I guess maybe transparent cars wouldn't make that much of a difference. People like the one in your picture, Delta Flyer, live in their own little world anyway, and float obliviously by the rest of us without a glance of consideration. Being in a car is like being behind a wall, in that apparently it can make you feel like a distant observer.

On the other hand, now that I think about it, the transparency doesn't matter, because it isn't really about sight lines. Think of all the people who walk around all day on cell phones and are completely oblivious of the people next to them or the fact that they are interacting in a real world and not just with the person on the other end of the line. It always astonishes me when I'm in a crowded public place how much mental distance there is between someone and the person beside them (even touching or leaning against them in crowded trains and subways, sidewalks, etc.) that allows them to talk about incredibly personal stuff at the top of their voices, as if they were alone in the world. Where does this come from? Why do little things like a higher seat in a car or a phone against their ear make them feel so set apart from the world they move through? I can't understand it.

 

Neither do I, Leah.

An ex-coworker asked for my e-mail when I switched jobs. Over the next two years, she sent me 250 e-mails that were chain-mail, urban myths like "boycott Exxon and start a gas price war", not one personal e-mail. Why do somepeople think you keep friends by spamming them? I've had others that are also oblivious to their behavior.



Interesting observation about the one-armed lean I lampoon - almost without exception they are men. I might have seen a woman do it, but they had a phone glued to their ear, and I have never, never seen a woman doing the one-armed lean chilling out without a phone. I've been to a few forums with women doing male-bashing - they would have an orgy over that observation.

 

Delta Flyer: Don't worry, I am not going to give you a hard time about the male/female observation. Trends aren't the same thing as traits, and correlation does not imply causation.

I'm sure there are arrogant women drivers and cautious men drivers, but one thought that springs to mind is height. I am a very short woman- I don't think I could *reach* to do some of the things the guys in your pictures are doing. Even for women of average height it might be an uncomfortable stretch. Just a thought.