Picture: A broken down Aston Martin with an unhappy owner.
According to various studies about happiness the length of the daily commute is a key factor in personal happiness (I must be a very happy person then as I walk to work in ten minutes). While I walk I closely study the behaviour of my fellow commuters who are cramped into cars. After observing car drivers for quite a while I cannot help but think that people in expensive sports cars behave more aggressively than people in less status-driven cars. I believe that the type of car, and the status it gives the driver can affect the driving behaviour. As I do not have a car of my own but use the clever rental car system by Mobility, I personally witness the effect of a no-status car like the Mobility cars. All the mobility cars are red and it says Mobility on it in big letters. The cars tend to be small with small engines. I have observed many times that whenever I drive such a car I get away with sloppy driving and no one gets upset about it. Why? Because the red Mobility cars say one thing: occassional non-status driver. Or put otherwise: I am no threat to any alpha-males.
Oh! It seems you have a habit of observing drivers and their cars. Hehehe! Well, I'm pretty sure anyone would be upset if their Aston Martin suddenly broke down in the middle of the road. It may be that the model of a car can affect the emotions of a person once their car stopped in their tracks for no apparent reason.
Posted by: Ellsworth Mciltrot | January 11, 2012 at 04:18 PM
Love the blog. Writing from Los Angeles, the effect of long daily commutes is pernicious and ubiquitous. Apart from myself, who walks to and from our biotech start-up's offices! I did a 20 mile driving commute from Marina Del Rey to Pasadena for the first month when I moved here and that was enough. I would agree that walking and cycling definitely makes for happier people. Mind you, when I've visited Zurich, I don't remember seeing many aggressive drivers with status-driven cars, just many very polite, considerate drivers to come to a complete stop if a pedestrian even vaguely looks like they might be about to cross the road.
Posted by: Jeff | February 19, 2008 at 09:18 PM
why would anyone drive when the streets are so beautifully paved, with quaint streetlamps as those!
(sorry to barge in, came across your blog after coming back from laos two weeks ago and googling to see what others thought of it...luang prabang is heavenly)
Posted by: adhuna | February 17, 2008 at 04:28 AM