I found several reports on being a driving buddy and doing a driving make over. The first report that I found was by Chris Murakami of G6. Chris Murakami describes being a driving buddy as a passenger in the car critiquing the driver while the driver accepts these suggestions as if they were his own. He also breifly emntions a driving huddle-buddy. He does not describe it here, but adds a link to it. I clicked on that link, but was unable to find a definition there. I agree with this definition, but feel like this could go into more detail.
The next report I found was on driving makeovers by Shane Cobb-Adams. I really agree with what he has to say here about the definition of a driving make over. He at first breaks down the words into "driving personality" and "makeover". His definition of driving personality is that specific characteristics appears when someone is driving. He compares this to having a "phone personality, business personality, or weekend personlity". I really like his analogy, because it emphasizes that people take on different personalities through out the day depending on the situation. This makes it more believable that there could be such a thing as a driving personality.
Finally there is the definition of "makeover". He descibes this as
a "shift in the given driving personlity". This part could have been
a little more clear. To be more precise would be a shift from the
normal. So, altogther, Shane
Cobb-Adams says that a driving personality makeover is "a process that
is designed to affect changes in the driving habits and actions of individuals".
He does go on to say that it it a process that should fix a problem.
I don't agree with this, because a makeover does not necessarily suggest
making something better, but just changing it from the normal.
My definition
of being a drivng buddy is someone that is a passenger in the vehicle that
makes suggestions to the driver on improving driving style. I also
feel that a driving buddy's role is someone that does the same thing as
mentioned above plus they help to decrease the amount of road rage the
driver may be experiencing. This is done by talking one's feelings
out while driving and having the driving buddy comment on them, helping
to ease any frustration or anger felt by the driver. One very important
thing that Chris
Murakami mentions though is that this is with the respect that the
driver considers these suggestions as important and valuable as their own.
As for driving makeovers, I feel this has a more positive connotation to it. Someone that wants to have a driving makeover would want to be able to have their driving behavior change for the better an not worse. (I hope) Having a driving personlity make over means being able to changes one's regular actions and behaviors on the road to being more safe and considerate. This includes such things as a driving buddy, self-witnessing or self modification. The goal here would be to eliminate road rage from this driver.
Day 1 of my driving personality makeover began with a twenty minute trip
from Makiki to Wal-Mart in Mililani. Let me give you a little background
history on my subject first. My client is male, 28 years old, lives
in Kaimuki, and drives a Toyota GTS. He also used to race motorcycles.
I asked him to be my subject for a driving experiment I was conducting
in my psychology class. He agreed, but not enthusiastically.
And so the makeover begins?
We rode in my subject?s car with no other passengers. It was about
8 PM. My client was unsure and maybe nervous at first, because he
kept looking at me. Once we got started, about three minutes into
the drive, I reminded him to just talk about what he was feeling and thinking.
Maybe I should have been more structured in telling him this, because he
started to tell me that he was thinking about this other car that he wanted
to buy. When I asked him how he felt about driving or what did he
think about it as far as others are concerned on the road, he accelerated
quickly around the next corner, laughing. I knew that he was not
taking me and this makeover seriously.
I asked him why he did that, and he answered that
it was fun. ?Is that all?? I asked him, and he said, ?Yeah,
it gives me like a rush.? I asked him if it?s like an adrenaline
rush, but he said no and started to go off the subject into biology and
physiology attempting to explain that it is a rush, but not an adrenaline
rush. We debated for about a minute, but then I stopped the conversation
saying that I did not want to argue with him that night. He agreed.
We then came to the intersection Lusitania and Piikoi, where we wanted
to make a left turn to get on to the on ramp for H1. Instead of getting
into the left lane which turns and heads straight on to the freeway, he
stayed one lane to the right of that lane. I asked him why he was
doing that, and he said ?So, I can cut in front of all these cars.?
I asked him if he was in a rush, and he said ?No,?. I asked him if
he was doing it for fun, and then his brow crinkled and he smiled a little
and said, ?sort of, it also kinda is like a rush too?.
I did not pursue this issue and said ?Okay,?. We got on to the freeway, where he cut over to the next lane very quickly and raced past the car that we had been following on the on ramp. I asked him why he did that instead of letting him have a chance to cut over if he wanted. He replied that it would take too much energy to do that, and it would be easier if he did what he did. I asked him what he meant by that, and that?s when he started to go into his driving philosophy. He talked about how he drives like he rides his motorcycle.
These are some of his basic points of driving:
1) Braking takes more energy than speeding up. Meaning that it is also more likely that an accident will happen if he has to slow down rather than accelerate.
2) You have to speed up and put yourself at a visible position. This may mean cutting in front of someone. He says if someone cuts into you, it is your fault for letting your car be seen.
3) Speeding is more fun. (sort of. He contradicts himself a little here) But he said it is also more safe to speed, in order to keep up with the flow of traffic. He also mentioned that he normally does not speed more than 10-15 mph, because it is less likely that he will be pulled over. He said that people who go over 20 or more over the speed limit are more highly targeted. There was a lot of rationalizing in this subject of speeding. We will come back to this subject later again.
4) ?I enjoying driving.? He does not find driving to be stressful in general, not including traffic.
We did get to our destination
safely. No arguments and no hostility were displayed. If anything,
he did not really take this makeover very seriously. However, he
was cooperative by answering any questions that I asked about. Whenever
I asked how he felt about other drivers, he went back to the point of driving
like he rides. ?You have to drive like no one sees you. So,
you have to make yourself seen.? He did not blame other drivers nor
focus on them. Driving is mostly about him and his car. Other
drivers are like obstacles in a video game. Overall, his attitude
while driving is really laid back.
Day 2 was much dreaded by my subject which was verbally expressed.
I also detected it from the worried look on his face. We again drove
in his car. I did not really have any specific destination in mind,
but knew that we would have to go on to the freeway by the same on ramp
that we had gone on the day before. I encouraged him to tell me what
he was thinking, and he said that he was wondering where we were going.
I told him that it was a surprise, but he would enjoy it. This is
when I thought we should go to Costco, because he had been expressing earlier
that he needed to go there. I instructed him where to go and which
turns to take. I also reminded him to slow down and drive the speed
limit. When I told him to drive the speed limit, he looked at me
with a face that said, ?Are you serious or are you crazy?? The speed
limit in this area was 25. He more or less stayed with in 5 mph of
the speed limit.
I then told him to get into the left lane behind all these cars.
The lane to the right as usual did not have as many cars in it, but I did
not allow him to speed up and cut in front of all the cars that waited
their turn to get on to the freeway. He did wait his turn and allowed
a car to cut over in front of him from the right lane. He expressed
some frustration when we missed the green light with a sigh, but no verbal
comments were made. I asked him what he was thinking, and he just
said that he wished we had made the green light. He was surprisingly
very compliant with little to say. I felt like he knew that this
was not permanent, and that I just needed it for my class, so that he would
just go with whatever I said.
I had
him drive in the right lane at the speed limit. He was patient and
let people merge in front of him when I told him. He did not appear
to be enjoying this activity, and so I asked him what he was thinking and
feeling. He said that it?s just that he was not used to driving like
the way I was telling him to. He also said that this is not that
same way that I drive. I agreed with him that I did not drive the
same way that I was instructing him. I did tell him that this way
of driving that I was instructing him on was within legal limits and supposed
to eventually reduce road rage with the assistance of a regular driving
buddy such as myself. The rest of the trip to Costco was basically
the same. He was really quiet and did mostly everything that I told
him to do. The hardest part that he had difficulty following was
the speed limit. He would slowly start going faster until I reminded
him to slow down. My comments would be sometimes greeted with a grunt.
When we were done shopping at Costco, we returned home. I let him
drive anyway that he wanted. I observed that on the way home, he
allowed more drivers to cut in front of him than normal. He did not
drive in the right lane though, and did not go the speed limit. It
was an average of about 10 mph over the limit.
When we got home, I talked to him about the experiment and debriefed him.
I let him know that this was not a personal outlash on him or his driving,
but a common experiment that people in my class were conducting.
We wanted to take more notice in our driving habits as well as others.
We do this by first observing, and then giving constructive criticism.
I again told him that the way I was trying to get him to drive is supposed
to reduce road rage and anxiety felt by drivers. He agreed that it
may help with some people, but it may cause more anxiety in others.
I did not argue with him. This ended our debriefing session.
Don?t do this experiment with your parents or anyone that taught you how to drive. This would be a major blow to their ego. They will also constantly remind you that they are the ones that taught YOU how to drive. Pick a good friend. Preferably someone with more patience. You do want some sort of cooperation to do your report. And finally, take this experiment seriously. If you don?t, neither will your subject.
I picked this report subject for different reasons. One is that it sounded fun, and two I was curious if a driving buddy really does help. I feel like I should change my style of driving first before attempting to do anymore makeovers. I think that driving personality makeovers can work, but it is a long and slow process. It really does depend what kind of driver you start with, and their personality makes a big difference. If they are more understanding and patient, then it would be much easier.
A driving personality makeover can not be done in just one day. It has to be a constant process. Also the person driving has to agree on the same goals as you. If they don?t see the reasons for going the speed limit or allowing people to merge by slowing down, then things again will be more difficult. Finally, this report has brought more self awareness to my driving. I am self-witnessing more often and asking myself why I do some things that I do. Most of the time I drive the way I do, because I am running late. So, one thing that I start working on is leaving the house earlier so that I will not be in such a rush.
Lastly, have fun and enjoy yourself. Don?t get stressed out as a passenger or a driver. Stay calm and supportive, it makes things easier.