There was a vast power outage in our town today. i was driving, and the traffic lights were off too. However there was no huge mess, no accident, no tied up traffic in the middle of the intersections. The traffic law here states: in the case of a non-functioning traffic light, you give the right of the way to all the cars that are already stopped at the line before you did. This simple. No need for a policeman to be there, drivers follow the rule and stop at the line and cross when its their trun. Now most of you can imagine what a huge mess such incident is going to cause in an intersection in Tehran.
Why is it so? Is it because the drivers there don't know the rule? Is there a rule there to guide poeple in such incidents, at all? Is it because drivers in Iran forget the traffic laws and regulations? Why is there this big difference between here and there? Why?
P.S. "There’s a continuum of disorder. Obviously
murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes. But
they are part of the same continuum, and a climate that
tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other.”
-Rudy Guiliani
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11 comments:
maybe because of huge traffic in Tehran, every body is in a hurry, it gradually became a habit , even if they have not been in traffic ,they are in a hurry!!, also nobody is used to let another car to pass!!a professional driver does not give any right to others to pass!! if you act differently you are considered as a naive driver!!
so all these have been making our driving culture!!
Hmmm...
We cannot say people in Tehran or the other cities of Iran do not know the rules, since some of these rules are natural rules which can be easily known by people...
Perhaps it's the matter of applying your knowledge; Do they apply their knowledge very well?
you need to be more careful
if such an incident happens in atlanta (or i assume in other big cities in the US) the results won't be as neat
it may be that you need enough mass to support such a neat solution and this is harder to sustain in big cities, and other factors may also contribute
if you think others won't obey the law, it is less likely that you do so either, alas many game theoretic issues/results may apply
i agree, probably the reason that "nobody" obeys the law is that if someone does, then he can't get a chance to cross the intersection at all. But how do people chose which equilibrium they end up in? That is my question. Why in Urbana the equilibrium is all people obey the rule of a light-less cross section, and in Tehran/Atlanta it is nobody does? Assuming we all agree that the former is a better/more efficient outcome.
I will agree with bahareh and cuckoo too, and I can assure you if such a similar thing happens in New York specially anywhere near downtown, results wont be the same.
Lower trafic (as said), higher education rate (along with its implementation in the form that most people over here are actually living 'it' in one form or another), and a lot of other factors of this town where your live, make such an unpleasant experience a pleasant one too.
The dynamics of this sort of a situation are too complicated, but I do assume it does have something to do with the collective thought of the people.
hmmm... good observation!
Thanks heavens I slept all day long :P only the emergency texts disrupted my sleep :D n I was like ... what? :/
moreover, I agree with Parinaz too that its not just the knowledge of the law.
Though I was sleeping, but I just did a thought experiment, (tho its not that solid to draw conclusions on given my hindsight of the results), but I honestly didnt know that there was a law for this sort of a situation :) but I think I wud have done the same thing, i.e given the right of the way. Reasons, 1. probably looking at others would teach me/compel me to be nice in that situation and also guaranteed that I will get my turn, sort of taming my instincts of survival :P
2. and plus all these numerous stops signs that one sees on almost every second crossing. Atleast they have programmed me well to atleast look out for stop signs if not any thing else :D
3. moreover my lack of confidence in my skills :P
but I wish I had actually got a chance to make these decisions :D
I assure you if this happens in NYC or LA you would have as big a mess as Tehran. You should ask yourself if this would have happened in Som'eh-sara for example. You are an economist what do you think about the trade off for such a decision in Tehran?
ok I am going to completely disagree with everyone (!) and say that I think the difference is more fundamental. I think that in Iran there is a lack of respect that people have for each other. Perhaps respect is too strong a word but i think people are all so worried about their own lives that they only think about their own 'winning'. This shows itself when you drive, when you go to the bank and many other social instances.
This might of course be also the case in bigger cities as others have commented. All I know is that I definitely noticed that in Tehran.
@Anon1: There is a tradeoff here, yes. But the time they lose by obeying the law, is much less than the time they might save, if an accident happens in the middle of the cross section.
@Anon2: I acknowledge the selfishness. But human being is selfish in his nature. Americans are selfish too, but they "generally" obey the traffic rules.
Anonymous2: The simple way to show your assumption, wrong about 'people' lacking respect for others, or them being much more self-possessed in Tehran or any other big city for that instance is by pulling the same individuals out from those circumstances and putting them in cities like these... or for that matter in an average city of a country like USA, or to make it more solid in any city of lets say Sweden.
You will notice that the very same people would obey these laws and be model citizens. So I cannot agree with you that this is some inherent problem with the natives of Tehran, NYC or Atlanta. It is much more complex than the way you look at it.
There are several theories explaining this phenomena.
Some say its because these rules are well implemented in say countries like Sweden and so due to fear of punishment people obey it. Some aspects of this problem are closely related to the socio-economic aspects of the society, as some argue that rule of law cannot be established till people are economically satisfied...
No matter what the case, this whole issue is not as simple as just stating that the people of this place or that are like this or that.
Another simple example is often observed by those who frequently travel from any 3rd world country to a developed one.
You will see people while boarding the plane in a 3rd world country would be unruly, having total disrespect for the law, rules and to mention even basic ethics. But the moment this plane lands at lets say Heathrow, or any other developed country these very same people make queues on their own, follow each and every rule.
This whole transformation which just takes place in less than 12 hours (without or with lesser instructions/teaching) is one example of the fact that this problem is realy complex and cannot be simply explained by saying that this is the inherent nature of the people of such and such place. Coz its not!
Very good point, Esfand. I too have seen this change of behavior in people when they are put in two different environments.
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