Report1

Table of Contents

Instructions for this report Found here

Introduction

Thoughts From Prior Generations

Selection #1: Kristin Subia
Selection #2: Jenca Guerra
Selection #3: Nancee Aki
Selection #4: Aaron Takahashi

Moral Implications

My Own Personal Behavior

Conclusion

For Future Generations

Epilogue

To The Bottom

Everyone has tailgated at one point or another. Tailgating has to do with cars, trucks, vans, or anyother type of moving vehicle. No, the definition does not include camping out, beers, pupus, friends,sporting events, and having a good time.This type of tailgating is not meant to be fun,it's when a driver drives too close to another driver on the road.

According to Dr. James, tailgating is following too close to another car with the intention to coerce or punish the other driver when you think they have done something wrong to you.

To give you a better understanding of it, let me give you a certain scenario. Let's pretend you are driving on the freeway going 60mph and someone cuts you off. The person does not signal to warn you he/she is going to cut in front of you. The driver also decides to drive 50mph, thus, you have to brake to avoid hitting them. You are now upset at the driver in front of you, so in order for you to get him back you follow him close enough to read when his registration sticker expires. So, according to Dr. James's definition, you are guilty of tailgating because you were trying to get back at the other driver.

Using examples such as these, where we are able to look at our own feelings, thoughts, and actions. Doing this will be crucial in understanding the behavior that comes with tailgating. This is what we will be looking at in this report.

First of all, let me begin by explaining what I mean by driving behavior. There are three domains to driving behavior.

2. The cognitive domain, a person's thoughts and judgements.

3. The sensorimotor domain, a person's actions (sensory input and motor ouput).

All three domains are present in any driving behavior, therefore it is important to address and remember them.

Kristin Subia, wrote that she had been in a tailgating experience and was irritated and angry because some jerk was following her way too close and she slowed down in order to allow him to overtake and pass he if he wished. He just keeps hugging her bumper, until she finally waves to him to tell him to pass her. She believes that overtaking is not a bad thing because it would be better for the person in a rush to just go faster and overtake the other people on the road rather than to force all of them to speed up by tailing them.

I totally agree with Kristin's opinions about overtaking. The only time I can see overtaking as being a problem is if the laws in that area prohibit it, or if there is a significant amount of oncoming traffic in the lane that needs to be used to overtake the other person. The only thing I could suggest to Kristin is to be sure that she keeps her emotions in check too. Her anger at the person tailgating her could lead to other problems on the road if she lets it get to her and doesn't control her own road rage.

Jenca Guerra wrote a report on "Driving Personality Makeovers." She admits to following people too close, but does not refer to herself as a tailgater. She first ran a trial to just observe herself and not modify her own behavior. What she found was that she upset everyone on the road. By everyone, I mean not only the other drivers, but pedestrians as well.

Ms. Guerra obviously has a road rage problem. She attempted to modify her own behavior in her report, but was unsuccessful in doing so. She needs to learn to take a breathe every so often while she is driving and realize that life is not a race to see who can get to their destination the fastest!. I believe that she could find the same success as Mr. Takahashi if she saw her problem for what it is . . . a hazard on the road, and then after changing her attitude, actively tried to change her driving behavior!.

Well, in Nancee Aki's self witnessing report she found herself tailgating others on three occasions. The first instance would be if she were late, the second if someone cut her off or looked at her the wrong way, the last reason would be if she were daydreaming. Under the first two circumstances if the cars don't get out of her way she pushes them to go faster. Nancee says this usually works and she gains a feeling of control. She truly believes that it gives her a sense of power and control, to hold the fate of others in your hand. Unfortunately Nancee learned her lesson the hard way. She, thankfully, was not injured, however her Volkswagen Rabbit can't say the same.

Nancce seems to have some what of a power trip, she seems to enjoy the power and control. It seems as if all Nancee really needed was an eye opening experience. Unfortunately for her it came in the form of an accident. She is like many drivers out there who feel the need for power and control. They need to be in charge and can't seem to just let things go. Hopefully Nancee learned her lesson and is now a much more responsible driver on the road.

Aaron Takahashi made an interesting point about tailgating. In his self witnessing report he recalled a day driving home from UH when he was following the car in front closer than normal. He didn't want to hold up traffic, but that wasn't his only reason. Aaron was following closely because he didn't want someone to cut in front of him. He was there first so why should another driver get ahead. Aaron seemed to be feeling upset about those drivers trying to get ahead. He may be thinking that they are wrong and deserve to be shut out, which led him to act as he did. This behavior of tailgating to keep other drivers from entering your lane is called the "sucking in effect".

As with the case with Mr. Takahashi, we all feel this need for control. He felt that he was right and felt that he needed to tailgate just so that no one could get in front of him. I've asked myself many times in the past, "what is so bad about letting someone in front of you?" And I guess my answer has always been the same, that "I don't know why..."

I feel that this topic of tailgating is a matter of personal opinion. Some people feel that it is totally alright to tailgate someone. Many people feel that they are more than often justified for doing what they do behind the wheel. They feel that tailgating is convenient and that it is no big deal. But personally, I don't think that tailgaing can not really be justified. The only time I can see it being some what justified is if you are in bumper to bumper traffic and your not moving. Other than that, tailgating cannot really be justified. If you were late, then too bad. You should have left home earlier. Your irresponsibility should not affect those who are on the road with you. After all, you are not the only one on the road. I don't think tailgating is neither ethical, fair, or justified since there are always other alternatives to tailgating. You just need to put your own pride aside and look for these alternatives.

In my own personal behavior, I too am guilty of tailgating. In the past I have tailgated many people for many stupid reasons. Back then I felt that I had to be in control of the road. I would never let anyone past me for any reason. I would always get upset if people in front of me were driving to slow. At that point in time I was young and invincible, I didn't realize the consequences of my actions, of my irresponsibility. Thus I found out on my own in the form of an accident. I wrecked a friends car when I hit her from behind. Her car went under another friends truck and wrecked that trucks axial. My car on the other hand had only minor damages to my bumper. My parents were surprisingly supportive of my accident. They realized that I had learned a valueable lesson and that I was truly sorry for the accident which of course was all my fault.

Now days I feel that I am much more of a responsible driver. I never tailgate anyone for any reason. Especially in traffic and when I'm late, I always maintain a safe distance from the car in front. If they are driving too slow, then I pass them when I have the opportunity. I know that there are times when passing is almost impossible. And in cases such as that, I just remind myself of my responsibilities as a fellow driver. Of course I get a little upset, but that is only natural. The point is that I don't let my emotions take control of the car.

On the other hand, when I am being tailgated. I really don't appreciate it. I feel that it is an irresponsible thing to do and also a dangerous thing to do. That's why I get upset if people do it to me. I live by rule that "I should do unto others as I would want them to do unto me." But when some impatient driver tails me, I just try to let them go by me. If they choose to persist in tailing, then I just ignore them as best as I can. Because I know that any type of aggression on my part would only add to the aggression. I don't worry about accidents too much in those cases. I feel that if that person hits me, then he/she will be totally at fault.

I tried to conduct a sort of mini experiment to see my thoughts, feelings, and actions when tailgating was to be encountered. I tried to notice when and where I would tailgate or be tailgated. This experiment was done for two days. The first day was just the observation day, and the second day was the actual implementation of keeping myself from tailgating. The reward would be to get home safely.

Day 1: I noticed I sort of tailgated when I was coming home from work. I noticed a slight sense of urgency to get home. I guess it was because I was in school all day and then work right after that. I noticed that I followed much closer to cars than I usually do. Also noticed myself getting a bit more aggrevated than normal when someone would tailgate me. My actions were definately not as I thought they would have been. After all, I thought that I never do tailgate. But impatience seemed to get the best of me.

Day 2: On the second day, I implemented my intervention. I was not going to allow myself to tailgate no matter what. I was constantly conscious of my driving. I made sure that I was always at a comfortably safe distance from the car in front of me. During this period I also tried not to get upset at those who would tailgate me. I would pull into the next lane and let them go by. This day was a lot more rewarding for me. I felt very at ease in the car with no anger or aggression towards anyone. I awareness of my own thoughts, feelings, and actions made me a much more observant driver and thus a safer driver.

In conclusion, I have found tailgating to be unnecessary and irresponsible. The problem with tailgating is that people don't realize that they are doing it or that they don't realize the consequences of tailgating. Most people tend to let their emotions get the best of them when someone cuts them off or goes to slow. There is no need for retaliation or revenge on the road. People just need to use their head and not their ego when it comes to driving. If everyone were to do this, then I think that our roads would be much safer.

For future generations, I suggest providing yourselves with ample time to do your reports. Althought doing these reports isn't that hard to do, they are very time consuming. Besides, doing them early will provide you the time to go back and fix up your page. I recommend going back to prior generations all the way back to generation 1 to look up references and information. Many of those prior sites are well done and full of information. So Good Luck!!!