ABSTRACT: Kristin Evert's Report on How Drivers Communicate

Ms. Evert's report on how drivers communicate is comprised of her study and observation on the different forms of communication used by drivers. The first part of her study is consists of her prediction and the method she hopes to find out how drivers communicate. She mentioned that she will be recording her observations on a tape recorder while driving. Kristin also brought up two terms that she had developed to describe the different types of communications between drivers. The first one she mentioned is "Car Communication" which is kind of similar to Ms. Subia's Vehicular Communication. She defines Car Communication as "communication...using your car and the way you drive" to tell other drivers what you plan to do on the road. An example she uses to further describe "Car Communication" is the tailing phenomenon, which she says is when a person uses the positioning of his/her car to communicate that he/she wants the person to go faster. The second term that was defined, she calls "Physical Driver Communication" which is primarily about facial expressions, hand gestures, and verbal communication.

Ms. Evert also shares her predictions which are:

  • People in sports cars are more likely to exhibit "Car Communication" than people in nonsports cars.

  • Females are more likely to use waving or pleasant facial expressions to communicate than men.

  • Drivers in (Honolulu) or near town are more likely to use "Car Communication" than drivers on the Windward side.

  • Drivers are less likely to wave, use pleasant facial expressions, or "Physical Driver Communication" at night, and are more likely to use "Car Communication" at night versus during the day.

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    I think, I know why she predicted that drivers are more likely to use "Car Communication" at night than during the day because it's dark and people can't see your face clearly. But, if you use the car, they will surely not miss it because it's a pretty big object to miss. Also, I agree with her notion that drivers from town are more aggressive than those who live in the country or Windward side because it's a lot more stressful to drive in town. So, it's actually the stress and the flow of traffic that triggers people to drive aggressively on the road.

    For the second part of her report, she listed her observations complete with the date, the time, and the place where she observed her behavior and other drivers' behavior on the road. At the end of each observations, she evaluated the things that she noted down or noticed. Some of the incidents she had shared with us, I believe we encounter everybody with our fellow drivers and yet we cannot really explain why we act the way we act on the road. She found that her predictions were "way too complex for a project as short termed as this" that during her observations, she didn't exactly see anyone who used car communication and the only physical communication she saw was waving. She also concluded that waving is not really related to the car that you have, your gender, or where you live, but she said it was about a half and half issue. She also added that no one, including herself, drove with a smile but everybody was serious. I guess, people don't want to look crazy when they're by themselves and they're smiling -- what would people think? At the end of her report, she recommended that Driver's Education should include topics about road rage, how to deal with road rage, and teach new drivers and experienced ones common courtesy on the road. I think that it's about time for the Driver's Education to change for the better so the conditions or situations on the road will improve.

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