I've always been really interested in the science behind traffic and lamented not taking a class or two on the topic while in college. However this book by Vanderbilt definitely appeased my appetite regarding the psychology, statistics, and science behind everything traffic-related. The book really touched on a lot of different topics, which might be surprising since the topic can at first glance seem pretty mundane and not terribly varied.

As someone who's very in favor of and excited for a future of driverless cars (which this book didn't talk about at all until the epilogue, likely because it was written almost 10 years ago when such an idea was more far-fetched), much of this book only served to make me yearn for this change to come more quickly.

Rest assured, many of the topics presented in this book will become fodder for when this topic comes up with people who are leery about this future that excites me: the idea that human mistakes are so responsible for both crashes and traffic which can be very clearly improved upon using computers, the psychology behind humans acting differently than they would in face-to-face interactions because cars grant you anonymity, the Nash-ian/tragedy of the commons issue of people acting in their own self-interest on the road despite it being harmful to the overall flow of traffic, the risk homeostasis that human brains operate under that means we act more riskily than we should because we feel protected with improved car safety features, the cultural differences in driving that exist in different communities.

So not only does it excite me even more for driverless cars and serve as interesting thought nuggets anytime you're in the car or even near traffic as a pedestrian, but it also is definitely somewhat scary to realize exactly what's going on on those roads that all seem so normal and typical to us. But if the topic at all interests you, I'd definitely give this book a go!