CONVOYS
Driving through traffic is something no one on this island can avoid. In
conjunction with traffic, one has to deal with many factors on the street.
Sometimes a few can occur at once. Whatever the case maybe, people on the
street must be prepared. One of the many factors that are of concern on the
street is the idea of convoys. Whether it be intentional or not, they do exist
in traffic and it's unavoidable with anxiety to go along with it . Last
semester some students were able to document on such a topic and here are some
expressed concerns.
A feelings of justification of action with a sense of conformity was something that Kendall Matsuyoshi brought to the attention of traffic psychology in terms of convoys. Under that same topic, he exposed the idea of social interaction on the streets. People in the other cars engage in non-verbal communication to maintain a sense of social interaction. Whether the type of communication be positive or negative, communication does occur an the streets leaving better opportunities for a better road experience. Adele Kimura has a different outlook on convoys. It seems she believes that convoys are the "bullys" of the street. It's assumed that most convoys didn't treat her fairly when cames to changing lanes, merging and anything else that has to do dealing with convoys. Now there's the law abiding citizen named Todd Crawford. Aside from the gloating of his excellent driving, he basically mentioned that if all rules on the street are followed, situations like tailgating, which possibly derived from convoys, would be a cut down to a minimum.
Kendall and Todd have great outlooks for convoys on the streets. They seem to feel that everyone on the road should be one happy family. When there is communication, interaction and harmony, everything will turn out just fine. On the other hand, Adele is just a misunderstood driver. Everyone on the street, especially the convoys, are totally against her and are just doing these convoys to get under her skin.
A very interesting thing about Kendall's comment about convoys was that there's a social interaction. Hawaii is known to be a very collectivist society to which almost everyone feel they are a part of a whole rather than an individual. Kendall, whether he knew it or not, expressed that kind of bonding when he also mentioned conformity. Todd came close to that but he only brought up a sense of harmony on the streets which to somewhat describes a collective society. As for Adele, she's just the raging individualist with no ties to anyone.
They all have a preconceived notion of what a convoy is to them and how it effects and affects their attitudes before hitting the streets. They attribute certain feelings and emotion which leads to a lot o f cognitive activity which later crosses over to physiological spectrum of the self. Since Kendall and Todd both have positive outlooks on how one should reacted when confronted with convoys, they take positive actions to deal with situation rather than having already attributed anger towards the street, resulting to Adele the potential road warrior. As for myself, the attitude I hold is similar to the men in this topic. When approaching convoys, I view it a challenge and a form of social interaction. Situations occur in a better fashion when holding this attitude. The reason behind this knowledge is that I was an aggressive towards convoys and left no mercy. Whether if I was the one trying to get in one being in one seeing other trying to do the same. I left no room for compromise which, in sum, almost lead into a few accidents and getting close to being roughed up. So a positive attitude is the way to go to keep harmony within the social interaction on the streets. It seems that a person's emotions has a great influence to road performance. This reflects towards a type of driving persona.
MOOD SWINGS
It could be believed that every person has a few comments towards their
talents as a driver. Within that realm of thought, that ideal could carry over
to the emotional side of the driver which in results, reflex on the driving
performance. Lets see some actual statements made by drivers and note the way
they drive and how they perceive themselves as drivers.
Different moods affect the road performances according to Jae Isa's self reflection as a driver. When he is in a good mood, nothing seems to bother him on the streets. He even turns extra courteous by letting people cut in front of him. In sum, his whole persona while in a good mood is a accepting and calmer self which seems to result in a better driving performance. On the other hand, when in a bad mood, he turn to the driver from hell. During a bad emotional state, he lets gives no mercy to the asking; for instance people who want to cut in front of him. As a source of tension release, a little law breaking come about resulting some minor reckless driving. This looks like it could viewed as a form of multiple personalty of the driver. Well, maybe not so much in Jae's case but as for Michelle Ota, she feels that she is the Dr. Jeckl and Mr. Hyde of the streets. Outside the car, she views her persona a passive individual. When given the drug known as the car, according to her, she becomes the angst driver by yelling at anyone for their wrong doing on the street. Much like Jae, Caroline Balatico feels that mood definitely influence driver's performance. When she was upset at someone, she felt her whole body tense up. That, in result lead to a more aggressive form of driving otherwise known as speeding. It's good to know that she takes relax precaution while in this certain state of emotion. She found that by using forms of relaxation, the mind can focus better resulting in a better driver.
All three of the drivers has done some soul searching in terms of their persona in different driving emotional situations. In view of these confessions, it's safe to say that a positive attitude plays a role in driving and more so a negative attitude. The three drivers remained consistent in their quest to be the driver from hell when in a bad mood. That is a very scary thought because if everyone decided to drive in crazy manner when their moods aren't pleasant, we would have a road filled with road warriors and n more so fitalities which wasn't called for. So it's good to know that out of those three borderline insane drivers, there remains one who stated that they try to do some sort of act that will hopefully get them out of that state and in to a more positive and safe one. Caroline mentioned a pamphlet to which she saw an excerpt basically stating that calmer driver is a better driver. Why isn't these pamphlets at all the DMV's?
Within their driving persona, their cognitive activity seemed to cross over to their sensory motor skills. Of course this with the help of some outside influences that mold their changing driving personas. In these cases of the angry drivers, it could be viewed as a possible abnormal psychological disorder. Again mentioning the relaxation techniques before hitting the wheel when in a bad mood. For individuals who are diagnosed with agoraphobia, which fear of the public place, have to engage in certain relaxation methods when they feel a nervous attack about to submerge. This is to get a better hold on the situation so later emotions can be improved as the situations occur. That sounds very similar to what Caroline suggested about relaxation techniques before driving under the influence of anger.
Setting all criticism aside, I too am a crazy driver when placed in a certain mood. Key situations are being late for work on account of some else's mishap or even a bad day at school just to name a few. In these times, I have total tunnel vision. Every driver that is around me doesn't matter. I HAVE TO GET TO MY DESTINATION! If someone is struggling to merge into my lane well they are just going to have to wait for the nice driver behind me because they are not getting in front of me. However, much like my convoy incident, I rather not get into an accident in any form. When the angst submerges I try dissaccociate my anger to music which seems to work. Another thing that helps is having a car that can't go fast to begin with. Owning a 1983 Honda stationwagon has curved my speeding to a minimum. I couldn't speed even if I tried. Also with that kind of car makes think about the other less fortunate who have a car like mine that in result makes me more sympathetic as a driver. Does this make a better driver amongst other? I don't really know. However, there are some people out there that have an opinion about their driving. I wonder what kind of justifications they made for themselves.
SELF REFLECTION
Nicole
Yoshimitsu gave a brief descriptions of certain characteristics a
good driver should have. She believes that a good driver posses a overall
awareness of the streets and is prepared to respond to anything in a safe and
resonable manner, according to the law, in any situation. One example she gave
was a good driver responds to tailgating by just keeping cool attitude rather
than honking the horn or yelling at the person. Since Nicole holds this type
of information, does this make her a role model for a good driver? According
to her confession, she is not far from it. It's basically stated that she does
get irritated when a tailgating is in progress but there is no mention of her
going any further than that. Like many of us, she is guilty of being a
speeder. Although she gave an accuse for her actions, she admits that driving
in the outer limits of the law is dangerous no matter the situation. Yet it 's
still hard to obey the rules when not constantly monitored. As for Caroline
Balatico when she is alone in her car, she drives however she wants to.
Though some self observations, she noticed that she feels more free when
driving alone. On the other hand, she noticed that her emotions tend to get
more negative when the situation calls for it. When passengers are involved,
so does her driving. She does take their safety into consideration resulting
in a more cautious driver.
The next driver that did a self observation of their driving was an individual named Michelle Ota Like most of us, she too is guilty of speeding. She openly admits to going over the speed limit and in some cases, way over the speed limit. She confessed going up to 70 miles per hour in one driving case and didn't realize it. She evens speeds up to pedestrians when she sees them about to cross the street in front of her.
The drivers presented here all admit to some sort of law breaking actions when it come to driving. It's also refreshing to see that they do see it as a problem and that could be the first steps to becoming a better driver as Nicole did mention in her self observations. As stated previously, it seems if the driver is not being monitored on a constant bases then there is no way of curving such law breaking acts like speeding. For Caroline, it seems that passengers plays the role of driving monitor because of improvement in driving when they're in her car. Maybe that could be the key to safer driver for some people. Bring along someone everytime when driving occurs and keep in consideration of their safety and well-being as your passenger or in other words a responsibility.
I would fall into that category of a being a cautious driver when dealing with a passenger. I simply think about what would happen if I got into an accident in result of my reckless driving and the guilt I would have to deal with for the rest of my life for hurting an innocent passenger. The feelings are just to overwhelming which is the reason for being a better driver when a passenger is involved. In the case of speeding, my car can't handle it therefore I have no problem with speeding. Maybe that's why my insurance is so low.
As for the three drivers and myself, it seems that when we are by ourselves, we become more mischievous when it come to driving. The fact that there's no supervision of an upper authority gives us the opportunity to do a little wrong doing. This behavior is just like little kids. When ever there was something we could do as children, that something becomes a little more attractive. So these speed limits or more so laws act as an adult telling us what not do which makes breaking the law more attractive. This sounds as if it could be viewed in a psychoanalytic manner. We being the "male" drivers and the law being the father. It's not excusable.
ALOHA
The mixture of traffic laws and drivers seem to be the cause of a lot of
tension. In Hawaii, where most thing are pleasant to the eye which relaxes the
soul. One could only assume that the persona on the street would have a
certain Aloha feel to it. That's not the case as some drivers from out of town
feel.
Terry Slaughter, an individual who has driven in other places besides Hawaii, expresses her view that Hawaii drivers are just as bad as drivers in the Mainland U.S.. She also had a friend who lived in the east coast and came to Hawaii to notice that there was no Aloha on the streets. Another driver that had the chance to drive in other places was Todd Takitani. To make it sound more dramatic, he drove in Las Angeles. He too observed that the negative driving experience there is just as bad in Hawaii. Hawaii does have there fair share of those not so good drivers. Next, Todd Crawford noticed an ongoing and steading decline in respect for other drivers on the road in Hawaii. He has observed that people are answering back in negative ways on the street much more now than before. He believes that the best way to get a hold on this problem is just start a trend of "hang loose" driving. If a whole group of people start this type of driving, hopefully it will catch on to the masses on this island and revive the Aloha that's melting away.
The two drivers that had the opportunity to drive elsewhere got the best perspective on the declining etiquette on the streets in Hawaii. They also seem to have had a tone of disappointment in the way they exposed the topic. It was almost like Hawaii tells that there's a sense of Aloha when in actuality it almost like a gimmick to stand out from the rest of the states when we are really turning into these Mainland U.S. states. On the other hand, the local driver had a good observation of the decline. Rather than going and coming back to see the drastic changes, he viewed the situation as it unfolded. If he too noticed a change in the Aloha on the streets, something must be done and Todd Crawford had a pretty good idea in reforming the way people drive in Hawaii. How about we all start a good drivers coalition?
These drivers have a vision of what the driving experience should be in Hawaii. Seems that the vision consist of giving people on the streets, politeness and the other good things a person can think of when they think traffic in the tropics. Like most things, changes do occur and it must be accept it. As drivers in Hawaii, as sad as it may sound, we must erase the casual attributions made about Hawaii and our roads and give the truth of what's really happening to the Aloha. On that same note, we can also do our part by trying to reform our thinking and the thinking of others into being a more positive driver and hope that the trend catches on. Once again, a good idea by Todd Crawford.
How one views themselves on a particular day is how they will view their driving experience. There are days when I'm in a really good more and I start to notice all the great drivers that Hawaii has on the streets. In return, I become a driver with more Aloha. However on a bad day, the horrible drivers seem to come out of nowhere. Every little thing becomes an irritable experience making driving an un-Aloha experience. So it's obvious for myself to always try and drive in a positive mood then my perspective of the driving in Hawaii won't become so distorted. As I recall, the drivers that were comparing driving in Hawaii to driving on other places, never mentioned what mood they were in at the time. It's possible, like my experiences, that mood plays a roll in perceiving the situation at hand.
PEDESTRIANS
In view of the previous topics, traffic was only viewed on the
streets and
it mostly included cars. What about pedestrians? That too has the same
concept with the only difference of missing the automobiles. Caroline Balatico
noticed the reactions that happens during the noon rush at Kuykendall.
People's attitude, mush like on there streets, have a look of aggression when
attempting to go either up or down the steps. It's like they're giving off
signals that either party has the right of way and it better be respected.
Another thing she notice involves the slow walkers. When confronted with these
people, feelings of impatience submerges and the reaction to going around them
results. Both of these actual situations include pedestrians have the same
feel as being on the street. That was what Jae Isa
noticed when observed the
traffic amongst people. Stated was, much like the drivers on the streets, same
goes with pedestrians when it come to the different forms. In comparison with
what's on the streets to on the sidewalks and pedestrian oriented areas,
there's the speeders, the conformers and the low walkers. It's also been noted
that they people react to these situations on the walkways are the identical to
the reactions on the streets. One other thing noticed by another student was
the way pedestrians divide themselves in traffic. Claudia Kaneshiro
noticed
that people construct themselves, in terms of which side of the walkway to stay
on, same as how they do on the streets. There's a right side and opposing
traffic comes down the left side. She believe that it's a possible unconscious
action that comes up in any traffic situation. Also when something disrupts
the flow of pedestrian traffic, for instance blocking the way, the same
emotions submerges when on the street.
Caroline pick the perfect place to take notice of some serious traffic. Kuykendall does get frantic when lunch time rolls around. Her observations are so true when in comparison to the traffic that occurs on the street. The walk was are divided and aggressive attitudes grows as the walkways in that building get more congested. In result of encountering slow walkers and other forms of traffic movement, we react the same way according to Caroline and Jae as well. Jae noticed the speed walkers and the emotions that arouse when confronted with a slow walkers. Even convoys were noted which I thought was very cool and interesting. Claudia perception on how traffic on the walkways are organized brought up interesting insight to how the laws of the street crosses over to the walkways.
The laws of the street have heavy influence to the we perform on sidewalks and walkways. It seems that it deals with the cognitive side of ourselves. As people that have to deal with traffic on an everyday basis, we apply what has been working in one situation and cross it over to very similar situation. On the sidewalk, there's no written sign or laws that try and curve overtaking slow walkers and ticketing speed walkers. It's simply attributed that everyone understands that if works on the street then it will work on the sidewalk. When it come to how feel on the sidewalks can also influence one's view of the overall situation. Having one's sensorimotor skills in a positive state can make the walk a pleasant experience. Recreating some sort of Aloha on the sidewalks like the streets mentioned earlier in the report.
In the midst of pedestrian traffic, I view myself as a conformer. If the traffic is heavy in the hallways, I try to keep the harmony by joining a convoy so traffic possibly moves smoother. However, if a slow walker is in front of me, I'll try to overtake that person if the situations permits me to. Same goes when I'm late for class. If there's heavy traffic, I try not to be a bother however, I am more tense and impatient if the traffic doesn't flow smoothly enough to get to my class somewhat on time. If the halls are empty, I simply shift into gear and race to my class. It's obvious to say that my driving emotions on the streets are definitely similar to when in the car. If the situations are the same, I'll react in a similar manner. I guess more chances are taken when a pedestrian because there's no way that I'll get a ticket for speeding in the hallway on foot. There's no laws or limits so why should I care.
It nice to know that there is other people that feel the same way in different traffic scenario. As I read through generation one files of traffic psychology, I ran into some interesting topics that I placed as support of different traffic observations stated previously. I must admit that it was tough to read most of them because there is just so much information and so little time to view them. Nonetheless, the one's that had chance to view or stumbled on by accident, were very good and made me think personally on how change as traffic changes.
In light of traffic psychology
there's a long road ahead in order for
everyone to understand the significance and results of this new level of
psychology. Stated earlier, traffic is constantly changing. Seems as though
it's for the worst. But why does it have to go that route? It could possibly
be the fear of change and adjustment on the street. If more people can except
the change, working to reform the traffic situations can be better handled. My
classmate from another class told me this quote that he made for his other
class and it's very fitting for this paper. His quote basically states that in
order to better the society, we better that parts which make up the society.
Those parts are each and everyone of us. As individuals of this society, we
must do our best to help better this society with hopes that it will catch
on.send me groovy
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