• Instructions for this Report
• Summaries of Reports for:

Kristen Subia?s report provided some informative information in regards to different situations, methods and effectiveness, and recommendations. In making turns, she emphasized how the most common situation is turning on the blinker when turning at an intersection or into a driveway. She states that, "drivers in front and in back will know the intentions". I agree with her, that an action as simple as turning on your blinker is important. As a driver, you must be responsible and courteous to other drivers around you. And not to mention, you avoid getting into an accident, although sometimes other drivers may be careless. In regards to changing lanes, she emphasizes how communication is necessary in this situation. She points out the steps necessary, which include turning on the blinker, looking in the side and rearview mirrors and then changing lanes when there is a clearing. In reference to yielding the way, "the driver looks around intently and eagerly to see if anyone is coming". Attentiveness is very vital in this situation because sometimes you can misjudge how far or close a vehicle actually is to your vehicle, so you need to have a clear vision. In concerns to making room in one?s lane for someone, she provides a visual scenario of how it can "be somewhat of a nuisance". In essence, it is your choice whether you want to let someone into your lane or not, but sometimes other drivers are nice enough to do that, although not all the time. I feel that if you?re not in any kind of hurry, then it is necessary. In reference to tailgating and overtaking, some drivers get upset about it. She provides a personal example of her own. She believes that "overtaking is not a bad thing, although many people think it is". She goes on to say that "if you are in a rush to go somewhere, by all means do what you have to do [as long as it is done] safely and legally". I agree with her. When someone overtakes me on the road, I don?t take it personally. In regards to racing, she isn?t very familiar with it. I agree with her when she states that "racing is extremely dangerous, maybe even suicidal, and I am completely against it". I?ve had friends who engaged in such dangerous activities on the road and have gotten badly hurt. They survived (thank God), but it was foolish of them to risk their lives like that.

Kristen discusses Vehicular communication and Verbal communication in her Method and their Effectiveness section. She describes vehicular communication as communication with your car blinkers, break lights, and horn. I think that it is important to always let other drivers know what your intentions on the road are. I always use my blinkers when I make any turn, whether or not there are cars around me or not. That way it becomes a habit, a good one I think! In addition, she describes verbal communication as the only kind that she has observed, which is mainly protesting and cursing between drivers. Personally, I haven?t seen much of this occur on the road. I just hope that I never get caught in a situation where I end up doing any kind of cursing. That could be potentially dangerous. I wouldn?t want to aggravate anyone on the road and they end up chasing me down and hurting me or my car in some way. In concerns to gestures and facial expressions, the most common are the "thumbs up for œGo ahead, I won?t bang you. I see you?, waving of the hand, which is used for a number of things, and the shaka sign, which says œthank you". As far as effectiveness, she describes the above methods of communication as effective and widely used around the world, with the exception of the shaka sign, which is common here in Hawaii.

Andrew Shapiro?s report was a mini-observational study, which I felt was enlightening. He brought up a good question in his introduction that I wondered about at one time or another, which was "What do drivers think about when their vehicles arrive at an intersection at the same time as other cars?" and this study was also conducted to determine what kind of nonverbal communications were used by motorists in this particular type of situation. According to information that he gathered in the U.S. News and World Report that "people run stop signs and red lights, speed, tailgate, weave in and out of traffic, pass on the right, make improper and unsafe lane changes, make hand and face gestures, scream, honk, and flash their lights". In his report, he also found that "violent traffic incidents have increased nearly seven percent per year since 1990". In his study, he examined drivers over a period of two days during times of the day with the greatest traffic on the road, and observed the different types of observations between drivers. In his results, he found that "there were 28 episodes of gestural communication exchanged between drivers". Furthermore, he found that young male drivers who had large trucks or "souped-up" cars appeared to use their vehicles to demand the right-of-way. In addition, he stated how the study showed that drivers "between ages 18 and 26" and "relatively young, poorly educated males with criminal records, histories of violence, and drug or alcohol problems" have a tendency for violence. In his conclusion, he ended by saying that you can prevent accidents from happening by just letting the other driver go first (if that driver doesn?t yield to you when he/she should). I agree with him. I feel that it would be "smart" to just "forget about it". It?s best to avoid conflict as much as possible.

Kristen Evert?s report made some good predictions and provided equally good methods of observing the different forms of communication used by drivers. She described two different types of driving behavior: One of them being "Car Communication" which she described as the communication which is done using your car and the way you drive. An example is tailgating. The second form she defines is "Physical Driver Communication" which she describes as facial expressions, hand gestures, and even verbal communication (even if it is only the moving of one?s lips). She conducted a few observations and in her evaluation states how he had a tendency of taking things personally on the road. Like I stated above, I think that it?s best not to take things too personally. That way you avoid unwanted confrontations. In her second set of observations, she evaluated that in some situations you should react because certain types of behaviors are inexcusable. In essence, she concludes with the results of her predictions: Unfortunately, she found no relevance in any of her predictions. In her recommendations, she suggests that learning about common courtesy is important. I agree with her.

MaryElizabeth Pacheco?s reportwas eye-catching, and I liked her Introduction because she emphasized how "Actions speak louder than words". In general, I agree with her. In her evaluations, she stated how "We as drivers communicate to others whether we know it or not". That is true. We communicate verbally and non-verbally (which is just as effective), which relates to her statement about actions speaking louder than words. She acknowledged the widespread use and effectiveness of the wave and uses of the blinkers. She also stated how "people learn by modeling". I find that statement accurate in my experiences as a driver. Today I drive the way my mother taught me how to drive.

According to Tricia Hashimoto, the need to be aware of visible signs and gestures is important. She listed 7 ways on how she feels these signs and gestures should be taught, which includes driver?s education courses, most importantly. She feels that by putting these ways in effect, drivers will not only have an increased knowledge about the rules of the road, but also feels that effectiveness will increase as well.

According to Nou Saopen, discusses non-verbal communication such as: physical gestures, facial expressions, and lip movement. She also talks a great deal about using blinkers when wanting to change lanes is very important in avoiding dangerous situations on the road. She emphasizes safe driving and avoiding injury by using correct communication measures.

According to Chris Flores, simple use of hand signals and blinkers is effective in letting other drivers know what your intentions are on the road. He also feels that it should be taught in drivers education classes and should be a required part of the official test needed in order to receive a permit.

In her field project, Joanne Henrickson found that "as the day wears on and people become weary from their daily schedule, they become less attentive as drivers". Furthermore, "as the week passes, and the weekend draws nearer, drivers repeating the same route to work over and over pay less and less attention to the task of driving". She also discusses the distraction-conflict hypothesis: the presence of other drivers creates a conflict for the driver between responding to the others and working on our own driving. She also provides the drive-level theory of social facilitation, which explains "how a driver?s signaling behavior may be affected by traffic volume". In other words, "if signaling is well practiced, an increased drive level due to high traffic volume will increase the likelihood that he will signal while making a turn". In her own observations, she found that "if one driver near the front of a line of cars failed to signal, most of those following would also turn without signaling". I agree with this. Like it was mentioned earlier in my report, people model after others, like how we tend to model after our parents.

• My Oral Presentation #1
• My Oral Presentation #2
• My Oral Presentation #3
• My Report 1: How Drivers Communicate
• My Report 2
• My Report 3: How Music Affects Driving
• My Class Home Page
• Dr. Leon James? Home Page
• E-mail me