Driving Buddy:
Teaching A New Driver
By Dustin Telles
Contents
 Introduction
 The Second Experience 
 Her First Experience 
  Her Reaction
  My Observations
 Conclusion
 
 
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Introduction
 
    What does it mean to be a driving buddy?  A driving buddy as far as I am concerned is someone who helps someone to improve some aspect of their driving.  It is not someone who is trying to impose their will and their ideas on someone else.  A lot of times when someone says driving buddy people may think that it is one of those inflatable dummies that people put in their passenger seats to give the appearance that they are not alone.  But rest assure I am not talking about that.  First of all, being a driving buddy is not easy and it is not for everyone.  First of all you need to be a driver who is in touch with his/her cognitive, affective and sensorimotor domains of traffic psychology.  The reason I say this is because if you are not then you are not capable of helping others because you have not even helped yourself.  Being a driving buddy is something that should be taken seriously because it is in effect change a part of someone's personality which is either bad or uninformed.  Let us begin by saying that we are trying to teach someone from Kauai to adapt to driving norms here on Oahu.  This takes place over a one week period and is done with the greatest integrity possible.
 
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Her Experience The First Time
 
     Her first time out on the freeway with me was a very nerve wrecking experience for both her and me.  The reason that this is so is because she is still not used to driving on the freeway and therefor is very tentative with everyone move that she makes.  Let me start by saying that we go onto the freeway from Kahala Mall and we drove until the stadium which we had picked as an end point for our purposes.  The drive started out all right because as we all know, merging on the freeway at this area is very easy and stress free.  However, when we hit the university on ramp, I noticed that she became very nervous.  I asked her what she was thinking and she said that she was thinking that she hoped that she wouldn't get banged because all the cars were merging in so fast.  I let her continue her driving without saying anything to her.  Later on she said that she didn't know how fast she should go because she was traveling the speed limit and everyone was passing her and she felt like she was doing something wrong.  We pressed on and then it happened, stuck in traffic.  She told me that she hates the traffic up here simply because the amount of cars involved.  She also said that she hates it when people try to cut in without waving or using their blinker.  By this time we had been driving for only about ten to fifteen minutes and she was showing signs of frustration.  After we passed the airport cutoff traffic ceased and we were on our way again.  This time she said that being in traffic really stresses her out and makes her feel very uncomfortable.  In a couple of minutes we were at the stadium and this part was over.
 
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My First Observations
 
    For her first experience I noticed that she was very tentative at times and yet very aggressive at other times.  I noticed that when she was in traffic she got more aggressive and hostile then when she was driving in an open road.  This to me seemed like a normal behavior for I myself tend to react in a similar way.  I also noticed that she makes all her turn signals no matter what and she always waves thank you when changing lanes.  This was something that I felt didn't need any further attention.  However she did show signs of Road Rage when she started tapping rather heavily on her steering wheel when we were stuck in traffic.  Overall I would have to say that she is a very good driver but lacks the experience of driving on roads like this.  My recommendations for our next trip is to go on a longer trip and for her to try and do new things that I will tell her to do.  Hopefully this will get rid of some of her questions and hopefully get her comfortable driving up here.
 
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The Second Experience
 
     For her second experience I told here that this time when she is driving I will give her suggestions and she is to follow them.  After we are done i will ask you how it felt to be made over.  For this trip we again started at Kahala Mall and this time we planed on driving to Pearl City.  Here we go.  The drive started off very well.  Since I knew she got upset and nervous last time at the University area I told her to go into the middle lane and keep up with the car in front of her.  We proceeded and so far she looked better than she did last time.  Later on we again like last time got stuck in traffic.  This time I told her to try and remember that people have reasons for driving the way they drive and that she shouldn't take things personal.  I also told her that a lot of people don't use signals because they feel that if they use them that people won't let them in.  By just telling her this is appeared that she was more open to letting drivers merge and even began to talk like there was nothing going on around her.  After we cleared the traffic I reminded her to keep up as much as possible with the car in front of her because then should would be going with the flow of traffic which would make her feel more comfortable while driving.  So far everything seemed great.  We reached the merge to get back on H1 and I told her to take her time and use as much of the merge lane as possible.  So far so good.  We merged back on with no problems and in not time at all we were in Pearl City.  Overall for this trip I think that I really helped her overcome some of her fears and emotions, lets find out.
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Reactions from Her
 
     Her reactions are actually pretty comforting.  She told me that after doing this she is more aware of her surroundings and what other people are doing and thinking.  She said that she really liked the advice that I gave her and that she plans on using it more in the future.  She said that just by being in a different lane it removed a lot of her anxieties when approaching and on or off ramp.  She said that by keeping up with the person in front of her that when she would get passed she would feel like its not something bad that she is doing its just that the other person is more in a rush.  She said that she is starting to think more when she is driving, especially about what she is doing and why she is doing it.  This to me shows that she is beginning to use a form of traffic Psychology in her own life and this to me is great.  She also said that she would like to try this out one more time so that she becomes a better and more secure driver.  She also said that she wants to learn how so that she can help others with their makeovers.
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Conclusion
 
    In conclusion I found that she was very open to criticism and directions.  I feel that I have really made a difference in her life and that she has begun to become a better driver because of me.  This activity has also made me think about my own driving and how I can improve on that.  I am getting better at bringing together the cognitive, affective and sensorimotor domains into one within my self and I hope that I have done the same for her.  This activity is something that everyone should try at least once because you are not only helping someone but you are also helping yourself.  A note to the future generations about this, maybe it might be better if there are more than two experiences.  This may bring in more data on the subject and will hopefully expand knowledge on the subject of Traffic Psychology.
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