How Drivers Communicate with Each Other

by Kristin Subia

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Table of Contents
Situations Making turns Changing lanes Yielding the way Making room in one's lane for someone Tailgating and overtaking Racing Methods and their Effectiveness Vehicular communication Verbal communication Gestures and facial expressions Effectiveness Recommendations Related Articles Future Generations

As drivers, it is our responsibility to communicate with other drivers. The importance of this communication is essential to preventing accidents and to maintain safety for other road users. Every minute that drivers are behind the wheel, they are engaged in constant social interaction with everyone on the road. Whether you are a driver, passenger, pedestrian, or a cyclist, you look for visible signs or gestures to let you know what is going on. There are several situations where communication between drivers are visible. I will describe a few of the common situations that I observed and the methods of communication involved in each interaction.

Situations

Making turns:

The most common situation is turning at an intersection or into a driveway. The obvious method in this situation is turning on the blinker. This way, drivers in front and in back will know the intentions. In addition to turning on the blinker, some drivers will turn their wheel slightly after slowing down so as to take the first opportunity to turn. The driver (A) that wants to make the turn will attempt to make eye contact with the approaching driver (B) coming in the opposite direction on a two-way street. To let driver A know that it is okay to proceed in turning, driver B will slow down to a halt and wave driver A on. However, not all approaching driver Bs are that polite. Some drivers, and quite a few from my observations, will speed up and/or avoid making eye contact. By doing this driver A knows the potential danger in turning. When this happens, driver A either curses aloud trying not to move his/her lips as much as possible with the windows rolled all the way up, or will yell obscenities out loud filled with intense emotion and large, animated gestures with the windows all the way down.

Changing lanes:

Changing lanes is another common situation where interaction is absolutely necessary. On the freeway, driver A wants to change from the right lane to the middle lane. Driver A turns on the blinker, looks in the side and rearview mirrors to see if there are any cars, and then changes lane when it is clear. Drivers in the middle lane will either slowdown or speed up. In this situation, it is very rare or virtually impossible to make any eye contact, although some people try. As drivers we assess the speed of the other cars to determine whether or not it is okay to change lanes. Sometimes it is difficult to make that assessment, especially on the freeway where everyone is driving at high speeds, including yourself. There are so many things going on at once: you have to look to see if the lane next to you is clear to change into, make sure that you don't bang the person in front of you , and check to see if anyone from the far left lane isn't trying to change into that same lane at the same time (a precaution we tend to overlook while changing lanes.). It can get pretty confusing which is why it is very important that you let everyone know what you intend to do.

Yielding the way:

Drivers approaching an intersection on the turn only lane must yield the way to other drivers, pedestrians, and/or cyclists. In the process of yielding, the driver looks around intently and eagerly to see if anyone is coming. And of course, everyone (including myself) hopes the coast is clear so they don't have to come to a complete stop only to have to start up again.

Making room in one's lane for someone:

Making room in one's lane for someone can be somewhat of a nuisance. Picture it. You are in the middle lane making good time toward your destination. Then someone on either the right or left lane sticks out their arm and stares you in the face to mean, 'Slow down and let me in.' You notice that he is driving on the line that separates your lane from his and he seems adament in getting through. So to avoid getting cursed at or possibly mobbed, you make enough room. A second later, you are stuck behind the red light while he made it in time to go on way ahead of you. What is worse is the red light seems to be taking extra long. Finally, you reach your destination (lets say, work) and discover that you are a minute late and you have a strict boss. Of course this is not the only scenario. When you are in no rush and have all the time in the world, you drive according to the speed limit and wave everyone in... almost inviting them into your lane (maybe not that far).

Tailgating and overtaking:

I know a few people who are insulted by anyone that overtakes them. Personally, I couldn't care less if they did. So, there I was driving to the mall to meet a friend and do some shopping (I'm painting you a picture), I look in my rearview mirror (I do this often) to see some jerk following way too close. In protest of his behavior, I continue at the same speed and about every ten seconds, I check my mirror again to see if he has backed off. I figure if I'm going too slow for him, he has the option of staying behind me, or change lanes and pass me. He chooses the former and just to let me know that I am going too slow for him, he makes sudden stops-- screeches to a halt-- as if I didn't know. By this time I am irritated so I wave him to pass me (sometime you just have to tell them what to do.). It wasn't some difficult maneuver that he couldn't handle. Overtaking is not a bad thing, although many people think it is. If you are in a rush to go somewhere, by all means do what you have to do... safely and legally. But don't be a jerk and make the person in front of you get out of your way by tailgating.

Racing:

This is not a situation that I am familiar with. I have only seen it happen once or twice in my driving history. Racing is extremely dangerous, maybe even suicidal, and I am completely against it. A few weeks ago while driving home from work, the car behind me and on my right were revving their engines while we were waiting for the red light to turn green. I thought they were just being annoying. At the next light, I discover that one driver is in front of me and the other is still in the next lane. They turn to look at each other every so often as if to call the other out for a challenge. I'm not quite sure if they know each other or if they were just strangers. At every light we encountered, they kept revving their engines and inching their way forward to get a head start. As a driver witnessing this and driving right behind one of them, I started to get nervous that I would see a crash involving both drivers and possibly other innocent drivers or worse... be in it. I was hesitant to change lanes because it was the only lane leading up to the freeway. So finally, we are on the on-ramp and one driver is behind the other. When both drivers merge into the farthest left lanes, they give one last revv and weave around cars in front of them. Throughout this whole scenario, there were spectator drivers honking their horns in protest, and other drivers honking to cheer one or the other on. I just couldn't wait to get away from them.

Methods and their Effectiveness

As you have noticed, there are a variety of methods that drivers use to communicate with one another. Every method conveys a message to its reciever. We engage in acts that we normally would not do in normal conversation. In a car, you have to improvise and use all available resources to communicate with other drivers.

Vehicular communication:

Your immediate resources in the car are your blinkers, break lights, and horn. If you want to make a left or right turn, you turn the corresponding blinker on. To let the person behind you know that you are coming to a stop or slowing down for whatever reason, you press on your break pedal. And, when you want to get someone's attention, you honk your horn (some get a little too carried away with the horn). In other situations such as racing, revving your engine indicates you want to race or drive really fast. Swerving or driving close to a lane indicates you want to change lanes or merge. In the case of tailgating, you follow very closely behind someone and make sudden stops to let them know that they are driving too slow or to spite them for doing something you didn't like. And for those of you who really get upset ( I know you're out there), you approach behind a car really fast or drive along side them.

Verbal communication:

This is a method drivers rarely use on the road to communicate. A lot of people don't see driving as a social activity, so talking is very minimum between drivers. The only verbal communication I observed was used mostly during protest and cursing. When you want to change lanes, you wouldn't think to verbally ask a driver to let you in... it sounds like a ridiculous thing to do. A lot of the verbal stuff is for the benefit of the driver and his/her passengers. I don't care how sweet you look or how soft-spoken you are, everyone curses and criticizes other drivers on a regular basis. You probably don't notice this because it has become a routine.

Gestures and facial expressions:

Okay, this is the part of communication that lets other drivers really understand what you are doing and more. What I mean by more is your emotional state. Gestures is the final confirmation in letting other drivers know it is okay to do something, like change or merge lanes, and for pedestrians or cyclists, it is the thumbs up for 'Go ahead, I won't bang you. I see you.' It makes all the difference in the actual execution of an act. There is the waving of the hand that is used for a number of things from letting the other driver in to thanking them for letting you in. Nodding of the head conveys the same message as waving the hand. And then there is the infamous flipping of the bird. Some raise it high for everyone to see and others do it under the dashboard, which sort of defeats the purpose, but if it makes you feel better... whatever. This, I think, is the ultimate insult because there is no mistaking what it means. There is no way you can think that it was a mistake. For those of us here in Hawaii, the opposite of the flipping of the bird is the shaka sign, which says THANK YOU! For me, I appreciate the shaka sign more than a measely wave of the hand.

As far as facial expressions go, it is not necessary. Although some can not go without making some sort of facial expression everytime something happens on the road. I know when I do it I feel like it emphasizes my feelings of dismay or gratefulness. The more common expressions used are smiles, anger and indifference. Not necessarily in that order. Their meanings are obvious and used in all situations. And finally, there is staring. I do this every day that I drive, sometimes more than once. With the exception of an accident and figuring out if something is roadkill, a lot of drivers stare at other driver to let them know that they did something stupid (in their opinion, of course).

Effectiveness

All of these methods of communication are effective and widely used around the world. I had the fortunate opportunity of observing this last summer on a study abroad program in France, and did some traveling in other European countries as well. Each method is universally understood, which makes it possible to drive a car safely in another country. The only tricky part are the gestures. Some are not as universal as we may think, for instance, the shaka sign. And be careful using the peace sign, it means something else in another country (can't remember which one). Everything else is pretty much clear as a crystal ball.

Recommendations

There really isn't a whole lot I could recommend except to keep using the same methods of communication that we have been using all along. I don't know about the flip cards with messages idea. I don't think it will be as effective as we think. First, you have to physically look for the specific sign, hold it up and angle it toward the person you intended it for, and drive at the same time. This could be extremely difficult for those who don't drive an automatic car. And, by accident, some other driver sees the insulting flip card and gets offended, therefore, provoking them into road rage. The only recommendation I see that is possible is the use of telephones. Everyone seems to be carrying one around these days (excluding myself). If there was a way that drivers could dial a single number and get the person in front, back or either side of you, that would be great. It would be useful in telling that specific person your feelings or letting the person know ahead of time what you intend to do. This way you can get their undivided attention, and they can't say that they didn't know or didn't see you.

In fact, radio stations seem to have an method that is useful for cellular phone users in traffic. All they have to do is press * and the radio station number and they get a direct line to the station where they can report on what is happening on the road-whether there is an accident or construction on the road. It has been effective so far and maybe we could incorporate that same idea into communication between drivers. Or, maybe car companies could install a specific type of communication device into the cars that allows for such communication. The only way we can really test it's effectiveness is to maybe make certain amount of model cars and have a chosen group of drivers to try it out. Of course this could be very costly and it would be difficult to get car manufacturers to try it.

As for gestures, it could be a good idea. I'm not too fond of this suggestion because gestures can be easily misunderstood. We can develop all sorts of gestures but it can also turn into something insulting. We already have so many different gestures that are insulting, like flipping the bird.

Andrew Shapiro wrote a very detailed report about who has the right of way at a four-way stop. Definitely worth reading...warning: it is extremely long.

Dr. Driving Letters has many interesting situations that I thought you may want to read about. There is one letter in particular that I thought really explains the importance of communication between drivers. The only problem is you have to scroll down to almost to the end of the page. The letter was from Kwooda and the subject is entitled 'You can't be serious.'

Future Generations

Future generations could improve on this activity by thinking up different and innovative ideas of communication between drivers. It is important that we understand the importance of communication on the road. It could help prevent accidents and encourage safe driving on the road. It is also courteous to let other drivers know what you want to do. So, for you future generations reading my report, here is a little advice... watch some of those AT&T or MCI commercials where they have really cool gadgets that we may have in the near future.





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