Report 2: Managing a Quality Driving Circle: Hints for Life





Table of Contents
Introduction
Traffic Psychology Through the Generations
My Quality Driving Circle
Driving Improvement Resources on the Web
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Introduction: Me Lead a Driving Circle?
I'm in no way a perfect driver, so how can I be able to manage a driving group to help others better themselves in their driving behaviors? I just pondered about task and came up with some suggestions to give myself. I didn't need to be a perfect driver, I just needed the guidance to know whether or not I need to change and how to go about it. I first evaluated my own driving behavior and vowed to try and control my feelings and thoughts about other drivers while I'm on the road. This way, I can confront my Quality Driving Circle and tell them how effective and beneficial Traffic Psychology actually is. I anticipated a nonserious group of people who will just do this for me as a favor. I didn't actually expect them to be accepting to the techniques and theories behind Traffic Psychology. But to my own surprise, my group of drivers took this seriously and they were more eager than me to meet the last session. They seemed very pleased with their behaviors as an outcome of the group. This served as an encouragement and I felt really good about doing this.



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Traffic Psychology Through the Generations: "Is It Only Me?"
Kendall Matsuyoshi
Kendall is a generation one traffic psychologist and he covers topics of traffic psychology like spacing in-between cars and speed. I especially like his part about the "invisible effect" which people take on when they get into the car. They feel as if no one else can see them. Kendall gives us an example of people who like to dig their noses while they are driving because they don't think other people can see them. I too have experience with drivers who take on the "invisible effect". I have witnessed people digging their noses, talking to themselves, and pretending to be at Karaoke night. I think it's interesting to find that people think of their car sort of like their homes. It is a private place and it seems that those people don't think it is proper for anyone else to be spying or looking into their privacy. Some people agree to this and I guess others would disagree. People can't help but turn to the side when they are a stop and they happen to see you. It's not their fault that your digging your nose. I don't see why people can't simply bend over a little to save people from that kind of sight.
Kendall has a nice informative homepage. He also talks about the freedom that comes with owning or having a car. I do feel this to be true. Although I live in Honolulu, the place where I live is quite a distance from "town". The bus comes once an hour and you have to transfer a couple of times. If I were to be at home and have no car, I don't think I would go anywhere that is not walking distance. have to admit that I do feel a bit more comfortable when I am home alone and the car is sitting in the garage. Maybe that's why most families these days more two or more cars. My mother prefers us to leave at least one car for my father when we go out at night and he is home by himself. "Just in case of an emergency", she says. A car gives not only a feeling of freedom, I think, but also a sense of security.

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Josephine Allen
Josephine has beautiful background on her homepage and made the reading delightful. Josephine talks about the accordion effect. The accordion effect happens when drivers are too close to the car in front of them. If one person can't stop in time and hits the car in front of them, either the cars in the back will collide also, or the car being hit initially will move forward to hit the car in front it. As drivers, we should be aware of this possible situation. I realize that it is hard during the time of day where traffic on the highway is bad. But I guess we have to realize that moving closer is not going to make traffic move any faster. Someone may say, "Well, if we all move as close as possible, the people way in the back will be able to move forward also." Well, we have to ask ourselves how much will it affect the people way in the back of us and is it worth the risk of getting into an accident. I personally don't think so. I also feel nervous when I look into my rear view mirror and I see someone almost touching my bumper. I don't like it because I get the feeling that the person may hit me the next time we move and come to a stop. There should be a reasonable amount of space between each car, even if you are in stand still traffic. Inching closer doesn't make the car in front of you go faster. It only adds to stress, for you and for the person in front of you.

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Alan Furukawa
Alan's homepage explains very well the concepts and expectations of Traffic Psychology. "Traffic Psychology allows us to reflect on our driving persona by opening up our awareness to our unconscious behavior enacted throughout our everyday lives when we get in the car ,turn the key and drive from Point "A" to Point "B." Alan feels that in order to achieve consciousness in driving, a person has to be aware of at least five common areas of todays driving issues. "These areas include aggressive driving behavior, speeding, tailgating, lane switching, and a negative driving persona, which I feel the other areas stem from." I fond things mentioned in Alan's section entitled The Driver From Hell really familiar with my own feelings and thoughts. Alan agrees that men are more aggressive than men which makes there driving personality a bit more aggressive as well. I have seen this on the road. Men tend to more angry when someone cuts them off or does something rude. It's as if they don't feel they deserve that kind of treatment. But when driving these days, women can be just as aggressive as men, although from my experience, there are more aggressive men on the road. Often times on the highway, I am aware of situations that take place on the highway, even if it doesn't involve me. If the person in front of me cuts the person in the next lane off, I try to look to see what the person in the next lane will do. Usually, if it is a woman, she will have a irritated look on her face, but show no anger in her driving. She may in fact keep a distance between her and the car that cut her off. But if the person who got cut off was a man, I usually noticed him start to tail the guy who cut him off. Men, I noticed, tend to want to get even where women are more likely to just let it go. But there are exceptions. I've also seen a few women who get back at the person who cut them off by going to the next lane and cutting that person off.

Alan also talks about a "monkey see monkey do" effect that Josephine Allen from generation one talked about. She talked about violent and aggressive driving in the movies and on television. She believes that this contributes to people's aggressive driving behavior on the road. Alan on the other hand, cannot accept the "idea that that people act a certain way and take certain chances while driving based on make-believe situations." I think that people do fantasize about driving like their heroes in the movies. But I think when actually driving, people are aware of their own capabilities and are realistic in their driving. They don't try to do exactly the same stunts, but it does motivate them to drive in a more aggressive manner, I believe.

For myself, I don't engage in physical aggression on the road. If someone cuts me off, I do not tail the person of cut him off. I don't feel the need the stress about those kinds of things. When I am driving with a person who does this, I grab onto the door and look really scared. I don't like aggressive encounters and I don't feel it to be necessary. And in turn, I don't cut people off either. If someone is going extremely slow, I will cut into the next lane, move up a fair distance and switch back into my preferred lane. I would never cut someone off. I use the biblical notion of "doing unto others what you want them to do unto you". I've been cut off a few times because the other person felt I was going too slow for him, and I didn't like what he did. But, in certain situations, I do get angry. If the person who cuts me off, for a second, endangers my life, if I have to hit the brakes in order not to hit him, I do get upset. I don't show it in my driving, but I do get upset. I'm glad that I am able to diffuse that anger in a short while, but I'm just thinking that maybe I will someday be able to eliminate that distressful phase.

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Denise Tanaka
Denise, in one section of her report 1 talks about tailgating and the rewards and punishments of it. She tells us that tailgating is the invasion of personal space. I thought this was an interesting concept to incorporate with tailgating. I then thought it to be quite true. Each person has personal space, a bubble around them that only certain people are allowed to enter. When a people enter their cars, they tend to become one with their cars. It's no wonder that people get distressed when people follow too close. It's just not "right". How would one feel if a stranger was walking right behind you, almost touching you? Same concept for a different situation. People feel intimidated and violated if people followed to close to them, in or out of their car! I know that I personally would feel threatened and helpless if someone was tailgating me. I don't like it. I then began to wonder why people tailgate. Denise, at times, uses tailgating as a means of punishment for the other driver for an act that they have wrongly committed on the road. It's true, that people use tailgating to irritated the other person and to get back at the other person. But some people tailgate because the person in front of them is not going at the speed that they want to be going. I didn't say people tailgate slow drivers, because in a lot of situations, the person in front is going at a reasonable speed. It's the tailgater that wants to exceed the speed limit and therefore is upset that people are in the way. I think that tailgating is dangerous, even if you are punishing someone else. There is always a chance of it backfiring and then you'll be sorry. I think it's much safer to hold back on the anger and just the other person go. Once he's at a far away distance and you can't see him anymore, you'll forget about what happened.

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Darin Kawamoto
As I was reading generation 3's Darin Kawamoto's problem, I really hoped that I would not encounter him on the road at any time. I wasn't aware that people can get that upset with driving. But I understand how it would exist. I think that drivers' personality while they are in the car are a direct extension of their personality outside the car and in society. I know that there are a lot of violent and unreasonable people in our world and on our island. This would account for the violence on the road as well. I think it's sad that people are not able to control their anger. But I'm really glad that Darin is trying really hard to not let little things that happen in traffic bother him. As he mentioned, it not only scares the other drivers, but it scares his passengers as well. I think that the first step is to put yourself in the other person's shoe. How would you feel if a bigger, way more aggressive person started yelling at you on the road. How would you feel? Then from there, adjust your behavior and reaction towards other's actions. If I were to meet Darin on the road and have him yell and threaten me, I'd have to say that I would be scared out of my wits. It doesn't make driving fun and it certainly doesn't help the situation, no matter what it is, at all. I think Darin is on the right track when he contends that "The only thing that would probably control my actions and anger would be "me." I have to be the one to draw the line and have the discipline to control myself." Darin is the only one who can change Darin and if he really wants to change his violent behavior, I believe that he really can.

Darin also tells about three people which seem to be his quality driving circle. Although I'm not sure from what he tells if whether they all met together or if Darin met and talked with each person individually. The first person he tries to help is Debbie. Debbie gets frustrated when other drivers irritate her and she wanted to change that. Darin suggested thinking the other car to be a loved one or someone she knew. It was hard for her to think that a loved one would do something like that, but Darin suggest that the loved one may be playing with her as some people do. I know some friends who, when we go out together, deliberately tail each other or deliberately cut each other off. They don't get angry because they are just playing with one another. I think that this is a good strategy to help me calm down if I were to confronted in a situation that would make me extremely angry. It really does help to think that the other person is someone you know. I think it would help also if I imagined the other person to be someone that is of higher ranking or important to me, like my boss or my boyfriend's parents. I would imagine them to be my parents, but I know my parents too well. I don't that would work as well. I also think that pretending that some of importance was in the car with me would work just as well. I don't show any distress or anger at all when my friends are in the car with me, especially if my boyfriend is in the car. I don't think he'd be to happy if I got upset over little traffic situations. That wouldn't say much for my personality. That's why this plan would probably work for me. Every time I start to get distressed, I will imagine that my boyfriend is in the car with me so I will mellow out start to calm down. It's funny how people react differently in a different environmental setting. Maybe this will be of help to angry drivers.

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Sherman Lee
It was interesting to read about a technique Sherman used to extinguish his tailgating habit. He used classical and instrumental conditioning components along with cognitive behavioral techniques in the self-modification process. He decided that every time he starts to tailgate the person in front of him, either his girlfriend or he himself will give him a pinch. This was to create an association between tailgating and pain. He also kept telling himself that tailgating is evil. He used this method for a period of five days. Although this did not totally extinguish his tailgating habit, he contested that it did reduce the frequency of his tailgating during the course of his drive. He believes that a greater punishment is needed in order to achieve total success. I think that Sherman has a very good plan that will probably work for a short period of time. I don't know how long this punishing will last. He might just create a fear of driving all together. But I'm impressed at his efforts. It seems he really is striving to better himself at driving by doing away with his bad habit of tailgating. Personally, there are times where I want to be stuck behind a slow driver because I want to just cruise along to where ever I am going. But if I'm in a hurry, I still don't tailgate. My thought is, that it doesn't make the car in front go any faster. Some drivers don't even realize that they are followed by a tailgater. In the amount of time spent tailgating, one could just cut into the next lane and be off on your way. Why do we feel the need to torture the other person. Can't we be sympathetic to their feelings? What if the person in front has a headache or is lost or something. Can't we give them the benefit of the doubt? Should we condemn them for being tourists? We are all tourists also, as soon as we step off these islands. Do we expect the same treatment? I think each person should use these questions to help them think about what they put others through. It adds extra stress and frustration to what could be a nice peaceful drive. Why? I too used to tailgate. Maybe not as aggressively as some people we have encountered, but I did eventually stop. I stopped because I almost hit the person in front when he suddenly hit his brakes. He didn't do it on purpose because I saw the car in front of him do the same. But that situation really scared me and I have never tailed anyone since. I think that this worked because I'm a wimp. Others may feel this to be much of a scare. The "but it didn't happen" thought helps reinforce tailgating. I hate to think that a person has to actually get into a car accident caused by tailgating in order to give up the habit. That would be tragic.

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Shane Cobb-Adams
One issue that generation four focused on was tailgating. Shane tells that tailgating is an attempt to force one's will over another driver. Shane goes on to make the reader of his page realize that one can never be able to control the situation. Tailgating will only increase the risk of getting into an accident and never will it increase the likelihood of gaining control over the situation. Shane's bottom line is that avoidance behavior is far more effective than controlling behavior. People feel that they can make a slow driver drive faster by tailgating or get that person to cut into the next lane. But Shane tells us that this doesn't work. The driver may do as you want eventually, but only out of irritation of your deviant driving behavior. We have to ask ourselves whether or not we would like it if some started to tail s because they felt that we were going too slow. I don't know of any person who actually likes being tailed by another driver. Even if someone did cut you off, tailgating that person is not going to undo what was done. Tailgating only feeds the rage and ignites the vengeful self. We should tell ourselves that tailgating only satisfies our evil desires to rule the road. We can try all we want, but the fact of the matter is that we'll never be able to control our surroundings, especially while in traffic.

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Cherilyn Okazaki
Another focus of generation four was speed limits. In Cherilyn's report 7, she talks about the pros and cons of abolishing speed limits. I agree with Cherilyn when she contends that Hawaii needs speed limits. Hawaii is a small state and the highways aren't as long as those on the mainland. Our highway exits are close together and sudden stops and braking will be a frequent thing if people were given no speed limit. Also, with Hawaii being a tourist attraction, we can't expect tourist to drive on the highway with no speed limits and then be able to spot the exit they want and have enough time to slow down to get on the off ramp. I think it's very dangerous to have no speed limits. I can't speak for those on the mainland US, I've never driven on the roads there, but I know that Hawaii's highways would just be full of accidents each day if we had no speed limit. It's true, what Cherilyn points out, that the faster you are going, if to collide with another car, the impact will be greater. People die from collisions of cars going the speed limit already, just think what would happen if two cars going, say 90 mph, were to collide. I don't think I'd ever have the guts to watch that happen. The predicted outcome is just way to gruesome.

Setting up and Running My Quality Driving Circle: Control Yourself!

Gathering a group for my quality driving circle was no problem at all. I found three 20 year old guys who I know have very different personalities in and out of the car. All of them are students here at the University of Hawaii and each of them picked nicknames for themselves. Our first person will be known as Roadkill, our second is Roadbuster, and the third wishes to be known simply as Driver #3. They are friends of mine and I have rode with each while they drive. During our very first meeting, we met at the school on April 10, 1997 at approximately 10:30 AM in the snack bar and I started by explaining what Traffic Psychology is all about and what we as Traffic Psychology students are set out to do. I then gave each the personality test that consisted of questions from Dr. Driving'snine zone. I decided to focus on self control and took my questions directly from Dr. Driving's zones 4, 5, and 6. The purpose of this exam was to see whether each person needs help in controlling their feelings and thoughts as well as their actions and the way they behave while driving. On my test, I put the statements in the first person and then gave each question the choice of being answered always, sometimes, or never. I put always and sometimes because people sometimes don't know whether to put always or never if they feel they the statement only relates to them part of the time. This was to clear it up for me. The participants took the test during the first session and then turned it back in to me. Roadkill's test showed that he needed help in controlling his rage and his actions toward drivers who he feels do injustice to him. He told us that he gets angry when someone cuts him off and likes to tail them. He admits to getting upset and frustrated at other drivers on the road. His assignment was to observe how many times he gets angry at someone while he is driving. He accepted this assignment and was very sincere about my requirement. Roadbuster was different from Roadkill. His test showed less violent feelings and thoughts, but he contested that when Roadkill is in the car with him, he is taunted to drive faster. He too was given the assignment to observe how he drives and what he decides to do in different situations. Though it may not seem he needed too much help in his driving behavior, I've heard stories from other friends that lead me to be suspicious of his reports. My third driver is Driver #3. By looking at Driver #3's test, we find that Driver #3 is a pretty mellow driver. This reflects his everyday personality. During our first session, while Roadkill and Roadbuster are talking about what they do when someone upsets them, Driver #3 doesn't recall doing any rageful actions against other drivers. I for one can be a witness to that. He does not feel the need to tailgate or rage over other people's stupid judgments. He may have a good driving personality so far, but he does have occasional "bad thought" about those careless drivers. He tells that his thoughts are really vulgar or bad, rather, he just feels disappointed in those drivers. His assignment was to think only positive thoughts about anyone on the road, good or bad. He accepted this challenge with high expectations.

On Wednesday, April 16, 1997 at about 10:30 AM, we held our second meeting at the same place as the first. Everyone reported back on what they had observed as they drove. Roadkill told us that he only got upset twice during the week which is a drastic cut from his usual self. He even boasted that he didn't tail anyone on the way to Waikele a couple of days earlier. He felt proud of himself to be able to achieve this behavior. I commended him for his efforts and encouraged him to further this behavior. He implied that just having to be aware of his own behaviors made him realize what he does. Roadbuster had encouraging results as well. He found himself speeding less and watching every move he made on the road. He was courteous and didn't tailgate anyone. He wasn't as enthused about it as Roadkill, but you could tell that he was glad for what he had achieved. Driver #3 was, as usual, not saying much. When asked about his assignment, he reported that he had succeeded in not being disappointed in bad drivers. As a note, Driver #3 doesn't believe that it is worth anything to get mad, be it while driving or just in everyday situations. This attitude shows itself in his driving behavior. But being humble, he implies that there is always room for improvement. Their assignments for the up coming week is to again observe their behaviors and try really hard this time to be nice and courteous to all drivers.

A week and a half was to past before our third and final meeting. Due to illness within the group, we were not able to meet the following week after the second meeting. On Thursday, May 1, 1997, we met for the last time in our Quality Driving Circle. This meeting was somewhat funny. When we met, Roadbuster had a silly smile on his face and started to giggle a little. We all wondered what kind of breakfast he had eaten, but he goes on to tell us what he did the day before. Knowing that he was supposed to try and better his behavior, he found this situation to be funny. He told us that the day before, on the highway, he had boxed someone in. Someone in back of him (in the far left lane) thought that Roadbuster was going to slow and decided to cut into the middle lane so that he could cut back into the far left lane infront of Roadbuster. Well, Roadbuster tells that luckily, there was a car in the middle lane and just to have a little fun, Roadbuster rode along side of the car in the middle lane so that the cutting person would not be able to cut in front of him. All the time while telling his story, Roadbuster was laughing and didn't have any single sign of rage. When I side-eye glared at him, he just said that it was funny. But other than that, he did very well during the week and a half that we didn't meet. I guess not meeting for a week started to erase Traffic Psychology from his mind. Roadkill and Driver #3 couldn't match Roadbuster's story, but they told of how, in different situations, they managed to control their thoughts and actions. I was very proud of them. I then to say some last words of encouragement so that what they learned to achieve during this rough three week project, will be a part of them from now on. I continued by saying that this was a great achievement and that it doesn't have to stop here after three meetings. Since I see them quite often, I vowed to ask once in a while about their driving behaviors and what they have being doing. To conclude the session, I gave them back their personality tests and asked them to keep it an look at it once in a while as a reminder of what they have achieved so far and maybe someday, they will be able to mark all the comments positively.

In my opinion, anyone who is in Traffic Psychology, who have heard of traffic Psychology and it's aims and are interested in it's results should definitely look into starting a Quality Driving Circle. After meeting and successfully changing the attitudes of others, encourage them to start circles of their own. We can use a chain effect in spreading QDCs. A good leader of a QDC would be someone who is going through changes in his own driving behavior and is enthused about helping others do the same. This should start right away and not be put off. Nonreinforcement leads to extinction, which is something we don't want to happen. Continuos meetings and talk about Traffic Psychology is due in order to keep it in effect. It'll be harder for chronic offenders and maybe more than three meetings are needed for these people. Constant reminder and encouragement may be essential as well. But first and foremost, they must want to change. It's no good to try and alter something that you want to keep. If one has trouble getting a chronic offender to realize his faults in driving, one just has to keep talking to him about Traffic psychology and maybe even inviting him to a meeting to expose him to the positive effects of positive attitudes while driving. One can only hope and pray that this person will change his mind about his own driving behavior and start to change.

Having lead a Quality Driving Circle this semester, I would advise other leaders in the future to take it upon yourself to change first. You have to walk the walk if you're going to talk the talk. Can't try to change others if you yourself is unwilling to change. It's hard, but it's first and foremost. Next, I advise a small group of say no more than five people including yourself. A big group may decrease the speaking up of some people. So keep the group size small and you'll find it works better that way. Get personal and don't be afraid to say things. I don't mean for you to be vulgar or rude, but be honest in a gentle way which people can accept your opinion and maybe even use it as a guideline. Always tell your group about the changes you are striving to make in your driving behavior so they don't think you're God or something. Let them know that you understand what they are going through and that you are willing to help them. I also suggest that meetings should be at least weekly if not more than once a week. The longer the time between each meeting, the easier it is for your group to forget their assignments and what they are supposed to do. Lastly, I advise you to encourage your group to start a group of their own. It's vital that we continue this in order for this concept to get around in our community. Driving Improvement Resources on the Web: Help for Young and Old

Young drivers almost always complain about elderly drivers. But instead of complaining, I think it would be great if the younger generation could help the older in bettering their driving skills. O'Neill to Help Older Drivers to Drive Safely and the Q & A: Antilock Brakes tells about brakes and how to use them properly to avoid crashes.

Roadway Express & Safety comes equipped with a long list of programs to help save the lives of drivers.

If your job requires you to drive, look at the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), a non-profit organization created to reduce loses in lives resulting from on and off the job traffic accidents.

EMERGENCY-Foul Weather Driving gives good tips or what to do and what to look for while driving in bad weather. Excellent for mainland US drivers or if you are thinking of going up there someday. It's good to know.

To drivers, pedestrians can be just as annoying as other drivers. Drivers aren't always to blame. Drive Safe: Watch Your Step is a page for pedestrians, telling them how and what to do when walking amongst traffic. Especially helpful for elderly people or people with children. Wouldn't hurt children to know this either.

Intersection collisions are very common, especially in the cities where there's a lot of traffic. Intersection Collision Avoidance System has a project to develop specifications for a system that would help drivers avoid intersection collisions.

I like to think that the majority of drivers all around the nation listens to the radio while driving. Well, Tuning In has a very interesting concept of reporting traffic situations to drivers that I think all drivers will appreciate.

An engine in good shape can't go anywhere without good tires. If you need helpful tips for buying and maintaining your tires, check out Tires: Traffic Safety Tips.


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