THE SOCIAL ORDERS OF THE ROAD

In trying to produce a "big picture" perspective of social life, one that gives some order to the net sum of human activities and insight into how social structure emerges from interpersonal interactions, sociologists employ a number of metaphors.  Here consider road-related phenomena as the metaphoric frame by which all social actions are understood. Like society's rules and norms, roadways and driving laws evolved to maximize the number  of individuals reaching their destinations within a given time-frame.  There emerge such "macro" phenomena as:

• a moral order,  ranging from the laws actively enforced by police and traffic courts to the mores and norms (common courtesies) of other drivers (with enforcements through demeaning gestures and road rage). 
  • Methodologically, the moral order of various communities' road systems can be compared employing such measures as drive-by shootings. Click here to see rates various age groups are ticketed.
  • With the threat of war in the Middle East, Americans' attentions returned to matters of fuel efficiency.  Drivers of SUVs were depicted as contributing to terrorism because of their gas guzzlers.  Some wondered what Jesus would drive.
• various social systems arising because of the road [oil, automotive, automotive materials (steel, plastics, glass, repair], highway, concrete and asphalt, ), the elite orders they spawn (i.e., the Rockefellers and Fords) and the power they exercise over the political economy (ability to make or fend off laws regarding pollution controls, auto safety and gas efficiency).

The Roadway System

To push our driving-as-social life metaphor further, roadways are the various social pathways people take to reach their lives' destinations.  The more unique the destination the smaller and less developed the road--and the fewer the norms and rules.  Being totally off the road with one's 4-wheel-drive is thus an expression of American individualism.

AA Roads on the ribbons of asphalt and concrete that link people to people

Roadside Peek "An Adventure in Time"

Interstate 50^th Anniversary Website

William Beaty's "Traffic Waves: Physics for Bored Commuters "just one driver can vastly improve traffic"

The Traffic Signal Museum

Highway Statistics Series from the Federal Highway Administration

Federal Highway Administration

The WWW Speedtrap Registry

DOS/CA: TRAVEL WARNINGS & CONSULAR INFO SHEETS

Meshing the Needs of Self and Society: Smart Roads and Dumb Drivers

Kathy Stolley's "Sitting in Traffic?"

Leon James and Diane Nahl's Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare

THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The Manufacturers

Detroit, Inc.: A brief history of the first 100 years of the automobile in the U.S.

Automotive History-The Assembly Line