Traffic Quotes

“My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them.
My dream holiday would be a) a ticket to Amsterdam b) immunity from prosecution and c) a baseball bat.”
― Terry Pratchett

“Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.”
― Dan Rather

“A sip of wine, a cigarette,
And then it’s time to go.
I tidied up the kitchenette;
I tuned the old banjo.
I’m wanted at the traffic-jam.
They’re saving me a seat.”
― Leonard Cohen

“Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.”
― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

“If you haven't seen your wife smile at a traffic cop, you haven't seen her smile her prettiest.”
― kin hubbard

“On that walk around the building, two sets of cops coming out stopped to tell our guys to hustle us inside so they could head back out on the road. Accidents everywhere. A pileup on
each of two major roads. “Welcome to winter,” one said. “When fifty percent of drivers should have their licenses temporarily suspended.”
― Kelley Armstrong, Dangerous

“Nobody gives way to anybody. Everyone just angles, points, dives directly toward his destination, pretending it is an all-or-nothing gamble. People glare at one another and fight for maneuvering space. All parties are equally determined to get the right-of-way--insist on it. They swerve away at the last possible moment, giving scant inches to spare. The victor goes forwards, no time for a victory grin, already engaging in another contest of will. Saigon traffic is Vietnamese life, a continuous charade of posturing, bluffing, fast moves, tenacity and surrenders.”
― Andrew X. Pham, Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

“Traffic in Joburg is like the democratic process. Every time you think it's going to get moving and take you somewhere, you hit another jam.”
― Lauren Beukes, Zoo City

“In the city a funeral is just an interruption of traffic; in the country it is a form of entertainment. ”
― George Ade

“T.C.: Um, actually you just said "I live in a parking lot." You didn't mean to do that.
Lori: You've never seen traffic on Concord Street at eight o'clock in the morning.”
― Steve Kluger

“All that remains of the garden city in our own day are traffic-free enclaves, islands in a sea of traffic where the pedestrian leads a legally protected by languishing existence, comparable to that of the North American Indians on their reservations...In reality the modern urbanist regards the city as a gigantic centre of production, geared to the efficient transport of workers and goods, to the accommodation of people and the storage of wares, to industrial and commercial activity. The rest, that is to say creativity, life, is optional and comes under the heading of recreation and leisure activities.”
― Tom McDonough, The Situationists and the City: A Reader

“A society sufficiently sophisticated to produce the internal combustion engine has not had the sophistication to develop cheap and efficient public transport?'
‘Yes, boss... it’s true. There’s hardly any buses, the trains are hopelessly underfunded, and hence the entire population is stuck in traffic”
― Ben Elton, Gridlock

“I looked out through the narrow door. The traffic ceaselessly passed; men and women hurried along with set faces. Phantasms of horror, all of them: infernal realms wherein they dwelt. Outside, men lived under the tyranny of things. Their every action was determined by the orders of mere matter, by money, and the tools of their trade and the unthinking laws of habit and convention. But here I seemed to be safe from things, living at a remove from actuality; here where a bearded old man, improbable survival from some other time, indomitably played the music of romance, despite the fact that the phantasms of horror might occasionally drown the sound of it with their clamour.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Bookshop

“I am stuck in traffic in a taxicab
which is typical
and not just of modern life”
― Frank O'Hara

“To get faster and better service, ring a bell. It’s the same principal as honking at someone in traffic. People respond well to it, and they seem to really enjoy it.”
― Jarod Kintz, There are Two Typos of People in This World: Those Who Can Edit and Those Who Can't

“One of the triumphs of civilisation, Peter Walsh thought. It is one of the triumphs of civilisation, as the light high bell of the ambulance sounded. Swiftly, cleanly, the ambulance sped to the hospital, having picked up instantly, humanely, some poor devil; some one hit on the head, struck down by disease, knocked over perhaps a minute or so ago at one of these crossings, as might happen to oneself. That was civilisation. It struck him coming back from the East - the efficiency, the organisation, the communal spirit of London. Every cart or carriage of its own accord drew aside to let the ambulance pass. Perhaps it was morbid; or was it not touching rather, the respect which they showed this ambulance with its victim inside- busy men hurrying home, yet instantly bethinking them as it passed of some wife; or presumably how easily it might have been them there, stretched on a shelf with a doctor and a nurse.”
― Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

“The person you are mad at for being late could be late.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana, P for Pessimism: A Collection of Funny yet Profound Aphorisms

“If you want to be a writer, you gotta stand in the middle of the traffic to see how fast the train goes.

The human comedy has never been richer.”
― Thomas Wolfe

“On city harp strings ‘neath cotton ball clouds,
Pigeon to pigeon their stories they sing,
Wafting flocks gather in soft, cooing crowds;
Amid rush traffic, a prelude to spring,
One with their nature, harmony within,
Above street clatter, perched, resting their bones,
Primed for the vernal bounty to begin,
Soothing the clamor with light, dulcet tones;
Whiffs of smog-filled drafts like bellows pulse through,
Unfazed are they by our mad world of haste,
The calm bevy awaits winter’s adieu,
Unconsumed by thoughts of no time to waste,
Nature presides with unshakable pride,
The seasons shall turn with a feather’s glide.”
― Marie Helen Abramyan

“I thought I could hear a distant hum, or roar, and braced myself for revelation, but it was the A465.”
― Nina Lyon, Uprooted: On the Trail of the Green Man

“C'est la ceinture de sécurité qui m'a confronté pour la première fois à une frontière qui sépare deux mondes. L'un est habité par ceux qui tentent d'améliorer les connaissances avec des méthodes appropriées, présentées et commentées avec sincérité, c'est le fondement de la démarche scientifique. L'autre associe des personnes qui imaginent et "démontrent" ce qui va dans le sens de ce qu'ils veulent prouver.”
― Claude Got, La violence routière - Des mensonges qui tuent

“La pensée unique qui cimente ce groupe est l'affirmation que la vitesse n'est pas dangereuse en elle-même, c'est seulement un facteur d'aggravation des conséquences des accidents, ce qui permet aux "bons conducteurs" de s'affranchir des règles sur la limitation de vitesse. Cette négation de l'évidence permet d'avoir une bonne conscience tout en transgressant les règles. Elle constitue un obstacle majeur au développement d'un consensus social sur le risque lié à la vitesse.”
― Claude Got, La violence routière - Des mensonges qui tuent

“Quand un industriel de l'automobile commercialise un 4 x 4 offrant cinq places et pesant plus de 2 tonnes, qui produit trois fois plus de dioxyde de carbone qu'un véhicule "raisonnable" assurant le même service, nous sommes confrontés à une urgence de sécurité sanitaire. [...] Lutter contre de tels excès et contre les manipulations qui leur sont liés n'est pas un excès "hygiéniste, c'est un devoir social. Sur ce dossier, les industriels ont eu un comportement manipulateur et irresponsable qui est bien documenté. Ils ont pendant les quarante dernières années réalisé des progrès très importants dans la sécurité primaire et secondaire de leurs véhicules tout en supprimant une partie de ces progrès par des accroissements en grande partie inutiles de la masse et totalement inutiles de la vitesse maximale.”
― Claude Got, La violence routière - Des mensonges qui tuent

“Refuser la relation mathématique entre la vitesse moyenne de circulation sur un réseau autoroutier et l'accidentalité fait partie des attitudes de déni qui permettent peut-être de conserver une forme puérile d'estime de soi, mais qui sont à la fois ridicules et manipulatoires.”
― Claude Got, La violence routière - Des mensonges qui tuent

“I didn’t know then that driving in India would help me develop a steadfast mind like an archer, capable of staying calm and focused amid the mayhem of traffic.”
― Ranjani Rao, Rewriting My Happily Ever After - A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery

“Twitter traffic on #HurricaneIan had significantly reduced four weeks afterwards.”
― Steven Magee

“Traffic was longer than a coupon queue.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“As cities expand and more vehicles take to the roads, the infrastructure struggles to keep pace, resulting in congestion, compromised safety, and an increased risk of accidents. The need for a holistic approach that encompasses infrastructure development, public awareness campaigns, and stringent law enforcement becomes evident in addressing this critical issue.”
― Shivanshu K. Srivastava

“The surge in road traffic fatalities in India is not just a statistical anomaly but a reflection of the intricate interplay of factors contributing to the nation’s road safety challenges. Urban planning that prioritizes pedestrian safety, well-designed roads, and efficient traffic management systems are essential components of the solution. Equally critical is the need for robust law enforcement to ensure compliance with traffic regulations, deterring reckless driving and holding violators accountable.”
― Shivanshu K. Srivastava

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― Utibe Samuel Mbom, Your Clients and You