ABSTRACT: Mary Elizabeth Pacheco's Report on How Drivers Communicate

Ms. Pacheco, on her introduction, mentioned that driving on the road can be one of the most exhilarating and relaxing experiences, but then she turned around and said that it could also be the most dangerous experience in your life. I don't know about being relaxed when driving, but I can assure you that I never felt relaxed when I'm driving. It's not because I'm impatient, it's because there's so many aggressive drivers out there. I agree with her when she said that there's a constant communication between drivers, although it's not always a pleasant one. Sometimes, other drivers even misinterpret what you're trying to gesture or tell them and that's when the problem starts.

For the next part, she indicated the course of study she aims to follow or to based her observations with:

  • For Methods, she explains that she will be observing and recording the actions, words, or gestures that drivers use to communicate. Her observation will be administered in the afternoon, as well as in the evening. And she will observe the situations as a pedestrian and a driver.
  • For her Predictions, she assumes that communication will be misinterpreted and that communication will influence the driver's way of driving.
  • For Expectations, she believes that communication between drivers are one-sided and that communication usually influences our driving in a negative and positive way.

    • Like Ms. Evert's report, Mary Elizabeth listed down her observations with the two most common situations that we encounter everyday, which are overtaking and changing lanes. She includes the following details in her observations: Description of the incident, Date, Day, Time, Behavior observed, and the Method of Communication that was used.

    For her evaluation, she said that the widely used method of communication are the blinkers and a wave. She also considers that the most effective way of communicating to other drivers are the use of blinkers and the hand wave. I, myself, believes that the signals/blinkers and the wave/shaka sign (here in Hawaii) are the most common and accepted way of communicating with other drivers. I don't think people will misinterpret what the other driver is trying to express by using them. These two gestures or terms of communication are probably like the international language of drivers everywhere, as opposed to Music is the international language for lovers or people everywhere.

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