Kristin began her report by presenting situations where drivers communicate. Examples of these, given by Ms. Subia, are: Making turns, Changing lanes, Yielding the way, Tailgating & Overtaking, Making room in one's lane for someone, and Racing. She said that in Making turns, the most common method used is turning the blinker on and/or having eye contact with the other driver to let him/her know that you intend to turn. For Changing lanes, turning the blinker on is also an approprite method to use to tell the drivers behind you what you plan to do. And it's really important that you turn your signal/blinker on way before you start changing lanes so that the drivers behind you can slow down to let you in the lane. In Yielding the way, the best method is just to stop and proceed with caution if the course is clear. The most common way to let someone know that you're Making room for them is to drive slower and give him/her enough room to get in safely. If someone is Tailgating you, you should tap on your brakes gently maybe 2-3 times to let the driver behind you know that "he/she can pass you or stop tailgating me." Ms. Subia mentioned that Overtaking is not a bad thing especially when you're in a rush, she added though that you have to do it safely and legally. Kristin indicated that when two drivers want to Race, they usually start revving their engines while on a stop and inching their way forward.
Then, she proceeded with her report by informing us of the different methods on how drivers communicate on the road. She informed us that there are three methods that we can use to communicate with other drivers on the road. There's vehicular communication, where she explained, is the "immediate resources in the car" -- like the blinkers, break lights, and horn. Verbal Communication, on the other hand, she said is only use when one wants to protest or curse at the other driver. Finally, there's Gestures and Facial expressions, which she said make the other drivers understand what you're really trying to say. The gestures that most of us use are waving, nodding, flipping the bird, and here in Hawaii, it's the shaka that really tells other drivers know how grateful we are for letting us go. At the end of her report on how drivers communicate, she discussed the effectivesness of these methods on how we communicate with other on the road. She said that all these methods are effective and widely used around the world, so this only proves that there shouldn't be any miscommunication when one is driving in Europe or in Japan.
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