Matt Prior: Instant Judgments Aren’t Always Bad Judgments Car News

Question: You are on a two-lane road and there is a traffic light in front of you. They are red. In the left lane there is a four-axle dump truck and an old Toyota Yaris. In the right lane there is a new BMW 3 Series. In which lane will you stop?

Yes me too. Because why not you? The car in the right lane is a dead certainty to move away faster.

We all do, don’t we? Make clear and quick judgments based on the cars we see, because cars tell us a lot about the people who drive them.

You see someone in an accelerator lane when you are in the first lane of a freeway. Will you need to adjust your speed for the 10 year old Nissan Micra? Probably. For the Tesla fresh out of a Supercharger session? It is very likely that it is about to accelerate to a million kilometers per hour on the way to lane three, so probably not.

You will also have been the target of these judgments. The Lord knows I have. As I get into a different car every few days and maybe keep one for a few months, I experience several types of prejudices, positive and negative, several times a week.

In a big, beefy 4×4 like a Ford Ranger Raptor, the experience is, how to say: respectful. It’s a huge car with an angry face; people waved cheerfully and let me out of the crossroads, because it’s intimidating. I guess even if someone had left me behind (which they didn’t), they would soon have vanished from sight of my mirror as they perfected themselves on the loading dock.

But try to get into a faster lane of traffic exactly the same way I would in a Ranger Raptor in a Dacia Sandero and I find I can get a very different response. I am the same type when I drive both, but I am perceived differently.

I tell myself not to worry about it, because I make the same appeals for judgment. I bet we all do. How fast will this car enter a roundabout? It’s a signal, but will it really turn out? I bet with every call you make your assessment is correct over 90% of the time.

Enter, then, the Toyota GR Yaris in which I spend a lot of time at the moment. This is an interesting case. A very small percentage of road users know exactly what it is, and then there’s everyone, who all thinks it’s just a Yaris.

So it’s a confusing issue, and I think it’s only going to get more complex for all of us – not because there will be an influx of similar rally aftershocks, but because of the ramp up of vehicles. alternative fuel.