My SWR #1 was an account of the TEE card no. 44C2 and 42C2.  It disturbed me to  realize that many drivers out on the roads today don't think about the dangers that can happen when driving a vehicle.  Many of us have this kind of blind faith that we are going to reach our desired destination safely and don't even consider the possibility that we could be involved in an accident if we aren't actively aware of the many other drivers on the road with us.  One of the replies that I received from the posting above was:

                               jojo79 1/22/00

                             I absolutely agree with what you had written. We can never rely
                               on, or put our faith in other drivers because you don't know
                               what is going through their minds at that moment. A good
                               example is an accident that happened a while ago, you might
                               have read about it in the paper, it happened around six months
                               ago in kaneohe. An elderly woman was driving 60 mph on a
                               25 mph road and collided head on with another car. The woman
                               and her passenger (an older man) died instantly and I can't
                               remember if the driver of the other car survived or was
                               paralyzed. Any way, the point of the story was that no one
                               knows why she decided to collide head on with the other
                               vehicle, people who knew her said that it didn't seem like
                               anything was wrong, and could not explain why she would have
                               driven so recklessly because she's normally a very safe driver.
                               So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you are absolutely
                               right, no matter how "sane" a person might be, all it takes is one
                               wrong move.  Ohh, and I also liked your RC. I have to admit, I
                              need to train  myself to allow more time to get to my destination.
                              Hell, I think it takes me only 5 mins to get to UH from kapahulu,
                              when we all know it takes a lot longer then that!!! I guess that's my
                              excuse  to sleep in. =) But I'm working on it, at least now I'm thinking
                               8 mins instead of 5. just joking =).
 
 
 

SWR-2 01/25/00      Exercise 2          I looked through the 10 aggressive behaviors on the list and I                                really don't have an opportunity to exhibit any of these                                behaviors because I'm not on the road long enough during the                                weekdays. I live in in close proximity to school and home and                                school are the only two places that I drive to on the weekdays.                                On the weekends, however, I tried to be aware of my driving                                behavior, and I realized that I generally try to be as                                accommodating to other drivers as possible. The only offense that                                I found myself committing was rushing. I had an appointment to                                get to on Saturday morning and I left 20 minutes before. For                                some reason I always figure I can get to anywhere in town in 20                                minutes. It's usually the case but when there is any kind of                                traffic situation it disrupts my plans. As far as the other listed                                offenses go I make an effort not to do them. I think it's because                                I think that driving can become dangerous when we put                                negative things out there. It always comes back to you and                                sometimes when you least expect. I know that it sounds corny                                but as a rule I think it's best to treat fellow drivers as you would                                want to be treated. Some times things slip your mind of                                accidents do happen but it's a small island and if we all just look                                out for each other a little we'd get to where we have to go                                safely.                                Wow, I didn't realize that there were so many things that a                                driver could do to be offensive. Looking over the list I have to                                say that I don't think that I commit any of the offenses. I try to                                be as courteous a driver as I would want someone else to be.                                The only thing that I can think of is maybe by accident I'll turn                                without signaling because there is no car behind me and the                                turn isn't really turning into a traffic area where people need to                                be warned that you are trying to turn. As far as the other 9                                offenses I can't say that I've ever actively done them to other                                drivers. I feel that in this day and age driving in Hawaii has                                become more and more dangerous. This island's roads have not                                been significantly expanded to meet the needs of Hawaii's                                increasing number of automobiles. It's kind of ridiculous when you                                think about the number of cars on the road at one time and the                                amount of roads that we have. The numbers just don't add up.                                Road rage has arrived in Hawaii and I think it's dangerous to do                                any of these offenses. One can never be sure that any of these                                offenses to whatever degree would not trigger some violent                                reaction in anybody. So I try to drive safely to be safe on the                                roads. I think that's the best way to play it.

My SWR #2 was an account of the TEE card no. 1C1 which listed the nation's top ten driving offenses.  I went through them and my first impression was surprise at the many basic rules and etiquette that people round the nation broke on a regular basis.  Then I took that list and gave it to one of my friends who drove around with me one Saturday afternoon.  She kept an account of the number of times that I committed any of the top ten offenses on that list.  In the end I was shocked to discover that I did not receive a perfect score.  Several of the offenses on the list that I thought I did not do because it wasn't to a degree in which I would consider them to be offenses.  For example, offense number three was turning without signaling.  It turns out that I do signal but I do not leave it on long enough for it to safely alert other drivers that I am changing lanes.  I have since worked on changing my cognitive habits to be more aware of what others might consider a driving offense.  I have also worked on changing my sensorimotor habits as well.  I have been trying to train myself to resist from turning off my turn signal until I am almost all the way into the next lane.  These changes are working out for me but it does take practice and repeated evaluation to ensure that I do not slip back into my old habits.
 
Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-2.

                               allianic 1/26/00

                               I also never realized that there were so many offensive things a
                               driver could do. I also TRY to be courteous to other drivers, but
                               sometimes other drivers make me really upset, so I end up
                               driving the same way they do. I agree that driving has become
                               more and more dangerous in Hawaii. I often see people get into
                               accidents when I am out driving. It scares me a lot because you
                               never know if you'll be the next person to get into an accident.
                               It may not even be your fault. You could just be in the wrong
                               place at the wrong time.
 

SWR-3 02/02/00      Exercise 3          Ok so I commit at least four of the competitive actions on a                                regular basis. If that means that I have a competitive mentality                                that surprises me. Everyone who has ever driven with me knows                                me to be a generous driver. I mean that I always try to keep an                                eye out for drivers that are tying to enter a lane or change                                lanes or let them cut in or enter my lane in traffic. In fact I                                often get criticized from my passengers who get annoyed with me                                for letting too many people go. My fault, as it was explained to me                                is that by letting too many people cut in I am causing more                                traffic for myself as well as for all of the other drivers behind                                me. My thinking is that I'm actually helping traffic to keep                                moving along because in traffic it's very difficult to merge                                anywhere. Most people don't do it and I think that's why there                                is more traffic than there needs to be. Let the people in and                                keep things moving. The Competitive actions that apply to me                                are #3. I've said this before but my number one problem is being                                late. So I often look for the fastest lane. This causes me to be                                constantly on the look out and does put me in the competitive                                mind frame of trying to get a space in the "fast lane" before                                anyone else. I also am aware of the number of lights I can get                                through before I hit a red. I don't know the exact number or                                anything I just know when I get the greens. I am also aware                                when I am speeding and when somebody has prevented me from                                doing something. I think that most people are aware of these                                last two mentalities. You can't go anywhere in Hawaii and not                                know when you're speeding because most of us are driving                                however many miles over the speed limit if it's safe enough.

My SWR #3 was an account of the TEE card no. 2C1, which was a list of actions that can be a marker for possessing a competitive driving mentality.  In my SWR #3 I report that I commit four of these competitive behaviors.  I think that self evaluations are an important tool when trying to access one's behavior but even more important is to have a second party perform that same assessment and interpret both lists.  When I completed this SWR I can to the realization that my affective driving habit is to be competitive.  I didn't commit all of the actions on the list but four of them was enough to make me stop to take notice.  I then worked on changing my cognitive habit by going through each of the four actions that I frequently perform and watch for when I do them and what I am thinking at the time that I do them.  This helped me to begin to understand the thought process that goes on when I commit competitive driving actions so that I can work on changing them.  It helps when you have someone in the car with you that knows what you're doing and can alert you of when you are doing them.
 
The sensorimotor habits were the most difficult to try to change.  For example, when I was behind a person on the freeway that I felt was driving too slow for me I automatically started to change lanes even though that person was driving at the speed limit.  In order to break this habit I had to force myself to stay in one lane of the freeway for the entire trip until I was ready to get off the freeway.  It was very difficult but I did get through it and today I am less likely to always be on the look out for the fastest lane and move to get into the lane.
 
 
 

SWR-4 02/10/00      Exercise 4          The results of my test scores as evaluated by me are as                                follows: 1-On Every Trip, 4-On Some Trips, and 5-Never.                                According to the key that I compared my scores to I'm not in                                any immediate danger of road rage now, but I am close to every                                level. I think that the only now that I am concerned about it the                                check mark I got in the "On Every Trip" column for the question                                "I complain to myself about other drivers or the traffic". I didn't                                think that there was anything wrong with that but according to                                the key I'm one more check mark away from having road rage                                tendencies that are at a dangerous level. Actually I'm really not                                on the road all that much. During the weekdays I go to school                                and come home. Since I live about 10 minutes away from school                                that doesn't equal very much driving time. I would never think                                that I was any where near developing road rage. It think that                                may be the problem. People might have a hard time evaluating                                themselves because what you might consider to be an innocent                                comment or thought or feeling maybe in reality quite scary.                                That's why I thought that is was a good idea to have somebody                                else rate my driving as well. According to the passenger that I                                had with me who rated my driving tendencies I got 0-On every                                trip, 4-On Some Trips, and 6-Never. My passenger who                                happened to be my sister, didn't give me any marks for On Every                                Trip. I was surprised. I thought that if anything I                                under-represented myself in that category but according to her                                I didn't. Of course that might have something to do with the                                fact that I complain to myself and not out loud. The other two                                ratings were one away from reaching the road rage categories,                                and since those were just moderate road rage categories I don't                                think that I am in any immediate danger. Over all this exercise                                has just made me more aware of the behaviors that I exhibit                                externally and of my emotions the I'm feeling internally.

My SWR #4 was an account of the TEE card no. 4C1, which was a test for road rage tendencies.  After completing this exercise I became more aware of my affective habits that allow me to experience road rage tendencies.  The emotion that I end up having when I experience road rage tendencies is competition.  I think that whenever we feel we are in competition with someone caution is often times thrown to the wind and only winning matters.  I have since been working on modifying my cognitive habits from thinking that driving is a competition to viewing driving as a team effort.  Working together and looking out for the other person is the only way the roads are going to be safe to drive.  It is impossible to rid the road ways of accidents and road rage if we continue to think only of ourselves on the road.
 
Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-4.

                              jamesy69 2/13/00

                               I agree that having a passenger comment on our driving is a
                               good way to learn about our driving behavior but isn't it better if
                               that someone does not really know how we drive? Since some
                               driving behaviors are learned from others wouldn't it be harder
                               to distinguish good driving if that person commenting is our best
                               friend or family member. I believe that we pick up certain driving
                               behaviors or techniques from our friends even if they are not
                               good ones. Because of this, we may not catch bad driving
                               behaviors because we might have also incorporated this
                               behavior in our driving habits. What might be really bad driving
                               habits may be considered good ones. I think if we do have a
                               observer, it should be someone who is a friend but not familiar
                               with our driving behaviors. This way we will not get a biased
                               report and get a more accurate view of our driving.
 
 
 

SWR-5  02/15/00      Exercise 5          The principles behind the Driver's Threefold Self model is                                something that I am familiar with. The report that I gave in class                                about the ACS Classification system used the same categories as                                this model does. When I examined my driving over the weekend                                I tried to be aware of the feelings that I was thinking when I                                was driving. When I try to interpret the Driver's Threefold Self                                Model into my own driving habits I found that I initially was in                                the phase 2 model. I started my car trying to feel supportive,                                tolerant, motivated by safety, and being respectful in the                                affective self. It worked for a while and I really did try to be as                                positive as possible. I know that I was driving with a more                                positive attitude on that weekend than I normally do. then there                                was a slowdown. A reverse wave of stoppage came upon me and                                before I knew it I was right in the middle of it. I started to go in                                the Phase 1 Cognitive self category. I was feeling critical of the                                people around me and jumping to incorrect conclusions. It                                turned out that there was an accident. I don't think that it was                                anything serious, but I know if it were me on that road I                                wouldn't want the people passing by to be passing on negative                                thoughts while I lie there in the road uncertain of whether or                                not I'm going to live. When I thought about that I moved back                                into the Phase 2 Model and I was able to control my emotions                                and use correct judgment to drive safely. I always thought                                that the best person to put forward onto others is someone you                                get along with.

My SWR #5 was an account of the TEE card no. 8C2 which was a diagram of the two phases of the drivers' threefold self.  The diagram in the TEE card helped to reiterate the three factors that make up the mentality of a person behind the wheel.  The affective has to do with the emotions that one feels while driving and during any and all situations that may present themselves while on the road.  The cognitive has to do with the thoughts that one has while driving on the road.  These thought process are what influence the third factor which is the sensorimotor.  The sensorimotor has to do with the actions one actively does with your eyes, hands, legs, etc. that all contribute to the movement of the car by the driver.
 
Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-5.
 

                               shizue 2/17/00

                               I can totally relate to you and jumping between the two phases
                               so easily. Even if you start off in Phase 2 and feel emotionally in
                               control, the littlest thing could happen that will set off your
                               emotions and immediately drive you into Phase 1 again. I realize
                               that it just takes a lot of practice to not let all the little things
                               that happen on the road get to you. It's like anything else in
                               life, if you always let the little things bother you, then you just
                               get stuck and can't really move on and be a better person for it.
                               People just have to realize that these little things like traffic are
                               always going to be there and happen no matter what so the
                               best thing to do is just take a deep breath and not let it get to
                               you emotionally. Of course, that is always easier said than
                               done!
 

SWR-6 02/22/00      Exercise 6          We are always told to count to ten in every instance of                                emotional flare ups. I think that technique only works if you are                                actively trying to calm yourself. If you are harboring anger while                                counting the exercise is useless. I do believe that it is                                necessary to try to find some way to remove yourself from the                                moment in order to interrupt the anger that is raging. Another                                suggestions was to "Count Your Blessings. and to "Forgive and                                Forget". This is giving a lot of credit to drivers already feeling                                angry. Sure I think that it's always nice to think about the                                passengers in your car and it's always nice to be thinking about                                God, but drivers in this situation are not always in the right                                frame of mind to follow through with this recommendation. There                                were a couple of other suggestions that were made in the TEE                                Card but those were mainly to try to distract the driver from the                                anger that they were already feeling. I think that two of the                                best suggestions were to "Think of Alternative reasons why                                someone does something" and to "Develop and attitude of                                altitude". I think that these two suggestions would be the most                                helpful because to do them one has to actually change their                                thinking before they even get into the car. It's not about doing                                something once the anger is there but about preventing the                                road rage the feel before you even get into the car. Prevention,                                at least in my book is always a better solution that dealing with                                the after effects of a problem . The last suggestion in the TEE                                card was to "Commit yourself to a Lifelong Program of Driver                                Self-improvement". This requires one to continually assess one's                                driving behavior on each trip by keeping objective accounts that                                can't be biased by personal interpretations.

My SWR #6 was an account of the TEE card no. 9C2, which were strategies to help manage anger when driving.  In my SWR #6 I basically reported on what I thought of the effectiveness of some of the techniques to control anger while driving.  I thought that there were some good ideas and some suggestions that were more like distractions such as "make funny noises" suggestion or the "use the Castanza technique."  I guess it's really up to the drivers.  I'd say it is important to find out what works for the individual and then use it.  The last thing anyone wants it an angry driver behind the wheel.
 
Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-6.

                              shizue 2/24/00

                               I do agree with you that counting to ten will only work if you
                               are actively trying to calm yourself down. However, I believe
                               that in order for anyone to be a really good driver in control of
                               their actions, then they should be trying to actively calm
                               themselves down whenever they feel angry about a situation
                               that just occurred. It's similar to parenting. If you just vent out
                               your anger at your child every time you feel like it, then that
                               isn't going to make you the best parent. Sometimes you just
                               have to pull yourself aside and count to ten. I do also agree
                               with you that one of the best techniques described was to try
                               to make up reasons for why the other person did what they did.
                               This type of cognitive thinking allows us to reduce our anger
                               and put less blame on other people. Perhaps, the other person
                               really was in an emergency situation and needed to overtake
                               you. We really don't know and it is always better just to assume
                               the best of things not the worst.
 
 

SWR-7 02/29/00      Exercise 7          I drove to Hawaii Kai this weekend with these three Driving                                Personality Makeovers in mind. I first had to think of a bad habit                                that I had. It wasn't hard seeing as how I am almost always                                guilty of committing this one when I'm driving on Kalanianaole Hwy.                                My bad habit is that I always try to find the fastest lane to                                drive in. This is something that I don't always do. It's just when                                I'm driving on this particular stretch of road I just have to                                always be moving. So the first thing that I did was acknowledge                                my problem. I alerted the passenger I had in the car with me                                and told her what my assignment was for this week. I think that                                she's getting used to evaluating my driving because she does                                it even when it's not necessary for this class. The next step                                was to witness my own errors and transgressions. It didn't take                                long before I was changing lanes. My passenger alerted me to                                my bad habit and I turned back into my lane. That sounds like I                                could have an an accident but rest assured I did check again as                                I was returning to my own lane. So I witnessed it. I have to say                                that even though I was just talking about it and thinking about it                                I proceeded to do that same bad action. I didn't realize how                                difficult this exercise was really going to be. On to the next                                step of behavior modification. I forced myself to follow this one                                driver all the way from Kalani High School to Lunalilo. It doesn't                                sound like it would be a difficult thing to do but I have to admit                                it was close to mental torture for me. The good thing is that I                                made it through. The funny thing that I learned from this                                exercise it that changing lanes doesn't necessarily get me to my                                destination any faster. For all of that increase in blood pressure                                and decrease in gas that it costs me to drive around what I                                deemed to be "slow drivers" it didn't take me a noticeably longer                                time to get to my destination.

My SWR #7 was an account of the TEE card no. 15C2 which was a three step program to a driving personality makeover.  I think that this exercise worked out well for me.  It was actually the second time I actively tried to do something like this.  I was successful in staying in one lane and I did notice that I experienced less anxiety this time around.  I think that was a good indication that I was beginning to modify my cognitive habit.
 
Driving habits like all habits are difficult to break.  There is also an additional factor that one must consider when attempting to modify a driving habit and that is that fact that a driving habit often has a longer history than any other habit one might have.  We learned in class that we start to develop out driving habits well before we are even able to drive.  Driving habits are therefore more difficult to overcome than most habits because of the extended period of time that one was exposed to it.
 
Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-7.

                              shizue 2/29/00

                               I totally can empathize with you. I, too, am guilty at times of
                               trying to be in the fastest lane. Especially when I'm trying to
                               drive back home (in Manoa) which I swear has some of the
                               slowest drivers in the world! Like you I also realized that I really
                               didn't get to my destination that much faster and thus, it was
                               pretty pointless to get so emotional distraught over the
                               situation. I think it's great that your "bad habit" has now been
                               somewhat modified and you realize that it really isn't helping you
                               at all to keep changing lanes. I can't believe you actually
                               managed to stay driving behind one person the whole time . . . I
                               think I'm going to have to try that and see how that works for
                               me too! This class makes you realize a lot of things, mostly that
                               there are many myths that we have made up in our heads about
                               driving that turn out to be really false when we sit back and
                               analyze the situation without letting our emotions take hold.
 
 

SWR-8 03/13/00      Exercise 8          The situation that I chose to write about as an example of road                                rage is and event that just recently happened. I actually saw                                the story on the Today Show. The situation took place on a                                highway I believe. A woman was in her car with her dog behind                                the car of a man in a black SUV. They were stuck in traffic and                                it was raining and dark. The woman was trying to change lanes                                and because of the decreased visibility due to the weather                                conditions she unfortunately tapped the car in front of her.                                According to her it was a very light tap and did nothing to the                                bumper of the large SUV in front of her. The man got out of his                                car and proceeded to yell and curse at her for damaging his                                SUV. she rolled down her window to talk to him and her dog                                came over and sat in her lap to see who was at the window.                                The man then reached into the car and grabbed and threw the                                dog into the street of on-coming traffic. There were no cars                                coming at that time so she attempted to exit her vehicle to                                retrieve her dog. Her car started to roll because it wasn't in park                                so she went back in her car to do so. As she did that the light                                changed and on-coming traffic was headed towards the dog.                                Needless to say that she was unable to reach the dog in time.                                It was hit and later died as a result of the collision.                                 This tragic situation could have been avoided if certain steps                                that happened did not take place. First of all if the man had not                                gotten out of his car he never would have even come into                                contact with the woman or the dog. Second if the woman                                hadn't rolled down her window the man never would have gotten                                the opportunity to reach his hand into the woman's car. Thirdly                                if the dog had been leashed in the car it would never had been                                on the woman's lap and accessible to be grabbed and carried                                out of the car.

My SWR #8 was an account of the TEE card no. 30C6 which was a scenario analysis of a news story pertaining to road rage.  The example given in the TEE card also gave nine instances where a decision was made that could either lead to violence or resolution.  In that one situation there were nine possible alternative outcomes that may have been able to prevent tragedy and none of then were taken.  I think that the important message to get across from stories like the one given in the TEE card example and in the news story that I reported on was that there is always a way out.  Some people might feel like once they have started down a path that there is absolutely on way out but they are wrong.  The Tee card example and my example prove and along that way to violence and road rage there are many opportunities in which a person can choose to go down a different path and stop the violence from escalating.

Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-8.
 

                               kuni99 3/14/00

                               I agree that things don't just happen and since you cannot
                               control what other people do, taking initiative to be cautious
                               and be aware of the possibilities could actually save your life.
                               People can be very mean and when tempers flair up in traffic
                               situations, even the hot tempered driver may not realize his or
                               her potential in hurting other people.
 
 

SWR-9 03/17/00      Exercise 9          I had the opportunity last night to sit down in front of the TV                                and watch music videos on Mtv with my younger sisters. It was                                very interesting to hear what they thought about the kinds of                                driving they saw in the videos. One of my sisters is just starting                                to drive. She just recently got her license. My other younger                                sister is two years away from getting her permit. So I was                                able to get unique perspectives about driving in music videos.                                The first video that came up and was and Nsync video "Bye Bye                                Bye". In this video there is a scene where two of the groups                                members are being chased by a woman and they are trying                                desperately to get away. Not only is the car chase moving at                                high speeds but they are driving on a narrow two-lane mountain                                dirt road on the edge of a cliff. The driver was guilty of                                committing several DBB incidences. He took his eyes off of the                                road several times, he was involved in a chase, he seemed to be                                driving in a confused mental state or at least he wasn't in the                                proper frame of mind to be driving, and his passenger kept                                getting out of his seat while the car was in the chase. I asked                                my sisters what they thought about the way driving was                                portrayed in the video. The older of the two sisters told me that                                his driving was dangerous, but she also said that it looked fun. I                                asked what the consequences of someone driving like that                                would be. She told me that maybe someone might get hurt but                                that it wouldn't be a serious injury. The younger of my two                                sisters told me that the driver was driving kind of crazy and that                                someone might get killed or seriously hurt in real life. I think she                                might have been more concerned because she's such an Nsync                                fan she wouldn't want anything to happen to the lead singer.                                I think the kind of driving environment that both of my two                                sisters are in clearly affects that severity concerning DBB. The                                older of my two sisters has already been involved in two                                accidents. She wasn't the driver but she was in the car. None                                of the girls were seriously hurt. They were mostly afraid of what                                was going to happen to them when their parents found out                                what happened. So to her it's not the lives of the people in the                                car that mostly concerns her or other people's lives in the cars                                that they hit, but the actions that will be taken upon them by                                her parents when they find out. My younger sister who isn't                                driving yet only rides with her parents and sometimes her older                                siblings like me for instance. She has never been in an accident                                and has for the most part only been a passenger in a driving                                environment where there were good drivers. I think that this                                affects her feelings about what can happen to people in an                                accident mostly that they could get seriously injured or even                                die.

My SWR #9 was an account of the TEE card no. 33C7 and 34C7 which was an activity to assess how situations and actions that are portrayed on television shows can effect the driving behaviors or children, who may not even be old enough to drive a vehicle.  This activity applied to all children old enough to communicate an answer when asked a question about driving.  In the activity that I conducted I used teenagers.  I think that teenagers old enough to drive should be put into a separate category rather than just grouped under the all children in general category.  I find that teenagers are more apt to have an invincible attitude when it comes to driving and accidents.  Just the other day I was witness to two cars being driven by teenagers weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds on Kalanianaole highway.  This is by no means the normal behavior for all teenagers but it is something that should be taken into consideration when trying to evaluate the driving behavior of children.

The results from my activity have been reported on in my SWR #9.  They were not shocking to me considering the relaxed  discretion that many television show producers seem to use when creating shows that are targeted toward the teenage audience.  Changes in television programming is one change that could have a positive impact on the driving attitudes of children.
 
 
 

SWR-10 03/21/00      Exercise 10        I think I already discussed something similar to this week's topic                                about giving drivers the benefit of the doubt. I talked about                                changing the way you think and feel when another driver does                                something that you just think is the most idiotic action anyone                                could ever commit. The suggestions given in No.55C2 are right                                up this alley. There are three things from that list that I use as                                higher feelings to combat my lower feelings. First I always try to                                think that the person didn't see me because they were sick and                                really not feeling well. That helps me to excuse their action                                because we all know what it is like or at least I do, when you                                are just so sick and only want to crawl into bed but have to                                drive somewhere.                                 The second thing that I tend to think about is that the person is                                elderly. I try to be extra patient when dealing with the elderly. I                                have a little more experience in this area than most because I                                help to take care of my grandma and I volunteer at a care home                                for the elderly. The most important thing that I learned was that                                most of the elderly want to and wish that they could move                                faster or talk faster but it's just not possible. It takes a little                                more time for them to react to things and this pertains to                                driving as well. My sister on the other hand has no patients for                                the elderly. Her view is that they should not be able to drive                                after say 65. I try to explain to her that everyone is living longer                                and longer these day. When we are that age we wouldn't want                                somebody telling us we cant' drive because we are too old. I                                don't think that she can think about something like that now but                                it really is relevant to all of our situations.                                 The third higher feeling that helps me to combat my lower                                feelings are drivers who are inexperienced. I know that this one                                is hard because like anything we consider ourselves to be                                experts at driving bad habits and all. The things is that we were                                all inexperienced nervous drivers when we first started out. We                                were kind of scared to change lanes and tried to remember the                                procedures for everything like which comes first check the right                                side mirror of turn on the blinker. That was hard enough without                                having to worry about the people we maybe holding up. We                                have to remember that passing on bad habits doesn't stop just                                because we have our license. By behaving badly to new drivers                                we may be impacting the way new drivers feel they should behave                                toward other new drivers. It's a cycle that would never have to                                be broken if it were never started, so let's not start it.

My SWR #10 was an account of the TEE card no. 55C2 and 57C2 which were methods to control anger.  Many of the suggestions given in this TEE card were already part of my driving mentality.  I try to give drivers the benefit of the doubt.  After reading the suggestions presented I understand how important it is to view other drivers as people.  I think we often feel we are somehow in competition with other drivers and view them and the enemy or someone that we want to lose.  What may be lost however isn't an award or a trophy but a life.  Driving has enormous responsibility.  As the trend of auto makers increases to produce larger and larger vehicles it is more important than ever to evaluate our driving personalities and mentalities not as a one time deal but as a life time commitment.  As we change by getting older and more experienced so to must our driving.

Below is a comment in regards to my SWR-10.

                              shizue 3/22/00

                               I totally agree with you on the elderly thing and new driver
                               thing! I know that for my grandparents they really wish that
                               they could move and react as well as they used to and they
                               feel really bad when they hold people up because they move so
                               slow. Whenever I encounter an elderly driver (of which there are
                               plenty in Manoa) I am always extra patient because I know that
                               it's not their fault. Their bodies are only physically capable of
                               doing so much and they really are trying to do their best.
                               Whenever I see a student driver out on the road I too am
                               patient as well. I remember what it was like when I was first
                               learning to drive. There is already enough pressure from your
                               driving teacher as well as yourself, added pressure from other
                               drivers can just drive you insane! Student drivers are also trying
                               their best and we have to cut them some slack.
 

Conclusion

The exercise and the suggestions from the TEE cards were a valuable tool in my attempt to assess and modify my driving habits and mentalities.  I feel that I have made a positive change in my driving and also in other's driving by participating in the QDC.  The QDC offers a unique resource that puts people in contact with each other that would otherwise never get a chance to communicate and share their thoughts and experiences with others.  We learn the most and best by experience and what better way to facilitate that growth then to participate in something that allows one access to the experiences of many different people.  My participation in this exercise did and will continue to help me become a better driver.
 
 

Epilogue

    Future generations that chose to participate in these exercises and in the QDC will find it a valuable resource that will continue to better your driving for the rest of your life.  The lessons learned will not only affect your driving but the driving of others around you and the driving of your passengers.  Many of the steps will force you to look at your driving in a way that may not be easy for you to accept immediately, but with continued practice anyone can learn to incorporate and internalize the methods of these exercises.
 
 

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