems from occurring? I was really disappointed with this book and found it very difficult to read because it felt like it was leading me absolutely nowhere. Still, ending on a positive note, I may yet become a better driver because of it.
4 comments:
Nice. Oh, it might not be teaching you anything... but recognition of already-known facts can sometimes prove even more important than new ideas. That's why repetition is so famously important. *snorts* Anyway, acknowledging these things is always good, and you have to keep in mind that we are developing higher brain functions than others of our and previous generations, for multiple reasons that aren't always their fault. Anyway, I shall stop my ridiculous preaching now, and comment that I didn't know the meaning of "accident" and enjoyed learning the meaning... :)
To learn that accidents sometimes aren't even accidents is very interesting. Without a few key things happening or not happening, someones life could be spared, or someone could be seriously injured, it all depends on luck, but driving with dangerous habits is just waiting for an accident to happen. I think that even though this book didn't break any new ground for you, at least you learned that other people have the same kind of common sense as you do, and you also learned a lot of interesting things about how driving and psychology go together.
You may not think that this book has taught you anything, but I bet certain bits of it stick with you, and that they are called into memory when you drive. You'll be driving by a crash site and think: "oh, I wonder if that really was an 'accident'," or something of the like. I think that we always get something out of what we read, whether we want to or not.
I am willing to bet that this book was meant more for older drivers who may have to reevaluate their driving skills, not a highschooler just out of drivers ed. People tend to get more lazy when they do something seemingly simple everyday. So that might explain some of the seemingly obvious messages in the book
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