Collecting Data on How Drivers Communicate

My observations were made whenever I drove my Nissan Sentra around areas mostly in Honolulu. The main purpose of my observations is to support my theory that drivers' communication patterns are influenced by one's cultural and societal norms. People often experience miscommunications in normal conversations between friends or classmates and the outcome of it can result in frustration, anxiety, and even hostility. Miscommunication can occur more often especially if people don't share common cultures and societal norms. I think that the fundamental reasons of why the drivers fail to communicate with each other are similar to the reasons for miscommunication in normal conversations. I paid special attention to the drivers who were driving rental cars and their ethnicity. Whenever I witnessed driver's communicating with each other, I remembered the incidents and wrote them down on a notebook when I returned home.

I was driving on Kalakaua Ave. heading towards Kapiolani Community College around 1pm. Kalakaua Ave. is a one way - 4 lanes road where there are many hotels built on both sides of the road. I was driving in the first right lane and saw a white convertible rental car wanting to drive out of the hotel driveway to the road. There were three Japanese tourists in the car and the driver was a male in his 20s. I slowed down and waved to them, saying "go ahead". The driver then bowed to me about 5 times until he sucessfully made his way.

It was about 11am and I was driving home from downtown on AlaMoana Blvd. heading towards AlaMoana. Then, a car infront of me signaled to turn left at the intersection. So, I turned on my right blinker to get into the next lane and the traffic light was still red at that time. In the right lane I wanted to merge in, there was a long line of cars waiting for the traffic light to turn green. I knew that I would have to wait for a long time to be able to merge unless I do something. So, I looked at a caucasion male driver in his 20s next to me and smiled a little, meanining that "will you let me in?" He looked at me and gave me a little nod which I assumed him saying "sure!". As soon as the traffic light turned green, he just drove away without letting me in.

My friend from Japan visiting Hawaii for her vacation was driving and parked her rental car into a driveway to drop me off. There was an old Toyota automobile parked in the same driveway and two local looking males were standing by the car. I got out of the car and when she drove off the driveway, she honked twice shortly. Two males immidiately looked around by the sound and they looked a little confused. I knew what she meant when she honked because I grew up mostly in Japan but I don't think those men understood it.

Taking a bow is a way of showing respect in Japan. Such behavior is so deeply rooted into Japanese culture, and so that almost all Japanese would bow without even thinking about it. I've lived in Japan for 8 years, but I still bow unconsciously when I'm talking to Japanese people. As it was witnessed in my first observation, one of the most commonly used gestures among Japanese drivers is bowing. From my driving experiences in Japan, I can recall several driving behaviors that I found interesting. I've noticed that Japanese drivers didn't really used gestures which involves hands such as waving. In fact, I think it could be taken as rude if you were to wave at Japanese drivers when they are bowing at you. Another drivers' communicating pattern found among Japanese drivers is the usage of a hazard blinker which means either "thank you" or "slow down". Japanese drivers would put the hazard blinker on only for a second, letting it blink twice meaning "thank you", when someone let you merge into your lane. Also, they use it on freeways when there is a traffic ahead. By keeping the hazard blinker on, drivers can see it from the distance and thus more time to reduce their speed. This communication method is more commonly used among relatively younger Japanese drivers and I think this is such a clever way to communicate.

Drivers in Hawaii rarely honk at other drivers. In Japan, however, it's not unusual. Japanese drivers honk at other people in a way to express their frustration to others. Sometimes, it means exactly the opposite such as "thank you" and "bye", and my last observation is an example of that. Because honking can startle people due to its unpleasant sound, it can elicit anxiety and anger in other drivers. When my friend honked twice, I knew she simply meant to say "bye" because I understood what it means in Japan. But, it can be misundertood and even be taken as offensively by people who don't hold the same meaning.

My second observation describes another miscommunication between drivers. From my understanding, smiling to other driver in such a situation means obviously asking for a little courtesy. When he nodded, I thought we had an understanding that he would let me merge into his lane. When he left without letting me merge into his lane, I felt angry and confused. Fortunately, my anger and confusion last only for a short period(thanks to this class!), however, the incident really made me realize what miscommunication can do to drivers' state of mind.

Evert's(Psy459G7) report

In Kristin's report, she first summerizes reports by Kristin Subia and Andrew Shapiro from the past generations. Then, she develops two terms to describe different types of driving behavior. The term "Car Communications" refers to any type of communications that uses the car such as "tailing". Another term is "Physical Driver Communication" which involves the movement in any part of driver's body such as waving hand or shaking head. Prior to her observations, she makes several predictions such as "people in sports cars are more likely to exhibit Car Communication then people in non-sports cars". However, she couldn't find any communication patterns that can support her predictions from her observations. She mentions that no one really smiles when driving in her report. Driving can produce unpleasant feelings because there are many stimuli that can easily elicit such feelings, such as a long traffic line ahead of you or a reckless driver cutting you off. However, it is drivers choice to either let those stimli to provoke negative feelings or not to.

David Altenburg's(Psy459G8) report

In David's report on How Drivers Communicate, he raises two important issues in relation to the topic: Cultural Localization and Responsibility. He uses a naturalistic observation method to gather information about drivers' communication patterns and how they are localized. His two hypotheses are first, drivers' communication requires mutual responsibility. Second, drivers' communication patterns vary in different regions. David's report is interesting because his observations are not merely describing communication patterns. However, he explains how one single gesture, whether it is waving or flashing headlights, can be received differently depending on situations and drivers' knowledge of that particular gesture. For example, drivers from Hawaii and NewYork may translate the use of honking differently. Or, flashing headlights can have a multiple meanings such as "speed up" or "go ahead".

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Suggestions for future generations

Future generations should create observation methods that are more systematic and reliable. This report is soley based on my personal observations and road experiences.

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Epilogue

I believe that drivers' communication patterns are influenced by their cultural and societal norms, and miscommunication occurs if one does not understand the other. And, I think this fundamental notion can be applied to driving as well. If cultural and societal factors of the other driver are understood, there would be less negative judgement about that person. Therefore, I think it's important to educate people about how drivers' communication patterns can vary depending on their backgrounds. When people are able to think in a more complex way, they will become more sophisticated in their thinking and more likely to be able to tolerate any negative emotional arousals.

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