My driving personality makeover plan was initiated a few weeks ago. After completing my self assessment as a driver I couldn't believe the results which were taken, I was a butt-head. The results reflected the total opposite of my regular personality. I wasn't aware of all the things that I do, how I feel, and what I say. It seemed so unlike me. It took while to figure out what I had to do, but for the most part it all seemed to work. I tried to devise a plan for each of the habits that I felt need changing, such as swearing, tailgating, speeding and rushing. I had a different approach to each of the different types of driving behaviors with some of the same styles of "therapy." One thing that was the same all the time was reciting what I wanted to change before I started the car. This helped me be more aware of my behavior while driving.

The first behavior I approached was swearing. I choose to deal with this behavior because I saw the effects of my swearing over a prolonged amount of time. It started rubbing off on those who were around me, mainly my girlfriend. It seems that she is well on her way in picking up my bad habit. I started my plan of attack by trying to be positive person behind the steering wheel. I was trying to be aware of what I was saying. I also tried to put myself in a different perception. I imagined that I wasn't swearing at the car or an act but a instead I was swearing in the persons face.

In the beginning I thought my plan wouldn't work. I thought I should have made a more in depth and logical planning into changing my swearing addiction. I thought for sure that I would continue swearing, the same as I did when I made my observation of my driving in Report 1. I know there are times when I don't really care if what any body thinks, and I believe that it is true for everybody at one time or another and that this approach wouldn't work. I felt that it would be close to impossible to change because I've been doing it (swearing) for so long it just comes out.

To my surprise my imagery therapy worked very well for me. I observed my first week by noting down how many times I swore when I was a stop or got to my destination. I found it very hard for me to try and swear at someone who I don't know or really have a problem with. I put myself in that persons position and thought of the reasons why the person did what they did. Sometimes when your on the road you are not aware of those around you or don't necessarily mean to do the things you do when you drive. Adopting this type of thinking helped me greatly. For the past week it seemed to have worked very well. I catch myself swearing a little bit but only when I feel that the person did it intentionally, those are the guys who drive the Bimmers and Benzes(they think that they own the road). I was sitting in traffic on a Friday afternoon and I was cut off by a guy in a Honda prelude. I was supprized that I didn't swear because I was by myself in the car. Another incident occurred when I was going about 70 and a red Toyota celica cut in front of me going at about 60. Not a vulgar word came out of my mouth. In fact I never really thought anything about it. I didn't care at all if the person cut in front of me. Usually I would just cuss out loud but I didn't do it that time. I guess that it is getting to be an automatic response form to not swear. For the future I have devised an additional plan of attack. For every swear word I would give $0.25 to my girlfriend to invest in something for the future. Knowing this and the frequency of swearing when I did my observation , I'm sure in no time at all my girlfriend would have collected enough to buy us a house. I figure if it hits me in the pocket book then maybe it will work more as a deterrent. Over all, I feel better about myself and I feel that I do have control to what I say. I don't feel like a "victim" anymore. I know now that I'm a better person and this just reinforces the fact. The next step is to try to get my girlfriend to stop swearing when she is driving and all my other friends who swear while driving.

The next behavior that I wanted to change was my tailgating habit. I devised a plan where I would think of the consequences if I was tailgating and the person in front of me braked suddenly. The very thought of my car being in an accident is deterrent enough for me to stop tailgating. Every time I'm within one car length behind the car in front of me I imagine my car mangled into a heap of fiberglass and metal. I also tied to indicate what I learned in drivers education, which was being five seconds behind the driver behind you. I thought that trying to regress to when I was a cautious driver would bring out those cautious days of driving out of me.

I thought for sure that this plan would give me positive results. WHY? Well, if you know me, my car is an important part of me. It isn't just transportation or a tool for me to use. It's like an extension of my own body and no one would want to hurt themselves, if those people were in the right frame of mind. My car is considered my "Baby" and no one would let there baby get hurt. I know what it is like when you get into an accident, even if it is a minor one. My car was in a little fender bender and just to fix a small thing took over three weeks to get fixed. I did not want that to happen again. I don't feel it will take little effort for me to change this behavior.

The progress was not as quick as the swearing was but for the past two weeks I haven't really tailgated that much. I have tailgated three times in the last two weeks. I took observations just the same way as I did when I was recording my swearing. I tried to record all my behaviors upon a stop or when I leave my car. When I was tailgating it wasn't a matter of who was in the car or what they did to me, like cut me off, but how late I was to get to where I needed to be. My family was waiting for me to get home so we could go to church. It wasn't my fault though, I had to rush from work.

Another reason for the decreasing of tailgating would be the amount of driving I did in the past two week. I have only drive my car four days out of the week and that I drive in rush hour traffic about once a week. On today's observation I didn't tailgate anyone, even though I had the chance to. There was this guy in a primered Toyota pick-up who cut me off and thought he owned the road. Usually that is a calling for me to cause trouble but I thought to myself that it's close to three in the afternoon and that traffic is starting up, I'll probably catch up to him. Sure enough I caught up to him. It is really amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it and think it through. I think my problem was the fact that I was "caught up in the moment" so to speak. If you really think about it, which hardly anyone does, something only bothers you if you let it bother you.

My personality doesn't dictate that I have to do this in order to get what I want. I am not the type of person who bullies their way in and out of things, as in tailgating. Though, when you're behind the wheel of a car, you use that car as a barrier or defense mechanism, or should I say offense mechanism, against others on the road My job training as a resident advisor in the dorms has taught this to me and I think that I could use it to my benefit and become a better and more social driver.

The next traffic behavior topic of change is rushing. The first thing I had to do was adjust my time accordingly. I had to work on my time management skill and get everything I had to do planned out in order to affect my driving. The second step was to, again, change my attitude behind the wheel. I had to tell myself that no matter what, I'm going to get to where I'm going. It doesn't matter if I'm already late, rushing to get there isn't going to get me there on time. I have to think about the safety of those on the road as well as the individuals in the vehicle with me.

I expect that this will work if I can remember to tell myself those things and if I stay to my planner I'll be fine. The theory, as with all my therapy, is to be aware of what I am doing and when it happens try to deal with it. The only thing that will stop this therapy from working is me, myself, and I. Though it may seem simple, that is the farthest from the truth. If you are not willing to change and are receptive to others inputs, you will not grow or may be able to be educated.

My expectations came to be true. I didn't rush at all. I kept to my schedule as much as I could but if I was late for anything I tried not to push situation, except for tailgating. The priority to get somewhere as soon as possible when I'm late literally flew out the window. To get somewhere a few minutes late and rushing to get there and possibly causing danger isn't worth it. I kept thinking of how late I would be if I'm in an accident. On a funny note, during my observations I happened to notice that everybody seems to be in a rush to get somewhere. It posses a question to me, is our society based on getting things quicker and faster or is that a misconception place on individuals only for self servicing needs. I feel our society in general has valued speed and efficiency to power and strength. Throughout history it seems that the more you know the more powerful you are and the more influence you have on others.

My mood swings are an essential factor in all my behaviors while driving. My method of change was to play mellow music while driving. I feel that more calmer and mellow music sets the reference point for my mood. I find that what I listen to predisposes me to a certain behavior. Another part would be to meditate before driving to clear my head and mind of any thoughts and feelings.

I think that this might work, about a 65% chance that it will work. The theory isn't all in depth and it could be worked on but for it's purpose, it'll do fine. I feel that meditation, if done right can bring your mind to a calm and peaceful state. I learned this technique from my Tai Chi instructor. After taking Tai Chi for close to three years it has been easier for me to get to a balanced state of mind and body. I feel that this will alleviate any type of bad moods before I drive.

On the initial start of my observation it was hard for me to remember to meditate. I guess all that time preparing myself for the road and the things to come I really didn't meditate all the time. Thank goodness for all my training , it was easier for me to get to a calm relaxed state without doing a lengthy meditation. I didn't find myself getting into any mood swings through the two week observation period. I think that at that point in time I really didn't care about others and what they do to me on the roads. I had other things on my mind, such as exams and work. I might need a little more time to see if this type of therapy works. My mood swings also don't come quite often, not unless I' totally stressed out.

The last but not the least most behavior that needs to be changed is my speeding habit. My first approach to this dilemma was to set the cruise control on my car when driving. The second part was to remind myself that "you can save gas by going the speed limit." The third part was the fact that "speed kills!!!" The forth and most drastic part of my plan was to take out the laser detector in my car.

My confidence level to change my speeding was non existent. Out of all the behaviors that I wanted to change I feel that this was going to be the hardest. One reason is the fact my car was engineered to be driven fast. You don't really feel as if you going 85 m.p.h. on the freeway until you look at the speedometer. Not to mention that in the last six years I have been driving I've never gotten a speeding ticket. Speeding is an integrated part of my driving. To be Bryan is to be speeding down the freeway in a fast car. I cannot imagine myself driving the speed limit.

Upon my instructions I tried to obey the speed limit. Remember the word is TRY. Leaving the UH parking structure was all right, driving on H-1 was not O.K. It was hard for me to try and stay at the speed limit even with the cruise control on. Cars kept on passing me by and I couldn't stand the fact that everybody and I mean everybody was passing me by didn't help the situation. I couldn't help myself from speeding on the freeway. Though, when I'm driving on city streets I obey the speed limit, for the most part. I feel that the highways are not as crowded by pedestrians than the freeways. I am more careful driving on the streets than on the freeways due to the different types of things to look out for. Like kids on bikes, people crossing the street, people slowing down to make turns, that kind of stuff. One of the few times I obeyed the speed limit on the freeway was when my roommate was following me to a party in Wainae. He didn't know the location of the house so he had to follow me and I wasn't about to loose him.

On an interesting note, my average speeding limit of 75 to 80 m.p.h. dropped to a 65-70 m.p.h. range. I guess you can call that a start to a never ending progress. Why never ending? Well, I know for a fact that I will be speeding in the future. The temptation is so bad that I know I'll do it at least once a week. What I can do for the mean time is try to bring my speed down little by little. You've got to learn how to take small steps in order to take big steps later on. If anything I could start charging myself a $1 for every 5 m.p.h. that I go over the speed limit. Like the swearing program, it might be able to control my unsocialistic type of driving.

For all the behaviors I have tried to change, I feel that the tailgating, rushing, and swearing are well on they way to leaving my driving persona. As far as the mood swings are concerned, I think that all depend on what is going on in my life. I'll have to deal with it when it starts to become erratic. Speeding is a totally different thing. It is going to be extremely hard for me to change this habit.

In conclusion, I would like to say that understanding they way you drive is hard and trying to change that behavior is even harder. You have to really be committed to change if you wanted to accomplish change in your driving persona. If everybody would look at the way they drove and started a plan of action to change what was wrong with their driving then the roads would be a much better place to be. The chances of that are slim but here's to hoping.

In relation to traffic psychology, it just goes to show that one can see their wrongs and try to change. I'm proof of that and it also shows that anybody can do it with commitment and diligence to see themselves change. For a happy driver is an even happier person.

New Section

Road dynmics are very pronounced in everyday driving. Though many people fall to these temptations. One road dynamic is when someone is driving very slow in the left land. Many people consider this to be the fast lane but this isn't the case here in Hawaii. On the mainland, if one is driving in the left lane and someone is driving faster than you, then you are supposed to pull into the next lane and let the person go by. In Hawaii, people rarely do pull into the next lane and let you by. I have come across this situation in traffic many a time. What usually happens is that eveybody in the left lane cuts to the middle or right lane to pass. Any comments, E-mail me.