Rhetorical Analysis
Do traffic signals make a difference when drivers are conducting their vehicles? In U.K. the roads have less signs and are smaller roads than in the United States. The United States has great amounts of traffic signals and symbols all over the road to make the driver more aware. In the U.K. accidents do occur but not that often has in the United States. In the Unites States every second there is huge amounts of accidents going on over the nation. John Staddon in his magazine article “Distracting Miss Daisy” tries to persuade that traffic control is making traffic more dangerous because we do not pay attention to the road, but to the signals. In the article “Distracting Miss Daisy” John Staddon wants to reach the United States drivers and traffic making rules, so they can see what the difference between the U.K. and the Unites States accident rates. Accidents happen continuously in the United States. For example, John Staddon states “Often when I return to the U.S. (usually to a suburban area in North Carolina’s Research Triangle), I see a fender bender or two within a few days. Yet I almost never see accidents in the U.K. This surprised me, since the roads I drive here are generally wider, better marked, and less crowded than in the parts of England that I know best. And so I came to reflect on the mundane details of traffic-control policies in Great Britain and the United States” (103). Staddon in the example wants citizens to notice how having wider roads and millions of signals do not make any improvement for the safety of the drivers. Drivers tend to look more at the signals and they feel a need to obey them, instead of making their own assumptions of what will happen if for example the road is not in conditions for a 55mph, night speed, curves and weather conditions. What is most important for road safety? The engineering of the cars, the quality of the roads or the speed limit might not only be the unique factors for good safety around the nation (Staddon
Cited: Staddon, John. "Distracting Miss Daisy - Magazine - The Atlantic." The Atlantic News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Food TheAtlantic.com. Web. 05 Feb. 2011. .