| Instructions For This Report |
| Previous Generations | Merging | Turning |
| Right of Way | Changing Lanes | Passing Cars |
| Summary | Recommendations | Epilogue |
| Previous Generations |
Ms. Kristin Subia's report is on drivers' communication
and social interaction with everyone on the road. She describes a
few of the most common of communication that was involved in the interaction.
There are six situations. Ms. Subia also states that there are three
methods and their effectiveness. The first method is vehicular communication.
Vehicular communication is using blinkers to indicate turning left or right,
using your horn to a person's attention, revving the engine to indicate
racing, driving close to indicate changing lanes, and following very closely
behind to another car. The second method is verbal communication.
It's a method hardly used for communication because driving is not seen
as a social activity. Verbal communication mostly involves cursing.
The third and final method used for communication is gestures and facial
expressions. Gestures are an important part of communication between
drivers. Ms. Subia says that gestures are used as a final confirmation
for several different things. Waving the hand is a common gesture
used between drivers. Facial expressions are also and important part
of communication between drivers. Ms. Subia says that facial expressions
are not necessary. All of the mentioned methods are an effective
way of communication between drivers on the road. Ms. Subia then
states recommendations but says to just use the same methods that people
have been using. She also summarizes the report. She mentions
some related articles like Andrew Shapiro and Dr. Driving Letters.
The last part of Ms. Subia's report is on future generations and how they
can improve on this report.
To summarize Mr. Andrew Shapiro's report, he
first starts his with an introduction then the body of the report, and
a
conclusion. Mr. Shapiro's sub-title of his report is 'I Was Here
First.' In Mr. Shapiro's introduction he states that
most drivers have come to a four-way intersection. Certain regulations
make this common sense and courtesy to others. Mr. Shapiro then goes
on to say that it is interesting to see drivers trying to use gestures
for the right-of-way. Mr. Shapiro defines gesture as "any action
that sends a visual signal to an onlooker." (Morris,1977, P. 24).
There was a mini-observational study on nonverbal
communications between drivers coming to a four-way stop
intersection. Mr. Shapiro then states the awareness of the mood
of others can provide more road safety and confrontations
between drivers. Aggressive driver's behavior is a deadly problem
today. There was a study done by American Automobile
Association or AAA on this. Mr. Shapiro says that there are few
chances for effective verbal or kinetic communication.
Dehumanizing drivers are also used. Mr. Shapiro did his own study
on this topic of a four-way stop intersection. Drivers were observed
for two days between 3 PM to 6 PM. Population of drivers were used
only if they came to the same intersection at the same time which needed
some type of communication between drivers. He then goes on to say
that there were some correlation between AAA and his own experience where
most of the aggressive drivers were young males. Waving was most
noted gesture that was used in Mr. Shapiro's study. However, that
gesture was not universally understood. In Mr. Shapiro's conclusion,
he goes on to state that in a scientific poll of 1005 American adults,
it was shown that 9 out of 10 think incivility is a serious problem.
He states that during his study he was surprised at the frequency of rude
and obnoxious behaviors used by those drivers. He also says to lighten
up and enjoy the ride.
Kristin Evert did her report on, 'The Hardest
Language to Learn.' She has seven different parts to her report including
an
introduction and epilogue. She first starts off with 'Thoughts
from Kristin Subia and Andrew Shapiro.' Ms. Evert goes on to
explain Kristin Subia's report. She says that in Ms. Subia's
report that she expresses her opinions about the effectiveness of
different types of driver communication. Mr. Shapiro goes on
to explain the dreaded four-way stop signed intersection.
The next part of Ms. Evert's report is on
her predictions and methods. She pays special attention to any form
of driver
communication. She states her predictions. Then she goes
on to her observations and evaluations. She did not have many in
number, only three. She then goes on to describe her three experiences
or observations. One occurring on November 23,
1997 on Kalaniana'ole Highway, one on December 1, 1997 on Dole Street,
and one on December 4, 1997 on the Pali
Highway. Ms. Evert then gives her readers her recommendations.
Ms. Evert goes on to report that the universal driver
communication methods is to fix the problem of drivers misunderstanding
each other's attempts at communication. She states
that positive reinforcement would be a good idea so that people would
remember and use hand signals or waves. She also has a part on Web
Search and Library Search. In her epilogue, also called "R.I.P."
(Rethink-Implement-Practive), she stated that writing her paper made her
think about how she felt about the entire driving experience. She
enjoys driving. There are three sections to her epilogue. The
first section is on rethink. In this section she says that you need
a positive attitude towards driving. It begins with rethinking your
way. The second section is on implement. She wants to take her new
knowledge and expand on it. The third and last section is on practice.
She says that practice is what makes it easier.
Ms. Mary Elizabeth Pacheco's report consists
of a different parts to it, from her introduction to her introduction to
her
epilogue. She starts off in her introduction as what she will
cover in her report. Like Ms. Evert's report, Ms. Pacheco also
uses Kristin Subia and Dr. Andrew Shapiro's articles on communication
between drivers. She also describes her methods
used in her study. Ms. Subia's report is summarized by
Ms. Pacheco. Ms. Subia says that communication is important to
drivers and social interaction are constantly occurring between them.
Dr. Shapiro's article called 'The Effectiveness of the
Gestural Communications Involving Drivers Requesting the Right-of-Way.
is also summarized by Ms. Pacheco. Dr. Shapiro
says that at a four-way stop sign intersection, gestures are used with
drivers. He then describes several reasons why gestures
are used. Ms. Pacheco explains her course of study with methods,
predictions, and expectations. She then states her observations made
during her study like overtaking which was done on November 25, 1997 and
changing lanes done on November 29, 1997. Evaluations were done by
Ms. Pacheco with who, what, how, when, and why. She goes on to say
that
recommendations for a UPC code for drivers. She explains more
about these recommendations she researched and also gives
her opinions on it.
| Merging |
There was not much communication between drivers
in this situation. The most commonly observed method was that of
blinker use. Most people used their blinker when wanting to merge
into a lane. I think it had to do with how many people were on the
road and a what time of day it was. Depending on the time of
traveling, some people didn't use their blinker from on-ramps. I
guess they assume that the driver in the lane will let them in and no blinker
use is necessary. There comes a problem of a slow lane and a stopped lane
when people wanting ot merge do not keep up with the lane speed they are
entering.
During the day with little or no traffic on the
road is when most of the drivers neglected to use their turn signals.
In other words if the merging lane was clear they would merge without signaling
at all. It seemed that more people used there blinkers at night and
during traffic.
The methods of communication in this situation were similar to those
of the previous situation. The easiest way for drivers to let other's
know it is okay for them to change lanes seemed to be simply slowing down
to allow the car enough room to change lanes. This worked very well.
The other car would often give a wave of "thanks" or a shaka sign.
Hand gestures and waves of "go ahead" were also
used and again were very effective. This type of hand motion was
most often used during times of heavy traffic. Again a thank you
was almost always given in response to being let in.
There were also those in this situation who tried
to communicate that they did not want another car cutting in front of them.
This was done by tailgating the car in front of them or speeding up to
close the gap when they see another driver's blinker go on. I noticed
a lot of women doing this also. It too was very effective.
The other car definitely knew that they were not going to be allowed in
although they were not always happy.
| Turning |
Turning was another situation where there was not
much communication going on. The two most common methods were the
use of blinkers and the pressing of the brake. I was surprised to
see that so many people did not take the time to use their blinkers when
making a turn. The pressing of the brakes was the only signal given
to others that the driver might want to turn, but is definitely slowing
down. This signal only works for the person behind the driver not
for the oncoming traffic.
One thing I noticed is that the blinker would only
come on when the car making the turn had to come to complete stop.
Even then the person would only signal after the car has stopped.
This led to communication from the car directly behind the one turning.
On every instance I observed the latter car staring at the driver making
the turn as the car turned or as the car passed. Other signs of protest
included honking , shaking of heads, and yelling.
Blinkers were made for the primary purpose of signaling
a turn, that is why they are called turn signals. From what I noticed
the use of blinkers was very effective in letting others know your intentions.
It gives other drivers a warning to slow down. But there are a lot
of drivers who do not take the time to use them when making turns.
I saw men and women doing this, both young and old.
| Right of Way |
Hand signals were the most commonly used method of
communication in this situation. Drivers would wave their hands as
if to say "go ahead" when they wanted the car to go in front of them.
Then in most cases the driver being let in would give the other driver
a wave or a shaka sign to say "thank you". The waving of one's hand
was very effective in this situation.
Another method used is the raising of both hands
to let the other driver know to hurry up and come if you are coming.
The few times I saw this is was being done by a male. It was usually
done after the original wave signal was not seen or ignored. In this
case also the car being let in would give a "thank you" wave.
There was a third method of communication I noticed
in this situation. This was the speeding up of a car to let the other
car know that they don't want to let him in. This was not very effective.
A couple of times the car that had to yield would pull in anyway causing
the first car to brake quickly. If the yielding car did yield that
driver would usually give the speeding car a stare as they drove by.
I noticed more women than men did not want to yield to other cars.
| Changing Lanes |
I noticed a lot of communication going on when it
came to changing lanes. The most commonly method used was the turn
signal. It seemed to me that the majority of drivers did use their
blinkers but many times it was put on as the car was already making it's
move. It seems useless to tell the person behind and in front of
you that you're going to turn when you're already doing it.
Another method I noticed was the turning of one's
head to look in the next lane and the constant checking of one's rear view
mirrors. This was usually done in combination with the blinker.
You can tell a person wants to change lanes when they are constantly looking
at the other lane to make sure that it is clear for them to do so.
This was very common among women.
A third method I observed was used a lot during
times of heavy or stop and go traffic. This was the extending of
one's arm out the window to let others know they were changing lanes.
It was only done when moving to the lane on the left. (There is a
sign where you use your left arm in a bent position to signal you are moving
right but I did not observe this during my driving sessions.) This
method seemed to work really well in traffic. The arm would be straight
out the window and the hand would either be pointing to the ground or open
palmed as to tell the other person to wait or slow down. They also
could use their open hand to thank the driver who let them in the lane.
They also used a hand wave in the middle of the car to thank the driver
behind them that let them in.
| Passing Cars |
I did not see many instances of this situation but
I did see a few. In my case it was cars that were driving slow in
the left lane and a car wanted to pass them. The most common method
of communicating that a car wants to pass is to tailgate that car.
It was not that effective. The car would not speed up and it would
not move over to allow the faster car to pass. This is a clear example
of a passive aggressive driver who does not know or obey lane norms which
I believe is the cause of traffic.
On one occasion the car being tailgated tried to
communicate to the other driver that he did not appreciate being followed
so closely. He did this by pressing on his brakes repeatedly.
It worked because the other car backed off and eventually changed lanes
to overtake the slow car. But this driver also communicated his protest
to having had to change lanes to pass. He did this by not going completely
in to the next lane before he passed and then cutting in very close to
the other car. He also stared at the other driver when passing him.
Both drivers were male.
| Summary |
There is so much communication between drivers on
the road that it is impossible to see everything while you are driving.
Some use signals to complain or to show protest for another driver's move
but the majority of non-verbal communication is done as a courtesy to others
on the road. When not everyone is aware of driving courtesy, road
rage is built. The conflict of driving styles that step on each other
is the main cause for road rage and other driving problems.
From my observations the best way of letting others
on the road know what you intend to do is by using your blinkers and by
using hand motions. These seem like very basic things and we probably
do them all the time without even thinking about it. But one would
be surprised how many drivers neglect to communicate their intentions to
others on the road. This may be a reason why there are so many accidents
and road rage.
| Recommendations |
I think one method of official interaction and communication
that would work between drivers is the simple use of hand signals.
Someone could come up with a few simple signals which could be used all
over. There already is a understood signal for both right and left
turns but it is possible to add a few more such as stop, go ahead, I need
to pass, I have an emergency, etc.
These hand signals would be taught in drivers education
classes and parents could teach their kids when they are learning to drive.
The signals could be added on to the official test required to receive
a permit and would be implemented into the actual road test
I also think that phones would be a good way to
communicate. It has to be very simple, for example only having to
press one button to dial a car that is next to you. Otherwise if
the person has to dial too many numbers it can end up being a distraction
to the driver and become a danger. Maybe instead of dialing there
could be such a thing as a two way CB radio implemented in cellular phone
that reaches the cars in your immediate area so that you are able to let
them know your intentions before you execute them.
I don't think the flip cards would be a good idea.
It seems like to much for the driver to hold while trying to steer at the
same time. Again it could be dangerous. The only way I se this
method working is if the driver has a passenger to show the cards for him.
This may be a good idea.
| Epilogue |
This report was one that I enjoyed doing the research.
I have seen so many things on the road throughout my life but when I actually
went on the road for the purpose of watching other drivers I feel that
I learned more. One piece of advice is to have someone else
drive so you are able to concentrate on the other drivers and not worry
so much about your own vehicle.
I was surprised to see how many people never look
at the cars around them. There are many drivers who ignore the cars
around them and end up being a danger. I used to assume that everyone
who drove knew what they were doing . That is not the case.
It seems like some drivers don't even know where the blinker lever is in
their car. I went out once at night, once during the day (with no
traffic), and once during rush hour traffic, just to see drivers under
different situations.
