Reading Tom Vanderbilt's latest book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About us), I was struck by a recurring theme: Making things safer may actually make them more dangerous.

The newest book that explores the history of traffic in old new York, London and ancient Rome comes from Tom Vanderbilt.

In his book, he gives way to traffic behaviorist Alan Pisarski, who blames affluence for cities jammed with narcissists in BMWs.