My Report 2:
Managing a Quality Driving Circle: Analyzing Your Driving Personality


Anthony Chung
Report 2
University of Hawai'i-Spring 1997
Psychology 459
Dr. Leon James
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    Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Traffic Psychology Through the Generations--G1, G2, G3, G3a, G4
  • My Driving Personality Test
  • Setting up and Running My Quality Driving Circle--Session 1, Session 2, Session 3
  • Driving Improvement Resources on the Web

    Introduction: Seeing is Believing


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    Life is filled with endless possibilities of getting into an accident. Is this statement true or false? Well, if you said true then we have very similar logical reasoning. However, many of us take extreme precautions to avoid getting into these accidents or situations. While other individuals have the "No Fear" attitude and end up not realizing what effects their actions can have to those around them or even themselves. In my report, readers will find selections from past generations that deal with specific ideas and concepts related to Traffic Psychology, a driving personality test designed to see if you have road rage, discussions and results of my Quality Driving Circle (QDC), and Driving Improvement Resources on the Web for further assistance.

    Managing a Quality Driving Circle was a useful experience in finding hidden information about the way I think, behave, and feel. It also required a lot of time and patience in leading a group like this because I had to read all I could about Traffic Psychology, the Nine Zones of your Driving Personality, the writings of past generations, and Dr. Driving's Three-Step Program just to get down the basics in case of an emergency. Emergency meaning having disagreements or unclear definitions while in the group discussions and being able to back up my position. I didn't realize how much preparation there is to lead such a group. Thus, before I even started my group sessions I expected there to be many conflicting opinions because each member had their own driving personality. However, as I began my group I was kind of shocked and surprised to see how open they were in trying to modify their driving behavior. Currently, I believe having a group setting gives more motivation on trying to change one's behavior rather than working on it by yourself because there is more feedback from other people's observations that might have gone unnoticed when you do self-observation.

    Traffic Psychology Through the Generations: Learn From Experience


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    Generation 1

    Michelle Ota's Lab Reports

    This student focused on how people change into different personalities when they get behind the wheel. For many of us, we tend to be passive and laid back in normal situations but when it comes to driving we become aggressive and act like psychopaths. This is what Dr. Driving would call the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Personality. For example, in her situation she states, "I've noticed that I really do yell at people from behind the wheel of my car. I never yell at people face to face, even if I am fighting with someone. I don't even know who it is that I am swearing at, for all I know it could be some little old lady". In this situation, drivers change their personalities when they enter the car and "act out dangerous fantasies. Their thinking becomes irrational and they show minimum efforts in trying to obey the law. One of the methods that Dr. Driving mentions in order to improve aggressive behaviors is to practice "self-witnessing in traffic." When we begin to observe our thoughts and feelings, we tend to become more motivated in changing for personal growth.

    Laura Izutsu

    In relation to the Jekyll/Hyde Driving Personality, this report provides a possible explanation for this situation. Laura mentions in her report that most drivers think as individuals. This means that each driver puts their individualistic needs first before anyone else and they also tend to drive like they are the only ones on the roads. For example, Laura states, "They fail to see driving as a group activity, and that one person's careless actions influence and affect others around them". In my eyes I see this situation very similar to how easy it is to tell somebody off on the phone rather than face to face. The automobiles that we ride in acts like a barrier of achieving social responsibility and well-being because we are only concerned about getting from one destination to the next even if it means cutting in front of cars, speeding, and other road hazards. Another reason mentioned by Laura to why each driving experience is so different is because it depends on their current state of mood or time schedule that they are in. If I am happy and not in a rush, then the laws are followed but if I am an half an hour late to work then you will probably guess that I will be going above the speed limit. Overall, she feels "that a traffic psychology course requirement before getting your license, is a good way to stop, bad driving habits, before they get a chance to develop". I would also suggest this course requirement to those who get tickets from speeding, drunk driving, etc.

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    Generation 2

    Alan Furukawa

    In Alan's report, he calls the individualistic approach a "driving bubble". As a driver, one has many responsibilities and duties that they have to be aware of while driving but once a person tries to burst this bubble of yours, you may feel that they need some form of punishment or your aggressive driving behaviors becomes to surface. Alan Furukawa has devised his own Driving Personality Makeover Plan in an attempt to change the very root of the problem, the "bad attitude towards other drivers". His plan was a reasonable and gradual process of development which after each step builds a stronger foundation towards change. In this report, I feel that he has made a strong point in saying that, "I believe that I must force myself to become aware of the things that I do as a driver when I feel that I have been "provoked" by another and stop myself from attempting any kind of retaliation. Rather than get angry at another driver for something that is totally insignificant, I will have to acknowledge the reason rather than just judge the driver as trying to "piss me off" and feel the need to do something bad". Another focus in Alan's report is to "practice what you preach". This is very similar to the saying, "Actions speak louder than words". A person can say that they will plan to change but if it never happens then can we take them seriously the next time?

    Sheldon Tawata

    One of the reasons why I chose Sheldon's report is because he talked about the use of mopeds. Like him, I use a moped to commute to school and that "I used to think that I was invincible". I had feelings that nothing could harm me and as a result I could get rid of traffic by weaving in and out of cars. In his report he mentions extreme defensive driving in which "everyone else is wrong and all drivers should obey and accept the moped driver's actions". As in most cases of thrill seekers, it is not until they get into accidents before they begin to realize how foolish their actions may be. As a result, he has formulated a "moped reform". From the beginning of her driving personality makeover, he wrote, "One of the first things I did to reform the way I drive was to put myself in the shoe of the drivers around me. I'm a driver of a car too and I have ran into incidents where a individual on a moped pissed me off one way or another. That started to formulate my driving persona to a passive driver". As a reformed moped driver, he now waits like the rest of the drivers on the road instead cutting in front of cars during the last seconds. I too have adopted this philosophy into my driving persona and as I began to see situations in other driver's perspectives, I can relate it to how I can improve many of my bad driving habits.


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    Generation 3

    Donna Handoe

    In Donna's report, there is an emphasis on people's resistance towards Traffic Psychology. Traffic Psychology has been defined as "a discipline of psychology which studies and tries to develop modification techniques to re-make the driving personalities of all drivers". Every driver has the responsibility on becoming a traffic psychologist and improving their driving personalities. There are many benefits towards studying traffic psychology such as decreasing the amount of accidents on the road or the negative aggression we have towards other drivers. The procedures that she has implemented are: I. Choose two subjects to engage in the self-modification trial. II. Identify a target behavior in both subjects. III. Making and implementing a modification plan. IV. Observing and identifying the target behavior while driving . V. Reporting of the results. I feel that these procedures could also be applied to my Quality Driving Circle. In my QDC I feel that there is going to have many resistance towards change because sometimes "we all suffer from the delusion (to a certain extent) that we are perfect the way we are". We become defensive when others tell us we have problems but when we begin to realize for ourselves that we need to change our efforts become more automatic.

    Sherman Lee

    Sherman's report topic is also about people's resistance towards Traffic Psychology. His attempts are very similar to our Quality Driving Circle in that we are trying to help a person develop positive driving personalities and to extinguish any kind of "road rage". His process works in the same fashion to the one mentioned earlier: (1) Have them identify their negative behavior. (2) Give them reasons why they should change it. (3) Give them a method for changing. (4) Execute the plan. (5) Modify the plan if necessary. When I tried to figure out the people I would use in my group, I quickly came to possible prospects because it is so easy to notice other people's driving behavior than it is to look at ours. I tended to seek those who had the most problems and the ones that needed the most help but sometimes these people may not be so cooperative because they believe that nothing is wrong with them in the first place. I found out that the best way to observe your group members drive and behave is to use your family. They will also intend to take your suggestions a lot more seriously than your friends. Hopefully, my expectations will turn into reality.


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    Generation 3a

    Grant Muranaka

    This report was very interesting because it helps future generations in Traffic Psychology with some steps to safer driving. The report also answers questions like What is a Driving Personality Makeover?, Do my actions effect others?, Where do we start?, Why is there resistance towards change?, and many more explanations that readers may be uncertain of. After reading Grant's report, I realized how many points that I agreed with in which I wanted to share with my Quality Driving Circle. Grant has mentioned the fact that many of us don't realize how our actions could affect others while driving but it always does in the end. Take for example, a discussion our class had about slowly approaching a red light at minimum speed rather than maintaining one's speed up to the red light and making a complete stop. For those who are impatient, driving behaving people in the first situation will cause them to boil up inside until they become furious at the other driver for driving so slow. Every situation like these can have an effect on other drivers because in this situation the drivers behind the slow car are forced to step on their brakes when they don't really want to. In other situations like tailgating, the driver following closely in the back is also forcing the other driving to speed up because they feel pressured of blocking the path of this inconsiderate driver. Later in my report, I will discuss some of the reasons why people behave like this and some solutions to this problem. For those who are still resistant to trying a Driving Personality Makeover, "The information stored in the Generational Curriculum Archives provides a lot of detailed information in addition to a lot of inspiration for those who wish to proceed with their own Driving Personality Makeover. The archives contain numerous stories about student's personal attempts at a Driving Personality Makeover, as well as moral support for those who are still reluctant to try it." I would advise future generations and browsers to read some of these reports just to get more information and examples of their makeover.

    Rudy Dolfo

    According to Rudy, "there are certain behaviors associated with traffic psychology. The behaviors could either be positive, or negative depending upon what approach you take in conjunction with the topic." He also came to the conclusion from Dr. Driving's Research that "the threefold human nature which is the will, the understanding, and the actions of an individual are often referred to by psychologist." For many psychology majors, we may have become familiar with the cognitive behavior theory in other classes we have taken. But for those who are unfamiliar with this theory, it is basically a theory stating that an individual's cognition or thought process plays an important role in how it effects our behaviors or actions. In other words, what we do is a result of what we were thinking. Rudy also mentions the "biological approach which refers to our genetic makeup. Is our behavior a direct reflection to genes? or, are our behaviors learned behaviors?" There are many theories from psychology that can be applied in the field of traffic psychology but I feel that Dr. Driving's focus is more on the cognitive behavioral theory. I have chosen this report to read because he mentions the "Speeding Syndrome" in his report. I wanted to test my Quality Driving Circle for their speeding behaviors and I liked the points that Rudy makes. For example, he believes "In any given situation, there is absolutely no reason for speeding because of the repercussions involved though some people would object to this as in the case of Tina Suehisa who says, she saves 10 minutes by simply going 20-25 mph over the speed limit." There will always be people who will be for or against the speeding limits so I would suggest future generations to take some precautions when conducting their Quality Driving Circle if some members have opposing ideas to those you are supplying.

    I would just like to leave a positive note from Rudy's report on how to lead a successful driving circle. You should remember that "Gathering all the information you can possibly get is only half the battle to succeed. The other half has to do with application. I realize that I have a lot to work on as far as my driving personality is concerned but, I have so much information and resources to refer to that it could very well be a safe-proof plan. Then again, that will depend upon how much I want it and that's where application comes in to view. The old saying goes, a goal that is never written down somewhere easily accessible, is not a goal. If you don't go through the steps of accomplishing your plan by exhausting every resource and information you may have, it'll never happen. I am trying to start out everyday with a positive attitude, a good mood, a smile before sitting behind the wheel of my automobile and it is working."


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    Generation 4

    Shane Cobb-Adams

    In this report, Shane describes the many theories associated with tailgating such as it is an attempt to force your will over the other driver's will. As humans, we all have built in defense mechanisms to battle against diseases, stress, imbalances in the body, and many more. However, the defense mechanism that is related to traffic psychology is the resistance towards change. Because we all live in a world of competition, we all have the urge to dominate the other person. This allows us to have the power and freedom to decide and grow. As a result, when others break our rules we have set for ourselves, we then become raged against them. We feel as if our self-esteem is attacked and we have lost the control over the situation and that the other driver has now the upper hand over us. Sometimes, when I feel pressured to speed up because someone is tailgating me, I purposely drive slower because I know this will cause them to be totally upset with me. As a defense mechanism, I begin to rage and do whatever I can to get back my domination over the other person. In turn, the other driver has to gain their control over the situation so they change lanes and speed up passing me. So who's right or wrong? One solution that Shane gives is to look first at the consequences of our actions. He feels that "it is important for people to understand that physical danger and possible death are only the beginning of the problems that tailgating can lead to. I believe that our choices in life, both conscious and unconscious, and the actions that either spring forth or get suppressed by theses decisions define who we are." If you still consider traffic psychology to be worthless just remember this one thing, "If the situation and your personal involvement are evil, then your life comes to be built upon evil."

    Sandra Scarbrough

    Here is another helpful report from past generations in order to understand our driving behaviors. Sandra's report discusses the affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor domains in traffic psychology. Her summary states the definitions of these terms, "The affective are feelings and motives, the cognitive are thoughts and judgments, and the sensorimotor are sensory input and motor output." Her detailed descriptions were useful because this report requires the class to select three specific items or areas to work on from Dr. Driving's Chart of Nine Zones for our Quality Driving Circle group. One of the reasons why we need to get the person to witness the problem rather than telling them they have a problem is because "monitoring your domains is part of this psychology, this will help you realize how you can stop negativity in your driving, and will also help you to be more comfortable on the road." As for my driving personality makeover needs, I realize that sometimes I tend not to noticed how fast I am going in certain areas and how I don't necessarily signal every time I change lanes. I feel that self-witnessing is only the first step towards changing my bad driving habits and in others while continuing to have great respect for other drivers while the road. However, there are certain situations where your anger is too overwhelming. Here, an individual should try not to prevent their road rage but to recover from it. As a solution, Dr. Driving suggests drivers to make animal sounds, taking deep breathes, whistling, singing, meditation, or anything that transforms our rage to a neutral state of mind.



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    My Driving Personality Test

    In our Quality Driving Circle group, each student had to select three areas from Dr. Driving's Chart of Nine Zones. Click Here for further explanations. This chart consists of nine zones because it has three phases- Level 1=safety issues, Level 2=self-control issues, and Level 3=social responsibility issues. Within these phases are three other domains- our feelings (affective), thoughts (cognitive), and actions (sensorimotor). Each level is paired with each domain and continues on to the other levels. This is the reason why there is nine different zones.

    For my Quality Driving Circle group, I selected the zones 3, 5, and 7. Zone 3 consists of Safety Issues and our actions. This is called Alertness. This zone is also described as faulty actions and inattention versus correct actions and alertness. Here, we are faced with "the overt, legal, and social consequences of our driving personality". To be inattentive means "that you fail to notice visual or auditory clues that help you to make good decisions". From inattention we begin to display faulty actions. Zone 5 is called Judgment and produces our cognitive (thoughts) and self-control issues. The negative value is subjective attributions and untrained thinking versus the positive value of objective attributions and trained reasoning. As a result, our thoughts and reasonings are associated with our acts of aggression or kindness. Dr. Driving explains "subjective attributions" are explanations that are biased, egocentric, and self-serving. While "objective attributions" are task-oriented and reasonable. In subjective attributions, I feel that people are just making excuses to why they don't want to change or to the ways they are behaving. In objective attributions, we have set goals on what to accomplish so they have already realized that they may have a problem and will try to work out a solution for it. Moving on to Zone 7 which are our affective (feelings) social responsibility issues. The name for this zone is called Altruism. The dilemma that each driver faces consists of two opposing forces as in the other zones. In this zone, there is the egotism and deficient conscience (negative) versus the altruism and morality (positive). From these three zones, I have used the items on Dr. Driving's Chart of Nine Zones to construct my driving personality test. The members had to answer with true or false.

    ____ In routine driving situations, I usually conduct incorrect or illegal acts such as speeding, and tailgating.

    ____ I usually drive with insufficient concentration and get easily distracted.

    ____ While driving in traffic, I tend not to notice any signs or the traffic conditions.

    ____ I like to keep up with traffic without breaking the speed limit.

    ____ I use verbalizations or self-regulatory sentences as reminders for better self-control and alertness.

    ____ I express great appreciation for the good things in driving (comfort, convenience, beauty, importance, etc.)

    ____ I tend to blame others for causing your own frustrations in a driving situation.

    ____ I like to use negative fantasy towards other motorists who had made me angry.

    ____ I tend to find personal justification for the wrong things that I do (e.g., speeding or failing to yield when in a hurry).

    ____ I usually analyze my driving situations to make sense of what's making me angry.

    ____ I create reasonable explanations for the intentions or behaviors of other highway users.

    ____ I try to see things through the eyes or perspective of other drivers, such as driving a mile in their seat.

    ____ When other drivers offend me, I usually want to retaliate against them.

    ____ I don't care about the comfort and safety of other passengers.

    ____ I usually deny my own guilt or act hostile when I am told of my faults.

    ____ I care about other people's feelings.

    ____ I am afraid of causing injury or damage to others.

    ____ I use moral judgments towards my driving actions, thoughts, and impulses.



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    So what does all of this mean? Well, for those of you who have not read my Report 1 yet, I will try to relate these items to the principles I have discussed earlier in my report 1. First of all, each of us has to understand the concept of the Three Step Program that Dr. Driving has designed for drivers. This three step process is called AWM (Acknowledge, Witness, Modify). To actually acknowledge that you may have a driving problem, you are working on having better feelings towards driving situations. This builds on your attitudes to having emotional control and then to altruism. The second step is to witness. In this step, it is like you have been just video taped and you are now actually seeing yourself commit the so-called "crime". Our thoughts are now working to gain knowledge, judgment, and then wisdom. The third step that drivers are now faced with is the act of modification. In this step, we try to be alert, calm, and kind. The AWM has been the major backbone that supports each driver towards conducting a driving personality make-over. Unlike in the past generations where they are only working to improve themselves, this generation and possibly future generations will be leading groups which will strive to help each individual become rational and humane drivers. I think that this expansion is worth it because the more we educate people of the potential dangers of their driving personality, the better the chances for having safer streets to drive on. Hopefully, these members will then teach others what they had learned from this experience and start to continue from there. I also feel that they could learn more about themselves in other daily activities like how to handle their aggression towards family members, job related stress, standing in long lines, and so on.

    After we begin to understand this concept of change, many of Dr. Driving's students had to get familiar with his philosophy. Dr. Driving's Philosophy can have many interpretations from readers but the end result are mostly the same. For the most part, "I think Dr. Driving's philosophy is that you should respect other drivers and focus on social driving behaviors. Social driving behaviors are working together as a community where one person can help influence another person by becoming examples of healthy individuals." Within every situation, "Dr. Driving wants each individual to question their behaviors. For example, you need to ask yourself- 'Is this right? Is this fair? Am I being the kind of person I want to model for my children?'. By doing this self-evaluation, you "prime yourself to be more tolerant, more humane, more rational, more like a true hero!!". One of the major points that Dr. Driving mentions is to be "positive" and use "facilitative driving" (not "defensive"). I feel that the messages Dr. Driving presents calls for "active participation of always changing for the better. I think there are no limitations to kindness because there are many situations people face each day that tests one's ability to show some kind of humane behavior. But, in order to help others, we must first start working with ourselves." Now, I have realized that "from this first step of change, Dr. Driving's philosophy generates easily to other aspects of our lives. We can learn to become better parents, workers, educators, and so forth. I feel that they should at least try to let 'positive' behaviors to develop because it takes time for a person to change."

    The next step is to finally try or let your group members participate in a Self Witnessing Exercise. This exercise designed by Dr. Driving consists of four questions: "1. Write down one thing automobile drivers do that gets you upset. 2. What do you feel like doing about it at the time? 3. What do you usually do about it? 4. Are you satisfied with what you do or do you hope to change it?" This exercise could be an example on how to conduct your Quality Driving Circle group exercise or you may design one of your own tests to get them to witness their driving behaviors. For example, you could ask them to tape record the situations while in the process of driving some of the situations that got them upset. Or you even ask them to check their speedometer every 3-5 minutes and mark down the number of times they were above the speed limit. These tests can all vary but the main objective is to get the individual to witness their driving behaviors that they have never noticed before. By examining our own behaviors, "we become consciously aware of the problems we may have and the areas we need to work on. This is also useful because I may not have any problems in one area of my self but I may find many others by answering the same four questions. I feel that everybody should give this a try."



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    Setting up and Running My Quality Driving Circle: Do You Have The Patience?



    How can I start a group of my own? First, you need to gather a group of people (it could be your friends or family members ranging between 3 to 6 drivers) and you need to arrange a meeting place and time. For this generation, we had to meet with them for a minimum of three sessions of about an hour each. For many of my fellow classmates and myself, this was one of the major problems of trying to get everyone together at the same time. Sometimes, there will be days where 2 people can make it but the third is busy with work. Another problem that future generations may face is that the members of your group will not take you seriously. They may participate in the group as an act of a favor to you or even make jokes at you or at the whole thing. As for me, I thought the best solution in my case was to use my family members instead of my friends because the chances of having everyone together are higher if you live at home and that I feel they will be more caring and understanding to what you have to say. From the very start of group sessions, their attitudes towards driving were somewhat positive because they felt like they were already these perfect drivers to begin with and they also felt that they had nothing to change. The members of my group were my two older brothers and my father.

    After each of them took the test above, my second oldest brother found something he never knew before. He has "road rage". The purpose of the driving personality test is to find out if the driver has some form of road rage. The questions above all have true or false answers and have both negative and positive questions. The questions 1 through 6 are designed to test zone 3, questions 7-12 for zone 5, and questions 13-18 for zone 7 that I selected in Dr. Driving's Chart of Nine Zones. The first 3 questions in each zone are composed of negative questions and the following 3 questions are positive questions. For example, if they answer true to the negative questions then they are marked down for having "road rage" (Answering true to-- In routine driving situations, I usually conduct incorrect or illegal acts such as speeding, and tailgating) . If they were to answer false to the positive questions then they are also marked down for having "road rage" (Answering false to -- I try to see things through the eyes or perspective of other drivers, such as driving a mile in their seat) . If their total marks are more than nine then they are considered to have road rage.

    As I predicted from the beginning of the test, my father scored the lowest on his test (4 marks) because of his experience and knowledge of driving for so many years. I have always thought of him as a conservative driver whose always reminding me not to run the yellow lights because it only takes a few seconds of your time just for it to turn green again rather than receiving a ticket from the police. I feel that this is pretty true because after riding my moped to school which only goes about 30 mph and seeing those modified mopeds speeding by way ahead of me and even stopping at couple red lights, I still end up at school locking my moped at the same time and the same place as the other moped driver that I seen pass me. I think the same can be applied to cars also. Many people feel that speed can make a difference but the only difference is the danger they impose to other drivers and themselves. My oldest brother, who has to drive the most because he lives in Waikele, scored a eight on his test. I guess this may be a result of a couple of traffic violations and car accidents in the past that caused him to be more cautious and courteous to other drivers. As mentioned earlier, my second oldest brother scored the highest with 14 marks. He has also been in a car accident but still likes to speed. His smoking behaviors has almost caused some other accidents for him also because once his cigarette ashes fell on his lap and losing concentration on the road, he nearly struck the car in front of him. How do you score on this test? Overall, the role of this test was to find out if they had "road rage" and to use it as a base on how they should conduct their assignments while driving. For example, those who score high on the test are more likely to need more help in their self-modification than others but eventually everybody goes through the same process of change.


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    Session 1

    The purpose of this first session was to give them my driving personality test before I get them familiar and explain the concepts of traffic psychology. Basically, this session was used as an introductory to the future sessions I had planned. I explained why they were participating in this group with the help of my interpretation of Dr. Driving's philosophy mentioned earlier in this report, the duration of the meetings, the homework that they had to do, and what some of the definitions meant. For the most part, the major problem I had in this session was that they asked a lot of questions like "What do I change if there is nothing for me to change?", "Why should I change if other drivers are driving reckless?", and "What kind of suggestions do you have for us to try?" These questions were pretty tough to answer so I knew ahead of time that I needed to have a print out copy of Dr. Driving's chart, definitions, and summaries just as a backup if I didn't remember what they were about. I also used these copies just to double check myself if I explained some terms well enough. As you can see from the questions, another problem I had to face was that my brothers didn't realize that they had some form of road rage in them and gave me a hard time about trying my driving assignment. I'm sure that there will always be that certain someone who will be unreasonable in trying to change their daily lifestyles but if you let them see for themselves from doing your exercise, this may only be a glimpse of hope for them to continue to change for the better.

    The driving assignment that I gave to my group was to mark down the number of times they were above the speed limit or tailgating, checking the speedometer every 5 minutes or so during their driving activities for two days. They were to write down the reasons why they were above the speed limit or tailgating and how they felt about it. The reason I came up with a test for their speeding and tailgating is because I feel this is one of the major causes of accidents we have on the roads that could be prevented. How many of you had seen an accident with more than three cars involved? If your answer is yes, then do you know the reason why it happened? If not, then let me suggest to you that tailgating could be a possible factor. Because these cars were following so close to one another, their reaction time is greatly reduced if the car in front of them were to stop suddenly. Could speeding be another factor? Would it take longer for a car to stop if it was driving 70 mph as compared to 50 mph? No matter what the answer is, I still feel that the safety of other drivers, passengers, and yourself should come first and hopefully you think twice before you speed or tailgate and avoid getting into dangerous situations.


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    Session 2

    This second part of my session was held just to get feedback of their driving assignment. I found out that the results were very similar to how they did on their driving personality test. My father, who practically obeys every traffic law, marked down only 7 times that he was over the speed limit and zero for tailgating. This result can also be bias because the amount of time he spends on roads is very limited. The only distance he travels is from my house to work and in our residential areas. My oldest brother, however, lives in Waikele and has to travel to the Ala Moana district daily. His driving back home is usually past traffic hours so his results were marked 35 times for speeding and 4 for tailgating. My second oldest brother scored the highest with 42 times above the speed limit and 9 for tailgating. He too spends a lot of time traveling from one destination to the next. As you can see, the more time you spend on the road the greater the likelihood of being involved with other cars. So if these cars are going well above the speed limit, then social pressures and conformity can have an effect on the driver to keep up with traffic. Some of the reasons they gave to why they were speeding is because they didn't notice how fast they were going since it felt like their normal speed, they were late to work, and that they were just keeping up with traffic. My brothers felt anxious and somewhat angry to be following someone driving slow so instead of changing lanes, they just followed closely just to urge the car in front to speed up. As mentioned earlier, these acts are a way of them gaining back their lost domination of others or situations. In situations when they are driving behind a slow driver, they are forced to step on their brakes when they don't want to and as a result they tailgate and try to force the other car to speed up. If the car ahead does so then they have accomplished to what they were striving for. After seeing for themselves that their driving behaviors do include speeding and tailgating, I tried to encourage them (especially my brothers) for at least another two days just to drive by the speed limit and to keep a safe distance from the cars in front. Take a look at session three to find out what happened.


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    Session 3

    This last meeting day was more like a wrap-up session because basically, I just kept reminding them to continue to modify as much of their negative driving habits that they could. Those that were brought to their attention or just to make that special effort towards finding out what they are. Well, you're probably wondering about the results from session two so here it is: my oldest brother felt less tension while driving because he didn't feel as rushed anymore. The hardest thing for him was trying to adjust his time schedule from the one he had before. He always knew what time he would get home and back. This kind of threw off his pre-planned life. My second oldest brother could hardly survive this test. He felt as if he was going in slow motion while everyone else around him on fast forward. He said that he just had to speed on the freeway but he tried his best in residential areas. All I could do was to remind him of the 5 million traffic accidents we had this past year and all of Dr. Driving's principles on why he does not need to speed. On the other hand, my father was the most comfortable in this situation because he already practices positive driving techniques whenever he is on the road. I'm very glad that I didn't have to work to much on my father but for the other two at least they are more aware of their driving personalities and hopefully time will send them towards the driving model of my father.



    On completing my own Quality Driving Circle, I would suggest classrooms similar to the QDC designed for people who plan on getting their license. This could be located in high school programs like a Driver's Ed. class where it is mandatory to meet and discuss some of the issues involved with driving. Not just going over the safety issues but the self-control and social responsibility issues. I think that people should go through these QDCs as soon as possible. The moment they decide that they want to drive they should get some experience having these discussions. I feel that the best leaders for these groups are those who actually practice what they voice out to others. Many chronic offenders should also be sent to these QDC groups because to me they don't deserve to be on the streets if they are endangering other people's lives. But, what good will it serve if they don't want to change? Change only starts within themselves and nobody else can force their will on them. In this case, it doesn't amaze me to see the same old people breaking the same old laws.

    Just to help out G6 and future generations who are planning to conduct their own QDC, I suggest them to be familiar with Dr. Driving's terms and concepts before hand because you will never know what kind of questions you will receive. Design and have a set plan for your sessions. Things may go off the track so be prepared to accomplish what you set out to do. Take notes during your discussions which makes it easier to remember what they said. I also feel that you should work with yourself first before telling others that they need to change. Then, you should try to get the people in your group to witness their problem by designing a test of your own. And finally, have fun.


    Driving Improvement Resources on the Web: Additional Assistance


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  • Definition of a Driving Personality Makeover: Ryan Mitsui's definition made simple

  • How does psychology tie into traffic? How can bad habits be fixed?: Feelings about tailgating

  • Benefits of Traffic Psychology: Statistics and facts

  • Psychological Aspects of Traffic Flow: Suggestions for Continuing Driver Education

  • The Nine Zones of Your Driving Personality, Three Steps to a Make-Over, Basic principles and how to start your own program: Expand your knowledge

  • Dr. Driving Says... Psychological Principles to Think About To Help Us Be Rational and Humane Drivers: Rules to live by or think about while driving

  • Community Support Driving Confessions: Share your experiences or comments

  • An example of an Driving Personality makeover: Includes daily logs and explanations

  • The Affective, Cognitive, and Sensorimotor Domains at Work: Explanation and examination of theses psychological dynamics at work in specific traffic incidents, as taken from students from previous generations.

  • Everyone Needs a Driving Personality Makeover: My fellow classmate's report in Psy 409, understanding and exploring the concepts


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