ISSUE 23
Traffic Accidents

It’s amazing how a nation’s culture is revealed by its traffic patterns. I don’t mean just whether one drives on

the left or right side of the road. In Japan, cars move in nice neat little grid patterns. It is nearly always

orderly and precisely controlled. In England, it is more individualistic, but polite; for instance, people mostly
stay in one lane and maintain a uniform speed, whatever people in other lanes are doing. Somehow, Americans
seem to combine a defensive driving strategy with one that freely violates the law, in terms of speed limits inparticular. I remember my Canadian friends laughingly referring to a “Yankee stop” to describe slowing down fora stop sign but not quite coming to a full halt before driving through the intersection. In Korea, I guess the best
description of the competitive way most people drive would be to call it Traffic Tetris – any gap between
speeding motorists will immediately be filled, as though there’s something in the Korean nature that abhors avacuum.

What are the main causes of traffic accidents?
(1)

Violating traffic rules(2)

Speeding(3)

Driving drunk(4)

Using a mobile phone while driving(5)

Outdated traffic system(6)

Being distracted(7)

Being over-confident of one’s driving skills

 reveal : make known (sth) concealed grid : pattern of straight lines orderly : well arranged; neat
 refer to : be about; concern

 abhor : hate (sth) very much outdated : old and no longer suitable for modern
purposes, methods, or situations

 distracted : not able to concentrate on (sth)Sample Answers(A) Violating traffic laws is the biggest cause of accidents. They can be broken in many ways: by not following speedlimits, by not obeying traffic signs, and so forth. The rules are designed to protect us, not to punish us, even thoughsometimes they seem inconvenient. Nevertheless, if everyone would obey them, there would be far fewer accidents.
(B) Overconfidence is a serious problem. Unless people are careful, they think they cannot ever make mistakes – andthen they start making more of them! While it is important to have a strong belief in one’s own ability, having a sense ofperspective and self-criticism is also important. No one is perfect, and knowing our limitations is extremely important.
So, people who are overconfident don’t care where they are going when they drive, they don’t notice that they aregoing too fast, they cannot be patient behind the wheel, and they cause a lot of accidents by not paying attention.

Speak Your Mind
1. Do you always obey the traffic rules? Why or why not?
2. Have you ever driven 150 km per hour or faster? Why or why not?
3. What are the traffic rules people break most often?
4. Why do some people drink and drive?
5. Are there too many cars on the road?
How could car ownership be curbed?
Would there be any bad side effects if that happened?

 sense of perspective : true understanding of the relative
importance of things

 obey : do what a law or person says one must do curb : hold back or control (sth)Speak Your Mind Helpers
1. Do you always obey the traffic rules? Why or why not?
(A)
Sometimes I absent-mindedly fail to pay attention to how fast I’m driving. I’ll suddenly catch myself going way over thespeed limit. Then I immediately slow down. It isn’t a deliberate attempt to break the law, it’s just being absent-minded.
(B)
The only way to drive in this country is to ignore the law, because no one else is obeying it. If I actually followed the rules
in a strict manner, I’d probably end up causing an accident. But by knowing that anarchy is the only law of the highway
here, I’m able to take advantage of the shifting opportunities and arrive at my destination quickly and safely.

2. Have you ever driven 150 km per hour or faster? Why or why not?
(A)
It’s very hard to even think about such speeds in the crowded urban setting I drive in. There simply is no space available,
though almost everybody is slightly over the speed limit. But every once in a while I take a drive on a rural expressway
and I can drive as fast as my car will go. It’s an exhilarating sense of freedom to glide down the highway in that manner.
(B)
Anyone who would even think about driving that fast must be crazy. Neither our roads nor our engines are engineered
for that kind of speed. But, even more important, neither are our driving habits. On the Autobahn in Germany, people
are used to driving as fast as they can, and not only the highway itself but also the powerful German cars are designed
for that purpose, and people are taught to drive accordingly; but here, we are more cramped in our geography andattitudes.

 absent-minded : forgetting things or thinking about (sth)that is not relevant at the moment catch (sb) doing (sth) : find (sb) doing (sth) deliberate : intended, not done by chance or by accident;
intentional ignore : pay no attention; disregard

 anarchy : situations without rules shifting : changing
 destination : place where (sb/sth) is going exhilarate : make (sb) feel extremely happy, excited, andfull of energy cramped : small and crowded; feeling uncomfortable in aspace that is too small

3. What are the traffic rules people break most often?
(A)
Almost everywhere, I think speed limits are pretty uniformly ignored. We are all impatient to get where we are going assoon as we can and dislike having our impulses controlled. We also know that most of the time we can get away withspeeding, since there are not enough highway patrolmen available to regulate it completely.
(B)
The most dangerous habitual traffic violations are at the intersections. There is a yellow warning light to inform drivers
to stop, but it serves only to spur them to speed up instead, so they can drive through before the light turns red. What I
see most of the time is that when the light turns red, one or two – or more – cars at the front of the line will keep goinganyway instead of stopping. What makes the situation worse is that the stopped traffic (and especially buses andmotorbikes) will anticipate the changing light and begin before the signal turns green. So we get people violating thetraffic light at both ends of the cycle. It’s a wonder we don’t have even more traffic accidents than we do.

4. Why do some people drink and drive?
(A)
The reason people should not drive after they’ve had some alcohol is because their judgement is seriously impaired. But,
because their reasoning is improperly functioning, they don’t properly consider how dangerous it is to drive under theinfluence of alcohol, and so they do it. If they had not been drinking, they would know not to drive drunk, but because
they are drunk they don’t know anything very well.
(B)
A lot of people fail to realize just how inebriated they are. As far as they can tell, their vision and reflexes and judgement
don’t seem to be impaired at all, so they don’t think they are a threat to themselves or others. They falsely believe thatthey are superior to the blood-alcohol content, not understanding that even small deteriorations of hand-eye
coordination can be fatal.

 get away with : manage to do (sth) bad without being
punished or criticized for it intersection: place where two or more roads cross serve : be used for a particular purpose spur : cause (sb) to do (sth) impaired : damaged
 inebriated : intoxicated; drunk reflex : involuntary or instinctive response of a stimulus
 deteriorate : become worse
 fatal : capable of causing death5. Are there too many cars on the road? How could car ownership be curbed?
Would there be any bad side effect if that happened?
M: Whew! Traffic sure is terrible today. It seems like we’ve been parked here without moving for a half
F:Well, we’ve moved a bit I suppose, but we sure haven’t gone far. There must be an accident ahead.

M: I guess so. But the main problem is that there are just too many cars on the road. I have no idea
at night.
F:hour.

where they all park

I can remember when hardly anybody had a car here. And now it seems like everyone does. It’s not just one car per
household, it’s like one per adult.

M: Right. And the result is not just as bad traffic, like now, but also higher gasoline costs and more pollution. These cars
are killing us!
F:Yes, and not only by way of crashes. We should be able to do something about the situation, though.

M: Sure! Raise the taxes on cars and license plates. That should reduce the demand.
F:

But wouldn’t that be unfair if only the wealthy could afford an automobile? How would poor people get to work then?

M: Just like before: they could take the bus or subway.
F:

Not to mention the massive unemployment that would result among auto workers, gasoline attendants, mechanics,
construction workers, insurance salespeople…

M: Well, they’d find other jobs. Just like when typewriters became obsolete; now people work in computer companies
instead.
F:I don’t think people would like to have their status symbols taken away from them by such a law. If the government
made any serious attempt to deprive them of their cars, that government wouldn’t last long.

M: Maybe you’re right, after all.
F:Hey, I think we’re moving! The traffic jam seems to have cleared
suddenly.

M: Well, at least talking about the traffic problem let us pass the timepleasantly while we were stuck in traffic, eventhough we didn’t
solve the problem itself.

 obsolete : no longer in use of in fashion
 deprive (sb) of (sth): take (sth) from (sb) traffic jam : long line of vehicles that cannot move along
the road, or that can only more very slowly