Traffic enlightenment

It’s not the orange Gallardo. Nor is it Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance as Owen Davian. Nor is it even the excellent Chesapeake Bay Bridge scene, where the blast from a Reaper drone strike blows Ethan Hawke sideways into a car while running. No, it’s the bit in Mission Impossible III where Tom Cruise’s character is at a drinks party and, when asked what his job is, says, ‘I study traffic patterns’ while making it sound as interesting as being a secret agent.

As part of this Department of Transportation cover story, he goes on to explain to his audience that if ‘you hit the brakes for a second, just tap them on the freeway, you can literally track the ripple effect of that action across a 200-mile stretch of road. Because traffic has a memory. It’s amazing, it’s like a living organism.’