Keeping Busy When Stuck In Traffic

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 1999

American drivers are growing so accustomed to traffic delays that they consistently find ways to use the time behind the wheel in the pursuit of other activities, such as changing clothes, having picnics, and teaching their pets to drive. A survey by the Pennzoil Products Co., Houston, Tex., queried drivers across the country about what they do in stop-and-go driving.

When asked to name the funniest thing seen or done while stuck in traffic, the most commonly mentioned answers were romantic encounters, talking or singing to oneself, and personal grooming such as changing clothes, styling hair, and flossing teeth. A number of drivers put picnicking, eating, or even cooking on the car engine at the top of the list of things they do in traffic.

Among the animal antics that have amused survey respondents are people arguing with their pets; dashboard-lounging iguanas and steering wheel-perched parrots; dogs and cats "driving" moving vehicles; and dogs excitedly jumping from one pickup truck bed to another.

Individuals have been observed driving with their car's hood up, accidentally igniting themselves by dropping matches in their laps, and offering money to move ahead of the traffic. Respondents reported a car full of clowns, one with all three occupants using cell phones, and a man debating a puppet while driving.

Generation Xers are most likely to primp on the go. More than 33% of respondents aged 16-35 said they have changed clothes while stopped in traffic; 32% confessed to hair styling; and 25% have applied makeup. Younger drivers are more prone to all types of multitasking while driving. They responded "yes" to questions regarding almost every category of stuck-in-traffic activity more frequently than did baby boomers, who in turn engaged in idled-time activities with greater frequency than did older Americans.

"Whether we like it or not, stop-and-go driving is part of the American landscape, from gridlocked freeways to strings of traffic lights on any Main Street," notes Tom Floyd, chief marketing officer for Pennzoil. The survey also showed that drivers have plenty of time to do whatever they choose in traffic. Commuters in America's wide open spaces of the Midwest and Texas spend the most time in their vehicles, more than 65 minutes each day. Drivers in the Northeast spend under 45 minutes a day stuck behind the wheel.