My Report 2 on:

How Drivers Communicate with Each Other?


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Table of Contents

Introduction

The Big Mele is a concert held annually here in Hawai'i. Many big named bands play making it one the biggest music events to happen all year. People from all over the islands congregate at Kualoha ranch for this one event. Traffic becomes horrific and parking is next to impossible. Tempers flare in the unyielding sun which results in a good deal of disagreements. I had the privilege of being involved in one such argument. While stuck in gridlock the car in front of cut quickly and unexpectedly into my lane making me swerve into the emergency lane. Once I recovered control of my car I merged back into traffic and honked quickly at the driver in front. Surprisingly, I heard shouts and cursing coming from the back seat. Apparently my friend in the back sear took it upon himself to make his opinion about the situation known to the driver in front. Not only that but because I have a convertible he stood up continuing to share his feelings not only verbally but also with explicit hand gestures. Following this incident my other two passengers decided to join in the festivities with screams and shouts of their discontent. The collective arguments resulted in retaliatory exclamations by the other driver. Further threats were exchanged until we finally able to park (it was a long drive).
My experience shows examples of how drivers communicate on the road. The lack of any signals, either hand or lights, by the driver when merging into my lane, my resulting honk, the shouts from my friends and the driver, and finally my friend's finger all convey certain meanings when on the road. Are these the only means of communication and are they effective in conveying their messages?

Observations

For a couple of weeks prior to this writing I took field observations on the methods people used to communicate with one another while on the road. I utilized both a tape recorder and a notepad. I viewed several methods of communication. Of the many different types of driving interaction I've witnessed these are the ones that I found the most significant and interesting.

Changing lanes is a common and necessary part of driving. Everyone has to do it every time they drive. People have learned to utilize certain types of communication specific to changing lanes.
Blinker signals are commonplace. Speaking from personal experience I didn't think it would be but I found that it was the most used type of signal. This is especially true during heavy traffic or when the ability to merge into a lane is questionable. For example I often saw people using blinkers during heavy traffic when the roadways are so crowded that changing lanes without signaling becomes impossible (without cutting someone off or pissing someone off). I also saw people use blinkers when trying to merge onto the freeway in order to avoid accidents from high speed oncoming traffic.
Hand waving is also used to communicate the desire to change lanes. For example before (or during) a lane change the car in front waves to the car behind. I find that this is a much more intimate means of communication because when one has a blinker on it poses to the general traffic the desire to merge into the next lane. Using a hand wave is specific to a individual. One can ignore a blinker signal because it is not necessarily meant for them but to ignore a hand wave one must take responsibility for the lack of compliance. Due to this, I find that I allow much more people to merge when they use a hand wave rather than a blinker signal.
There are hand signals that can be used when changing lanes. One usually sees such methods of communication on bicycle riders. I was fortunate enough to view someone with a old broken down tercel whose lights, I assume, didn't work because during my observation he used hand signals twice and never signaled with his car. It was interesting to watch because no one ever uses such techniques. Unfortunately that takes away from its effectiveness. Honestly, I had no clue which way he wanted to go no matter what way his hands moved.
Just about everyone in some form of lane changing signals. For the most part they are effective in communicating to other drivers. By signaling a driver indicates that he wants to change lanes while the other driver understands and alters his course accordingly. This process works fine unless the receiving driver doesn't see or understand the signal with enough time to understand.

Racing is a type of driving behavior I find myself more and more familiar with. This is partly due to the exposure from this class but also because of the growing popularity of racing subculture. They have their own means of communication used to "call out" each other for a race. I've observed these instances a number of times while riding along with my friend who subscribes to the beliefs and lifestyle common of modern racers. His car has number of noticeable racing modifications which makes him a prime target for such challenges by other like minded individuals.
Repeatedly flashing one's highlights at another car challenges that car to a race. This is probably the most common form of communication that I've observed. While riding with my friend there was a couple instances when someone will come charging up from behind furiously flashing their highlights. More often than not, to my dismay, my friend would happily accept and rocket of down the road.
High revving also acts as a means to communicate ones desire to initiate racing. I've seen instances when an individual will approach another stopped car and highly rev the engine the car in an attempt to coax the other driver into a race. More times than not this succeeds.
It is popular to install a reverse light toggle switch in many cars now. This enables the driver to flash his or her reverse lights even when driving forward. So, when driving on the freeway someone may pass an individual while toggling their reverse lights. Essentially this has the same effect as flashing one's highlights.
Admittedly only those who race would use such means of communication. Another person wouldn't have a clue what was going on. Flashing lights... Are their lights broken? Revving motor... Is his motor broken? I found however that for those who do race such actions are highly successful in eliciting the desired reaction. Thus for those who wish to incite others to race this is a higher effective means of communication. Moreover unless the receiver is not of a racing background it is difficult to misinterpret flashing lights and high revving as these do not occur on a regular basis.

There have been times that I've been in a hurry either for class or for work and while driving in the fast lane I got stuck behind the slowest driver in the whole wide world. One would suppose that if they wanted to drive slow they would get into the right lane not cruise at 45 miles per hour in the left lane. Feeling frustrated and a bit self important I admit I accelerated till I was within a few feet from their bumper in an attempt to force them to speed up. I tailgated. I am not solely guilty of this crime. While observing I witnessed many individuals doing the very same thing.
In a few instances I observed the driver caught behind the slower vehicle signal for the front car to speed up or move out of the way. He did this by flashing his lights. In both circumstances the driver in front changed into the slower lane allowing the faster car to go by.
I only observed this once. While stuck behind someone going at a fustratingly slow pace in the fast lane the faster driver honked his horn. I was surprised as it is not very common for people in Hawai'i to use horns relative to drivers in the mainland (this is an interesting observation worthy of more study). At first the slower car didn't react to the pushy driver but after a few minutes of tailgating he eventually changed lanes.
More than any other example this observation was the most disturbing. Driving home from town early one evening I watched as a truck full of big, local men closely tailgated an elderly couple driving slow in the left lane. Eventually, the changed lanes and sped by shouting profanities. Yes, they were going painstakingly slow but that did not warrant the harsh treatment they received.
Admittedly I don't think that these methods of communication are commonly used. Those who do are usually more aggressive in their driving styles. Due to this most people react with compliance making the techniques described above effective. The person stuck behind a slow car wants the driver to move out of his way while the person driving slow shows no sign of compliance or caring of the situation. Although these techniques are effective they are unnecessarily aggressive.

Recommendations

There are many methods motorists use to communicate with one another. Nevertheless, accidents due to misunderstandings between drivers still occur. What can we do to foster better sharing on the road?
There are established gestures that are used on the roadways. For example one can use hand signals to communicate our desire to turn right, left, or stop. There are also unofficial gestures used these when waving someone on or saying thank you. If we create a form of universal gestures that everyone learns than perhaps there would be less misunderstanding on the road. For example, a shaka sign means thank you in Hawai'i but someone from the mainland might mistake that as a symbol for devil worshipping.
The military uses Morris code when communicating to one another. Although we use blinkers to indicate our intention to turn we could use another form of code to better communicate with one another. For example, cars could come equipped with another light used exclusively to transmit messages. Three quick flicks of light could mean thank you while a continuous light could convey a message to go. This would be universal so there wouldn't be any of misunderstanding of signals due to one's culture or background. Moreover, signals would be visible at night when normal hand gestures cannot be used.
E-mail, voice-mail, pagers, and cell phones are examples of how the number of communication methods are growing. If we established a system for communication between cars it may help improve the driving environment. A phone message box associated with your license number could be established so people can communicate their driving concerns. For example, if I see that someone's in traffic and their back tire is getting flat I can call their message box and tell them about it. The only concern that I have about this is the misuse of such innovations. A vindictive individual may leave explicit messages if unhappy with someone else.

Other Reports

The report by Kristin Subia's report, gives good examples of different circumstances where intereactions between drivers occur. She talks about the motivations behind the behavior of drivers as well as the resulting feelings. Kristin goes into detail about the possible outcome of various situations. For example making turns, changing lanes, yielding, making room in one's lane, tailgating, overtaking, and racing are all talked about.
Kristin also writes about the different means in which drivers communicate and how effective they are. She has examples of verbal communication such as gestures and facial expressions. and vehicular communication like signals. Kristin then compares the differences in the ways drivers communicate in France rather than the America. This is because she was luckly enough to have the oppertunity to study in abroad.
She has some good points on how drivers can improve the way the can communicate with one another. There are also links to other related articles as well as advice for the future generations.

In the report by Kristin Evert she defines two major means of communication on the road. Car communication involves using your vehicle to relay messages to drivers on the road. For example using one's blinker to change lanes or flashing your lights to someone who has forgotten theirs. Physical driver communication directly involves the driver. Facial expressions, hand gestures, and verbal communication are all examples of such communication.
In Ms. Evert's evaluation she had difficulty with her observations. She could not find evidence of communication patterns in individual driving behavior because her theorys were to complex.
Nevertheless she has recommendations on how she thinks quality of driving on the road could be improved. She believes strongly in driver education. If they were more comprehensive and inlcuded topics such as road rage and aggresive driving it would help the on road situation.
Although unable to locate any related articles on driving communication she does include a section on her personal expereinces with communicating on the road.

The report by Andrew Shapiro's was on the how effective gestural communication when involving requests for the right of way. According to Andrew the rules provided by the law in right of way situations don't always apply. This is because in many instances drivers make their own judgement. In situation such as these gestures become increasing important. The use of inappropriate gestures in circumstances such as this can lead to miscommunication and accidents.
Andrew conducted a mini-observational study. He wanted to catalog the different types on nonverbal communication used by motorists when stopped at a four way intersection. He also wanted to find of these different signals which was the most effective. What he found was that many motorists were courteous drivers and often let the other driver go. This was not always the case. He did observe a few drivers who assumed the right of way and used hand gestures to communicate that to others. Individuals such as these tended to gain the right of way.
Andrew believes he accomplished what he set out to do. He wanted to observe gestures and their effectiveness. What he didn't expect however was how often drivers engaged in aggressive driving. He states that this discovery made him realize that aggresive driving and the resulting violence potential will only increase. He has suggestions on how to make driving a more pleasant expereince.

Recommendations for the Future

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of recomendations for future generations is START EARLY! I thought it would be easy to gather the information on driving behavior as I'm always on the road anyway but looking for specific types of behavior can be a painstaking process.
It would also help to focus on one or two specific types of communication on the road rather than communication in general. When I first started observing I tried to write down everything. This was tedious (not to mention passive aggressive to other drivers on the road as I was writing while driving) and time consuming. Moreover, I found that a lot of the information I found I didn't use.
Lastly, try and look into something you might find interesting. Of all the information I found I thought the racing signals to be the most entertaining not only to the reader but as an observer as well. Coming from a different subculture (namely the "couch potato" subculture) it was interesting to observe not only the driving communication of racers but also their interpersonal interactions.

Epilogue

By making a conscious effort to watch for different types of driver communication I became aware of my own methods. I realized that I didn't communicate enough in ways that could be improved on. For example until this report I used blinker signals only rarely. Due to my observations I understood that using blinker signals can be extremely important to avoiding accidents (I've seen enough people cut off) and keeping up driver relations (I've seen enough people pissed off). My cognitive domain of thinking was changed due to the knowledge I gained in this study. This affected by affective domain as I now felt bad if I didn't use my blinker when someone was behind or around me. Hence, I now religiously use my blinker whenever I'm in traffic reflecting a change in my sensorimotor domain of thinking. By doing this report I've improved my driving I'd like to think with more studies and participation the generational curriculum can have a positive effect on the on road situation.

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