Report #1: Initial Self Assessment as a Driver

For this first report, the assignment was to read the Generation one Traffic Psychology files and make a list of five subjects discussed by the students. I browsed through all of the home pages of the generation one students and selected these five subjects: age, tailgating, convoys, the accordion effect, and back seat driving. The format I will use for each of these subjects is to first say where I found the information, summarize what the original writer says, evaluate and compare each idea, give its usefulness to traffic psychology, and five my own self-observations on the specific subject. I hope you enjoy reading this report.

One student from Generation one, Saito, says that he's basically against denying people their drivers license just based on the fact of age. But, he is for testing a person's reflexes and denying a drivers license if the person does not past the test.

Another student feels that an essential part of driving is reaction time. In Yoshimitsu's report, she says that an elderly person with a slow reaction time is equivalent to a person who has taken an antihistamine. Yoshimitsu also feels that elderly drivers are a danger to themselves and others on the road. Her solution is to test driver's reflexes during the renewal stage of a driver's license, regardless of age.

A third student talked about the relationship between age and using cellular phones while driving. Isa then goes on saying that cellular phones have a negative affect on drivers of all ages. This negative factor only heightens a person's vulnerabilities. For an elderly person, this would be their decrease of sensory and psychomotor abilities.

The first two students have very similar ideas as to the fact that elderly people tend to have slower reflexes. They also agree that there should be some sort of reflex test during the renewal of an elderly person's drivers license. Although Saito references Yoshimitsu's idea of a test, he does not specify whether he would implement the test on everyone, or just the elderly. And if he would only target the elderly, who would determine the specific age of an elderly person?

The first two students' reports and the third one is a little different in the sense that the third student also adds the factor of using a cellular phone while driving. This on top of the fact of having slower reflexes adds to the danger of some elderly drivers.

Trying to solve the problem of having people, not just the elderly, with slow reflexes driving on the roads is very important to traffic psychology. As traffic psychologists, we need to study why so many drivers think that they are still capable of driving when they get into so many accidents. I suspect that some elderly drivers do not realize that they are a threat on the road. Others possibly know they have slowed reaction times but depend on driving to get them around. It is essential for their independence. There could be so many different scenarios depending upon the specific situations. Each person is unique. I think that if we did implement some sort of test for reflex, the test should be given to everyone. It must be implemented across the board, no exceptions.

Isa says that tailgating should be illegal and enforced strictly by the police. He thinks that accidents would decrease if less people tailgated. People who tend to tailgate also invade the other driver's personal space. This causes the driver to feel fear and anxiety. Isa also calls tailgating an act of aggression and that nothing good comes from it.

Reisner chose to write a list of ten ways to piss off a tailgate. I suppose these are things he has tried and has worked when other people have tailed him. He then goes on by saying that the best way to handle a tailgater is to let him pass. It doesn't pay to get the tailgater mad. Does this seem a bit contradictory?

Kaneshiro says that she tries not to tailgate people because it is dangerous. But because she had been frequently tailed, she is letting it get her upset. She then does something to let the tailgater get mad at her. She brushes it off and says too bad. Kaneshiro does not think that tailgating is a moral issue, at least she had not thought of it that way.

Matsu's opinion on tailgating is that it should be illegal. But morally, he does not see a thing wrong with tailing someone in order to get them to move out of the way. His thinks that it is wrong to break when someone is tailing you. The better choice, the more correct choice, is to move to the right lane and let the car pass.

Basically, all the reports I read from this section said the same thing. They all feel that tailgating is wrong and dangerous. Yet, many of them will try to aggravate someone who is tailing them. Or, they themselves will tail another car in order to make the car move faster.

This is an interesting subject for traffic psychologists. How is it that people think one thing about a particular subject and then act another way that is opposite from the way they think. Mist of the time, people act on their thoughts and feeling. In this case, they know that it is dangerous to tail someone, but they let their emotions get the best of them and they'll do it anyway. I noticed myself doing this too. I consider myself a conservative driver. I usually will not allow other drivers to aggravate me. But I do have my limits, and once the driver exceeds this limit, I will do something to let him know it.

Ota thinks people drive in convoys for different reasons. Slower drivers like to drive in packs because they feel safer from other drivers who are speeding. They do it for a sense of security. On the other hand, speeders travel in packs to avoid the law. They feel more comfortable breaking the law if others around them are doing the same thing.

Reisner also thinks that people travel in convoys in order to avoid getting a speeding ticket. He goes on talking about why some people like being in the head of a pack. A personal reflection by Reisner tells us about how he goes about traveling in convoys and why he likes it.

Matsu writes about the idea of driving in convoys for security. This security he wants from getting a speeding ticket. He also feels a sense of security while in a convoy. Matsu goes on to talk about why some drivers stay in convoys in order to conform. They don't want to stick out and be the only cars not in a pack.

For convoys, the main overlying theme is that people travel in conveys to avoid speeding tickets. They also do it to conform with everyone else. No one wants to be a sore thumb and stick out.

A traffic psychologist would then ask why people want to travel in packs just to conform. Does it really make a difference in how they feel while driving? I think that most people do it to avoid the speeding ticket. I personally do not travel in convoys. I will not go out of my way to be in a pack. If I happen to be in one, so be it. Then if they go on and pass me, that is fine too. I do not feel insecure being the only car in the area while everyone else is in a bunch.

A group of cars are on the road. There is space between the cars so each car decides to lessen the gap. Then someone breaks and they all break. When they start up again there is a delay in time between each car and the gaps between the cars widen again. This process keeps repeating itself. This is known as the accordion effect according to Izutsu.

Reisner gives a short and simple definition. He says that this accordion effect usually occurs in convoys. It is a quick separation and union of convoys through stop and go traffic.

Allen also gives a similar definition. A group of cars driving very close to each other. Because they are so close, when one breaks, they all must break . This occurs in a domino effect. He says that the accordion effect may result in a large accident due to the chain reaction.

The accordion effect's definition is the same through most of the reports I read. They all say that is it some group of cars traveling closely together. These cars breaking suddenly then starting up again makes it look like an accordion inflating and deflating.

I think that traffic psychologists would wonder why these people would risk following the car closely. By doing so, the potential for a huge accident is there. That is how there are fifty car pile ups on the road. The fact that the cars are driving too close, in times tailing each other. Why do people not want to allot the proper amount of space between cars. I did notice that when we were in stop and go traffic, the accordion effect does occur. I think that a reason for this is that if too much space is left between cars, someone will cut into that space. If you keep on allowing space between you and the car in front of you, you will end up taking much longer to get to your destination. Another thing is that the cars behind you will get very mad.

Back Seat Driver>

I looked at several people's ideas of a back seat driver. They were all the same. A back seat driver is someone who is always commenting on your driving. The back seat driver does not necessarily have to be sitting in the back seat, according to Beauchemin. She also has the an idea about the invisible break pedal. This is so funny. It is an imaginary break pedal on the floor by the passenger seat in the front where nervous passengers just love to pretend to help the car break. Crawford gives a sarcastic remark saying don't you just love them! Balatic is the only person who had something nice to say about a back seat driver. He says that the passenger is making sure that you are aware of how you are driving.

Traffic psychologists can look into why people like to be back seat drivers. Many of them hate when they have back seat drivers in their cars. Yet they'll do it to someone else. I notice that I am one of these people. I hate to have a back seat driver in my car, and sure enough, I caught myself doing it. I then tried to purposely not say anything. It wasn't that hard. You just start a conversation instead of criticizing and it works.

Overall, I think that I am a fairly calm driver. Only in recent years have I become a little more aggressive. With that I also have become more attentive. In order to be the ideal driver, the one that is courteous to others and does not offend anyone, it takes a lot of patience and practice. I do not think that there can be any driver that is ideal. There will always be someone out there pushing the right buttons to make you retaliate. The field of traffic psychology has a lot ahead. There are so many areas to be covered, we can only touch a couple of them during the course of this semester. So much to learn, so little time.

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