"...feel it is a matter of ethics for one simple reason. Ethics implies morality and intent. I honestly feel that most Tailgatersdo not realize to the full extent what they are doing."
This is very true. When I ride with other people, they often don'trealize how close they are driving to the person in front of them. When Ido say something to point this out, the person driving is either surprisedthat they are driving so close or the person acts as though they knew itall along but slows down anyway to please me.
The second personfrom G1 was Terry Slaughter.
I figured that someone with such a neat name must have somethingneat to say about traffic psychology. I soon came to find out that herproblems were just as normal and common as the next person. Her focus wasalso finding her driving problems and doing a driving personalitymakeover.
One of her main problems was the issue of time. She found thatshe often did dangerous moves because she was in a rush all the time. Ifind that this is really common among every driver. Everyone is always ina hurry to get to where they are going. This is especially true in mycase. I always find myself rushing around like crazy to get to where I need to get to. Waking up earlier doesn't seem to help most of thetime because something else delays me. I usually need to wait for myboyfriend since we go to school together. I then need to drop him offto his class then look for parking and then I practically run to class. Whew!!! There's never enough time!!!
When other drivers did dangerous or aggressive moves, Terry oftentook it personally. She defined this as "misperceiving a drivingsituation. For instance she wrote about drivers that cut her off and thenproceeded to drive slow:
"I too have imagined that this person had a plot to make melate. Of course when I think about it, I don't even know this person norwould they have a reason to make me late for my meeting."
When I was working at Germaine's Luau, on the other side of theisland, I often had to fight traffic and rush to work. I used to getupset at other drivers and believed that they wanted to make me late. Nowthat I think about it though, I just need to laugh because that idea issimply ridiculous. Terry is right, the other drivers don't even know meand if they did, I'm sure they would help me instead of be against me. Ijust needed to realize that while I'm going to work everyone else was donewith work and were going home so they weren't in as much of a hurry as Iwas.
Terry also believed that "emotional state (affects) how we drive".I totally agree with this! When I look at the different state of emotionsI'm in while I'm driving, I find that when I am happy and carefree, I tendto respect other drivers and driving isn't so bad. However, if I got intoa fight or if I'm rushing, I tend to be a very aggressive driver. Isuppose we all should put ourselves into a happy mood before hitting theroad. Then we'll have a lot less rage!!
Terry's understanding of a driving-makeover is "a process ofimplementing changes of your thoughts, feelings, and actions whileimproving on your driving skills". This is a really good definition ofthe term driving-makeover. Not only do you alter your thinking andemotions, but everyone also needs to improve thier driving skills. Aperson might be a loving and caring person on the road, driving with alohaspirit but if that person doesn't know how to drive really well, forgetit!!!! That person is not a good driver.
Terry then goes on to describe her version ofa "good driver":
"...someone who is confident in their driving abilities.Also, someone who is able to handle changes in the weather, detours andemergency situations without forgetting how to drive at a decent and safespeed."
I really like the way she defined this term of being a gooddriver. All these aspects really do make a good driver. A good drivershouldn't just be able to drive well, but should also drive well inaversive conditions. If this is so, then perhaps it shouldn't be "gooddriver", maybe we should say, "OUTSTANDING DRIVER"!!! Now do you thinkone really exists? Hmmm.....
Like Aaron, Terry had a problem with tailgating. She found itoffensive when someone tailgated her. She stated, "Dr. James saidsomething about your car should be one car length behind the other car forevery ten miles of speed you are traveling".
Although this seems very reasonable, a lot of people don't do it.Perhaps they think that by closing up gaps everyone will reach theirdestinations faster. I definitely don't think that driving one car lengthbehind the car in front of you will make much of a difference.
Generation 2
The first student fromgeneration two was Curtis Nakao
In his Report 2, he wrote about his Driving Personality MakeoverPlan. He listed his plans to his goal of having a better drivingpersonality and what he thought he could do to help achieve his goals.The first plan was to be able to control his temper. He thought that hewould be able to achieve this by thinking happier thoughts while driving.I thought that this was a good idea. I often try to think of happythoughts by turning on the radio and singing along to the songs beingplayed. A lot of songs bring back memories of good times and it always puts a smile on my face and I become less aggressive in my driving.
The second area Curtis thought he needed to work on was timemanagement. He would try to achieve this by planning ahead and "be moreaware of the time in general". This is a really great idea. I too,need to plan ahead especially if I need to make stops along the way tomy destination. I also need to allow time the time it takes for people riding with me to get ready. If they are the problem then I should set up a time when I am leaving and leave it up to them to make that timeof departure.
The third plan was to stop tailgating by "remember to keep mydistance....stay at least two seconds away from the car ahead...". Alot of the time people tailgate, they aren't aware of their dangerousacitons. That why by constantly reminding ourselves to keep distance,we can keep witnessing our driving and make necessary adjustments whennecessary.
Fourthly, he felt that he should adhere to the speed limit more.He belived that this could be accomplished by being "within five but notmore than ten miles per hour over the posted speed limit". This is a goodrange to be in since it is easier to be in control and slow down whenyou have to. When I am speeding, I don't really pay attention to thespeed limits because I'm usually speeding when I'm upset or in a rush. But by reminding myself of the speed limit, I can then also implementCurtis's plan of adherence to the speed limit.
Fifth plan, was to pay attention to his driving more by "keepingmy mind and my eyes open to any potential situation whether it be harmfulor not". This is really true for a lot of drivers. This is especially true when I am the passenger in my boyfriend's car. When my boyfrienddrives, he likes to sing, talk to me, and look around at the sceneryand at other drivers. This really scares me because he isn't payingattention to his driving. There were times when I had to tell him tostop because there is a red-light coming up or a car was slowing downin front of us. Sometimes he says he knows, and is aware of everything happening around him but his driving tells another story.
Curtis then stated the results of his attempt to follow hisdriving plans. He somewhat accomplished the first part of the plan, whichwas to control his emotional state. I thought it was cute when hementioned that a story of Dr. James's helped him in this part. He wrote:"I remember Dr. James telling us a story about how his wife had told himto smile at the other driver when he/she made and aggressive or dangerousmove." I need to remember to try that one. Not only will otherdrivers think I'm weird but I also would have the entertainment ofseeing their faces while they are thinking I'm weird.
Curtis was also successful with avoiding the act of tailgating.Good for him!!!! The only ones he had problems with was the time factor.I'm still trying to combat this one also. No matter how must I try, Ialways seem to fall short of accomplishing it. When I do finally thinkthat I've got it, laziness, not planning, or something else pulls me rightback to square one and it's right back to the drawing boards.
I also liked what he said about "we not only drive with our bodiesbut also with our minds as well". So many people have said this and it is so true. People often think that driving is just a physical thingwhen in actuallity it isn't. A person needs a clear mind in order tobe able to have quick reactions and make right decisions. I have found myself in many embarassing predicaments because I missed a turn or Idind't switch lanes when I should have. If I was thinking clearlyinstead of drifting off somewhere in my mind, I would have never madethose silly mistakes.
The second student was NanceeAki.
Nancee also focused on making herself better in her drivingskills. She confessed that she was a chronic tailgator. Her three mainreasons for tailgating:
"The first would be if I'm late or in a rush....most oftenbecause I was late for an appointment or school.... The second would beif someone cut me off or simply looked at me the wrong way while I wasdriving. The last would would be if I were busy daydreaming and notrealizing just how close the car in front of me was."
She also felt that tailgating gave her a sense of feeling powerfuland in control. I noticed this kind of behavior in a lot of people.While riding as a passenger in the car of other drivers, the driveroften used tailgating as a way of getting back at other drivers whothey thought should be taught a lesson. The driver who tailgated wasvery well aware that the person they are tailgating could be veryirratated by thier behavior but the driver still proceeded to tail.
As for myself, I am quite afraid to tailgate someone for fear thatthey will slam their brakes and I would be in serious trouble. I dealwith my frustrations in another way. That would be through passive rage.I either keep it to myself or I express my anger by the use of vulgarlanguage and obscene gestures.
Nancee also identified herself as a chronic speeder. She definedthe term chronic speeder as "someone who always exceeds the speed limit byten or more miles per hour". She felt that this occured due to societybeing time conscious, living in a society that "is individualistic, alwayslooking out for yourself and not the other person, and simply the factthat speed produces a rush.
I really agree with her diagnosis of the cause of chronicspeeding. Our society is always locked on the time factor. Everyone isalways fighting for time. Hardly anyone is concerned for the otherdrivers on the road. Everyone is just concerned about their own personalsafety. Everytying is done for one's own benefit and not for the benefitof others. That's why everyone speeds, for the rush. They could care lessif they could be putting others in danger.
Generation 3
The first of the two from generation three was Darin Kawamoto.
His paper was very interesting to read. He was very honest and to thepoint.
Some of the things he felt that he could do in order to curb hisdangerous aggressive behavior on the road:
"...singing and litening to music; having someone to talk to,to keep my mind off traffic; thinking happy thoughts; not lettingeverything get to me by being a courteous driver; and concentrating on myown driving habits and not worrying about other peoples' driving habits,because it is unhealthy and unsafe for me and the otherdriver".
I thout that these were really great ideas. These ideas can beused by anyone because it isn't difficult. As for myself, I enjoy drivingmore when I have someone else in the car with me to keep me company when Iam driving. I hate to drive by myself because I can easily get irratatedby my surroundings. That's why I always insist on having someone with mewhenever possible.
Another thing that helps me when I can't have someone else in thecar with me is singing and listening to music. It always seems to put mein a happy mood. It distracts me from all of the negative energy that isgoing on outside of my car. This puts me in a happy mood and it alsomakes time go by faster especially when I am stuck in a traffic jam.
Darin's last idea of concentrating on our own driving behaviorinstead of others' is excellent. If we all could keep this in mind, Ithink that a lot of us would be a lot less hostile toward other drivers.We are often so quick to judge others but we are often not as quick tojudge ourselves. No one is a perfect driver. We all make mistakes so weshould be more compassionate when one of our fellow drivers makes aboo-boo.
Darin wrote that he often reacted in such an aggressive behaviorbecause he felt that he "need to teach bad drivers a lesson, so they willthink twice before doing it again." This idea is felt by many people. Inmy experience, I have witnessed this behavior while riding as a passengerwith my boyfriend driving. Whenever someone cut in front of him or ifsomeone tailed him, he would feel as though it was his duty to teach thatdriver a lesson. He would often want to get out and beat the livingdaylights out of that other driver. I often had to remind him that we allmake mistakes and that the other driver probably didn't know that he wasoffending him.
Darin also felt that he was being disrespected byother drivers when he didn't react to their offensive moves on theroad. Once again the idea of saving face gets kicked into play. Isthis just a male ego thing? Because I don't feel that way when Idrive. However, this idea is really displayed well with myboyfriend's driving behavior. He has to do something offensive backwhen other drivers offend him. This can often be really dangerousbecause he tails, speeds and at times he even uses obscene language and makes fighting faces to the other driver. He makes sure that the other driver knows that he is pissed. When the other driver backs down, hefeels as though he has won the battle and his mission of teaching thatdriver a lesson has been accomplished.
A lot of Darin's aggression had to do with the ethnicity, genderand age of the other driver. He often used stereotypes of these differentdemographics to justify his violent actions against them. Once again I have witnessed this in other drivers as well. Especially in my boyfriend.He get particularly upset when someone who isn't of Polynesian ethnicity,whose age is much younger or much older than himself cuts in front of himor makes a dangerous move. As for myself, I try not to stereotype otherpeople but I sometimes find myself doing that. I try to realize that each driver is an individual withindividualistic values. This helps a lot in having respect for theother drivers.
When Darin helped others in achieving better driving skills, hementioned some good techniques to avoid some aggressiveness. Forinstance, he advised Miss Miyasaka to "imagine the other driver as aloved one" this made her more compationate to the other driver even whenthe other driver might have done something that offended her. I couldreally relate to this because my mother is a very defensive type driver.She has never gotten a ticket in her life. She always obeys the trafficlaws. The only problem she has is that she sometimes isn't sure which lane to take and what time is the correct time to change.She always changes lanes at the last minute, right before her turn-off. This often angers other drivers. So when I see other people do this,I often think of my mom. She doesn't do it to offend anyone, she justdoes it because she isn't used to doing it all the time.
In dealing with cyclists on the road, Darin advised,
"I told him not to get angry at the cyclist, but to feel sorryfor them. Feel sorry for them, because they are forced to ride bicycles,because they can't afford cars. We encourage people to ride bicycles, notdiscourage them, because it allevieates traffic on the roads and pollutionin the air."
Bravo!!! I like this idea. I myself get very irratated when abicyclist is blocking my way but if I was to think about this idea, Iwould feel a lot better. It is so true. We really should encourage bikeriding. It is so much healthier for our planet and not to mention a lotmore safer. Hey, that bicylist has the right idea!!!
The second student of generation three is Michelle Alonzo.
Michelle Alonzo tried, like the others, to change her drivinghabits. She did this by using defensive driving tactics. However, shewrote,
"They used my `defensive driving' tactics against me bysqueezing into the space that I leave between myself and the care ahead ofme. Or even whin I do let them go in front of me and they don't wave, itjust drives me crazy!"
This can very much apply to my case. I often find that when I tryto drive safer, other drivers take advantage of this and uses it tobenefit themselves. I think that everyone should keep in mind the safetyof others and just be more patient.
What I really liked about Michelle was the attitude that she hadeven before she got into her car. She wrote, "Before I actually went outon the road, I told myself, `control yourself out there!'". By doingthis, Michelle was already preparing herself to be aware of her actions onthe road. This is the first step in self-monitoring. I need to learn todo this so that I can start off with a good attitude. By being calm andcollected, I will be able to drive better and feel better about myself aswell as the other drivers around me.
Another problem that Michelle and I shared was her habit ofswearing. She tried to change this by altering her swearing behavior inother situations as well as in her driving situations, sort of aspractice. She wrote, "...I thought the best of someone even if I knewthat person may be doing it intentionaly to irritate me." I always try tokeep this in mind. I believe that everyone has their own personal reasonfor acting the way that they do. For instance, I just think, "Hmm,maybe they are in a rush because they desperately need to go to thebathroom." It's hard at times to remeber this though especially when youhave just about had it.
Michelle also found that talking herself through it helped a lot.She was "making excuses for the other drivers verbally" and found thatit's "not enough just to think about it. Actually having to hear ithelped...". I am ashamed to admit it but I always talk to myself. Iespecially do this when I am stressed out and I need to motivate myself.It helps to hear someone encouraging you and backing you up, even if it isyour own voice. It really helps...go ahead and try it.
Finally, the comment she made that really caught my attention was,"We are religious, so I old him (her boyfriend) to think of God, and howhe wants us to be good to other people regardless of what they do to us."This really hit home with me because I am a firm believer of God. Iconstantly need to remind myself that we are all God's children and thathe commands us to love one another as he love us. So I suppose that Ishould learn to be more accepting of other people's driving flaws. Who amI to judge other people? I probably piss other people off too. Hopefullythey will be as understanding as I am....doubt it!
Generation 3a
Sondra BlakeAn idea that Sondra had that sounded really good was the conceptof using a hand held tape recorder for instant note taking. She would usethis to help observe her driving. This sounds like a great idea butshould be done through the use of another person recording observationsbecause another person would be able to notice things that the drivermight not realize is being done. If another person other than the driverdoes the observations, then biases that often follow from self-monitoring, will be elimintated.
What was also interesting was that Sondra mentioned that she foundherself to consist of three different "driving personas". Her firstpersona was very defensive and careful. She tried to "leave a lot ofspace between us and the car behind us" when she is with her daughterwhose car seat is in the back. She is careful because she had herdaughter in the car with her. Although it was good that she drove safely,she should try and maintain this habit even when her daughter isn't in thecar with her.
Sondra's second persona is when she is driving by herself. Shewrites, "It seems as though I am always in a hurry." She doesn't stopcompletely at stop signs and her family tells her that she is "a terribletailgater." As for myself, I don't tend to tailgate so often however, Itend not to make complete stops either. I just look ahead to see if anycars are coming then if not, I just pause and go.
Sondra's third persona is when she is on her scooter. She statedthat she loves speed and she takes turns really sharply and like hersecond persona, she doesn't make complete stops. To top it off, shewrites about her worst offense, "..when traffic is backed up at a lightand I go through the center of the cars to get to the front of the line".I can really relate to this persona because I ride a moped to class. I dothe exact same things that she does, I often squeeze in between cars sothat I don't have to wait as long. I have often almost got into accidentsbecause of this, but I still continue to do it. Most of the time I findmyself taking dangerous risks when I am late for class or anappointment. I need to realize that this is very dangerous and that Ishould change these bad habits.
Ross Takara second personfrom generation 3a.
Ross Takara talked about the driving personality makeover. Hebelieved that the driving personality makeover "should be seen as a reformprogram aimed at all drivers and pedestrians." Furthermore, he felt thatthe driving personality makeover should be a "team effort among the entiretraffic community." I also believe that everyone should be taking some form of driving reform proram. I would really recommend Dr. Driving'swork.Inner Power at the Wheel
Ross also believes that "Life would also be so much more enjoyableif you were able to adopt a positive attitude in everything you do, notonly driving." This concept is really great! I really believe that if we could possible improve our driving habits and turn them into driving with the aloha spirit, then we would be able to implement this intoother things in our everyday lives. Dr. Driving's concepts are anexcellent way to start. Not only can his ideas apply to driving butalso to other situations in our everyday lives. Ross goes on to state that the driving personality makeover wouldreduce stress. "It (getting mad) won't solve anything, except possiblyput you in a bad mood or add more tension in your physiologicalsystem." This is proven true many, many times on the road everyday.If getting upset really did make us feel better, then once we get mad,we should be happy-go-lucky after that. But, as we all know, this iscertainly not the case. Keeping this in mind, we should try not to get ourselves upset over the acts of other drivers. We should learn to let go of negative energy and hold on to positive energy. We would allfeel a lot better not only about ourselves but also about each other.Negative energy is contagous but so is positive energy. Cherilyn's work was very interesting to read. I could tell thatshe really tried hard to incorporate Dr. Driving's theories. Shewrote, The concept of using these three parts has been mentioned time andtime again from Dr. Driving. You simply can't just modify the actionwithout know the cause for that action and altering that. The mind,emotions, and action are all interelated. There is no way of isolatingjust one area therefore in order to succeed with change, one must takeinto consideration all of these parts. Cherilyn's statement of tailgating is also another good point to keep in mind. She wrote, I personally believe this to be true. Perhaps that is whyeveryone is always so cranky when they are driving. As I have statedbefore, negative energy is very contagious but so is positive energy. Sowhy don't we pass more of the positive and cancel out the negative?! She goes on to explain the definitions of the threeparts that were mentioned earlier, "Affective part is the feelings or themotives....Cognitve or the thought process involved...Sensorimotor part isthe action." When I read this, the statement gave me a clear and precisedefinition of what affective, cognitive and sensorimotor really is. Thedefining of these terms really helps the reader to understand what needsto be looked at in order to help someone make modifications with theirdriving. Finally, Cherilyn states that, "Traffic Psychology is needed foreveryone. No matter what there is always a reason for your behavior. andit has nothing to do with `the other car'." I liked this statement a lotbecause it is so blunt. It is so easy for us to put blame on other peoplebesides ourselves. However, it is our very own thinking that makes usthink the rest of the world is ultimately out to get us. I think everyoneneeds adjustments in this because everyone has the same problem. It's noteveryone else, it is ourselves. It is how we perceive a problem and whatwe chose to do about it. Shane Cobb-Adams Shane just like Cherilyn gives the definition of whattraffic psychology deals with: While Cherilyn's definition is straight to the point, Shane'sdefinition is more elaborate. However, once again the importance of allthree parts is emphasized. What caught my attention is how Shaneexpressed traffic psychology as being "subjective". Since psychology issupposed to be a science, it is important that traffic psychology followthe format and remain unbias in collecting data and interpreting it. Shane also writes that traffic psychology, "...functions toincrease the quality of people's lives through consice and subjectivebehavior observance, identification, and modification." Not only can wefind out more about people, we are also able to make suggestions for abetter lifestyle. We need to realize that we are doing these studies justto find the wrong in people but to find ways to imporve each other becausewe all can use improvement. The view that Shane had about tailgating was an excellentobservation on his part. He wrote, "...tailgating is an attemptby one driver to force his will over antoher." I must really agree withthis even though I never really thought of it that way before. It is sotrue. When we tailgate someone, we are forcing them to feel intimidated.The driver who we are tailing will feel that they have to speed up. Ihave had this experience so many times. I really dislike it when otherdrivers are following too close to me. When other drivers foolow tooclose to me, I feel as though I need to speed up because I am driving tooslow. So, without me wanting to, I speed up anyway and the other driverhas succeeded in forcing his will on me. So how do we fix these problems found in traffic? As Shane put it, "By identifying the real cause of the problem, we are enpowered tomake changes that go to the heart of the problem instead of just coveringthem up or pushing them aside." I feel that in our society today, we areso eager to hurry along and get things done. Sometimes our eagernesscauses us to put important things aside when we should be paying moreattention to these things. I think that if we all just took time andwent at our own paces, there would be a lot less stress put upon ourselves. But, this would be very unrealistic, because our world isbased on time and deadlines. Instead, perhaps we all should take a littletime more to focus on the problems that really need work on. By workingon one problem at a time then we will at least eliminate some problemseven if it is at a slow pace. One of the main problems that we do need towork on as a society is our road rage because it affects everyone from theold to the infants who ride in their car seats. 1. Do you feel vengeful or have the desire to injure other drivers whenthey do something that offends you? How do these items relate to the principles I discussed in my All of these items were discussed further in my first report. In my firstreport, I went to Dr. Drivingspage and I summarised all the topics he discussed. Along with thesesummurization, I also included my experiences as well as my opinions. Soif you really want to find out more about Traffic Psychology, you shouldlook to the expert...Dr. Driving. For my first session, I had them all take the driving personality testand to my surprise, they all came up with quite similar responses to thequestions. From analyzing the responses and comparing them to Dr.Drivings works, in my opinion, all participants were found to have roadrage. When I finally had the chance to get all of the participants togetheragain, I proceeded to tell them about my project and what I intended todo. I told them that this Quality Driving Circle is for my TrafficPsychology class with professor James. My purpose for this QualityDriving Circle was to examine each of their driving skills, to determinewhether or not they had road rage, and what could be done to improve thierdriving habits so that they could drive with the aloha spirit. I told them that I would determine whether or not they had road rage bythe use of the driving personality test the participants filled out. Iwould also analyze their driving behavior and decide if they should haveit modified by personally observing thier driving. Through thedata that I acquired, I then proceeded to use Another problem I ran into was the old inflated ego. They felt that ifthey were to just let others go, the other driver would feel that they gotthe best of them. I also found that they had difficulty admitting thatthe way they drove needed improvement. They felt they had a right to getangry and that their actions were justified if the other driver didsomething bad to them first. At the end of each session, I made suggestions for improvement and assigned the implementation of the suggestion as homework. I also toldthem to observe their driving habits and to be aware of their feelings,what provoked these feelings, their actions, and trying to maintainpositive energy while driving. I told them to think of the other driversas loved ones and to treat them as such. Furthermore, I suggested thatwhen other drivers did something they felt was offensive, that they shouldjust smile and verbally make an excuse for the other driver to helpexplain the other driver's action. The test, I felt, played a very important role. By reading and answeringthe questions, the participants are made aware of their feelings andactions while they are driving. A lot of our driving is unconscious andis more of a "cruise control" action. Being aware of what we are actuallydoing and feeling, gives us a chance to see what we are really like whenwe are driving. The participants were able to see what they liked anddisliked about their driving habits. The test also helped me because it was easier to identify the problems byusing Dr. Driving's zones. I was able to see whether it was cognitive,affective, or sensory-motor problems. I then applied it to the zones andthen read the suggestion for improvement that was offered by Dr. Driving.Analyzing the questions was very easy because the questions that I made upwas all "yes" and "no" questions. We then expanded on these questionslater on in the sessions so that the participants could further expresstheir attitudes about the questions. Personally, if you ask me, I think that everyone should be reformedthrough the use of QDCs. Maybe it should be required when you get aticket. Being in a QDC could be an option available instead of paying forthe ticket violation. The more tickets you get, the more hours you needto spend in a QDC. I also feel that QDCs should be a part of everyoneslearning driving experience. Learning to drive physically may not be allthat difficult, however, driving mentally can be more of a strain thanmost people think. There are many things that each driver should know inorder to survive today's road. There are so many accidents and fatalitiesthat we all should learn to get along better on our roads. I think thatif QDCs were implemented in driver education courses and as a form ofrehab for dangerous drivers, our roads would be flooded with the alohaspirit. 1.S T A C S:SWINBURNE TRAUMA AND ACCIDENT COUNSELLING SERVICE What happens afteran accident? I think that this link is interesting because you never knowwhen an accident will occur. It could either be your fault or someoneelses. When I read this page, I thought twice about driving carefully andbeing happy that I'm alive to do so. 2. 3. 4. 5.AAA Foundation'sRoad Rage News Release and Report Summary I thought this page wasinteresting because it had to do with road rage. It includes statisticsthat were reported by AAA. Guess what?! Road rage is on the rise!!!! 6. 7.TrafficViolations (Defensive Driving) Here's one idea that is similar to mineabout usingsome form of driving rehab for traffic violators. 8.TrafficEducationWant some laughs along with serious suggestions to drivingimprovement? 9. Real World DrivingTipsHere are some real driving tips for people who think thatrules don't always apply. 10. ask mr. traffic's ë infosuperhighway Hmmm...could this be Dr. Driving's brother?Generation4
"...in order to make negative action positive, you must studythe actions as a whole--meaning the cognitive, the affective and thesensorimotor parts....the next step would be attempting to change ormodify the behavior..."
"What you are doing when you tailgate is make the other personfeel negative. You are projecting you negative feelings onto the nextdriver. Who in turn while thinking what he did to make you tailgate him,projects his negative feelings onto the next driver. It's acycle"
"Traffic Psychology deals with the affective, cognative, andsensorimotor aspects...allows us to understand our resulting actions andgives us a productive, effective and reliable way of modifying our behavior...because it examines the fundamental originvs of our actions ina subjective manner and this allows for precise evaluation of complexbehavior...defined as a tool"
Three specific areas to work on for my QDC group
The areas I chose to work on in my Quality Driving Circle group:Area one: zone 7Area two: zone 8Area three: zone 9
I basically had four people in my quality driving circle. Three of themwere my roommates. One female and two males. The female along with oneof the males are both twenty years of age. The other male along with thefourth participant, who is my boyfriend, are both twenty-one.Setting up and Running my QDC
The second session
Problems
I found that it was very difficult for all the participants to meet at acertain time due to conflicting time schedules. When we did finally gettogether, I often found it difficult for the participants to engage inserious discussion about their driving habits. When we did get to thesubject, it was even more difficult for me to show them the wrong of theirways. There was a great resistence for change. Their main argument to this wasthat everyone else drives crazy so why should they change? I tried toexplain that by changing they would be benefitting mainly themselves andnot the other drivers. Furthermore, I asked the question, "Why should youget all worked up and upset for? Isn't that what other drivers want? Sowouldn't they have gotten the best of you if they succeeded in gettingyou angry?" This seemed to work. Three of them agreed with this statement but the one who disagreed, Charlie, maintained that if othersdidn't have to change, why should he.The role of the test
Suggestions I have for spreadingQDCs throughoutour society
