title: Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) [Deckle Edge] 1st (first) edition
author:  Tom Vanderbilt 
description: In this brilliant, lively, and eye-opening investigation, Tom Vanderbilt examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are. He demonstrates why plans to protect pedestrians from cars often lead to more accidents. He uncovers who is more likely to honk at whom, and why. He explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our quest for safety, and even identifies the most common mistake drivers make in parking lots. Traffic is about more than driving: it's about human nature. It will change the way we see ourselves and the world around us, and it may even make us better drivers.
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  ALSO BY TOM VANDERBILT
  
  
  _Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](images/Vand_9780307270542_epub_tp_r1.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Contents
  
  
  [_Cover_](Vand_9780307270542_epub_cvi_r1.htm)
  
  
  [_Also by Tom Vanderbilt_](Vand_9780307270542_epub_adc_r1.htm)
  
  
  [_Title Page_](Vand_9780307270542_epub_tp_r1.htm)
  
  
  [**Prologue**  
  Why I Became a Late Merger (and Why You Should
  Too)](Vand_9780307270542_epub_prl_r1.htm)
  
  
  [**Chapter One  
  Why Does the Other Lane Always Seem Faster? How Traffic Messes with Our
  Heads**](Vand_9780307270542_epub_c01_r1.htm)
  
  
  [Shut Up, I Can’t Hear You: Anonymity, Aggression, and the Problems of
  Communicating While Driving](Vand_9780307270542_epub_c01_r1.htm#c01-s1)
  
  
  [Are You Lookin’ at Me? Eye Contact, Stereotypes, and Social Interaction on
  the Road](Vand_9780307270542_epub_c01_r1.htm#c01-s2)
  
  
  [Waiting in Line, Waiting in Traffic: Why the Other Lane Always Moves
  Faster](Vand_9780307270542_epub_c01_r1.htm#c01-s3)
  
  
  [Pos