IntroductionIŒm sure everyone has there own special memories about being able to drive for the first time ever. For me it meant ?freedom.? Remember a time when you were ?driven and picked up? by your parents or some other family member? I remember sitting in the passenger section and thinking I wish I could be the one driving. What power you must feel when you get behind the wheel of that automobile. As you turn the key the engine roars to life and as you shift the car into Drive and step on the gas pedal you feel yourself moving and your adrenaline starts to pump through your body making you quiver knowing that you are in control.For a lot of people driving was a major milestone in their lives. I know for me it was. It meant more responsibility and a way of breaking free from your parental units control. Because when you are in the passenger seat you are at the mercy of whoever is driving. It meant you could do things that only the ?older people? were able to do. I was so excited the year I was finally able to get my learners permit. I even enrolled in a drivers education class at my High School so that I would be better prepared for the responsibility that I would soon be able to undertake. We went through the basic mechanics and laws of driving, consequences of not driving safely, etc. The instructor even showed films of people who did not obey the ?laws of the road? and the results. The best part about those driving classes were the times we could actually drive a car on the public roadways. I made sure not to miss those days. Well, after successfully completing the course and finally passing the road test I was on my own. This is when the real lessons of the road began. It is so easy to go to drivers Ed class and drive safely with your instructor or the person that will be giving you your driving test. But when you are with these two people of course you have to be on your best driving behavior (adjust your mirrors, no radio, obey the speed limit, etc.) but when all that is said and done, and when you realize that there is no instructor or DMV tester in your passenger seat, there are no rules except the ones you make for yourself. When you think about it you drove safely to show you are responsible enough to drive. After they hand you that license there only way for them to check up on you if you still remember the laws are those ?once every four year exams? that they have in order for you to renew you license and the Highway Patrol. The problem with this is not if you know what the procedure for driving safely and correctly are, it is if you are willing to follow them. Also, no one can control you, let alone control the way you drive. Some people drive within the law because it is the law and we all have to obey it for fear of getting a ticket. Some drive in a way ?they? think is acceptable. What category do you belong to. I have yet to meet someone who has not broken some type of driving law (speeding, parking where youŒre not supposed to, etc.). I just recently renewed my license, and my score was nearly perfect. I got nineteen out of the twenty questions correct. The question that I got wrong was, "if you see this sign up ahead, what should you do?" The sign was a stop sign with the words stop deleted out. The possible answers were 1) keep on going 2) stop at the sign 3) slow down and be ready to stop. The correct answer is 2. Well, unfortunately I put 3 instead. And sure enough after my driving test, I slowed down and was ready to stop. There was no oncoming traffic or if there were, it was far enough away to allow me to pull out and into my lane. When you think about it, I could have or should have gotten a ticket for that if a police officer was around. But why should I not able to do that. I believe my vision, reflexes, and judgment is good enough that I don't need to come to a complete stop, look both ways, and then go. To me I'm going at my own pace and according to my abilities but most importantly am not hindering anyone else's use of the road. The fact is that is that even the most careful person is bound to get into an accident. Then there are those with no common sense. You may get tested on stooping at a stop sign, parking, obeying the speed limit, etc., but you do not get tested on common sense. The point is that everyone, including myself has a far to go to become that perfect facilitative driver that Dr. J mentioned in our Traffic Psychology class. And in order to grow and bring yourself closer to that goal of becoming a facilitative driver we must first examine our driving persona and examine our observations in order to create a plan for our modification of our driving behaviors. ObservationIt makes me very angry when I am driving home after school "in traffic" and people who have no common sense cross the intersection even though the lane on the other side is full and they end up blocking the intersection. When the light turns green for us they are in the middle of the intersection preventing us from passing. I wish it were legal to just get out of my car go over to the cars blocking the intersection and demolish it. I'm sure they know that it is illegal and it just slows everyone down but they still do it anyway. The most I could is sit in my car and mumble to myself how stupid these people are. And sometimes if the driver looks my way I would raise my hand and give them the (middle) finger as a gesture to say thank you for being such a butthead. What I did not realize is that anger begets anger. By showing the other driver my anger towards him/her will not change the other drivers bad judgment.ModificationIn order for me to be facilitative, I have to be able to look at the person and just smile and quietly think to myself that the other driver should not be blamed. He/she just wants to get home as soon as possible just like myself. Also, I think of what a hypocrite I am. I still live by the rule: green light means go, yellow light means go faster, and red light means two more can go.ObservationAnother problem that I have found in my observation of my driving persona is speeding. Sometimes I think that there is not enough time in the day to do what you want or need to do. Speeding seemed liked an excellent way to get from point A to point B in the least amount of time. Also, I found that when I am late I consider my vehicle as a time machine. I may not have a fast car but even a Yugo can go over the speed limit.When I am in a rush, I tend to look for every opportunity to get ahead of the other cars on the road. It seems to me that when I am in a rush every car on the road is an obstacle that must be overcome. One technique of overcoming this obstacle is to weave in and out of the lanes in order to find that one perfect route that gets me around these obstacles. Again, I am quickly angered when I am boxed in, with car in front of me and cars to the sides of me that prevent me from changing lanes and getting around the car in front. ModificationWhen I think about all the wasted anger that I vented off making my heartbeat rise to "heart attack" proportions I laugh at the fact that I box people off also when I see someone speeding and trying to get around the car in front of them. By seeing myself in this context I am able to think, "what a stupid and reckless person I am." I am not getting anywhere by doing this. Also, even if a person is able to get around there obstacles successfully, I notice that I would catch up to the speeding motorist by the next stop light. I also notice that a speeding driver is very frustrated, and stressed out. And because they are like this their faces tend to show it. Any I have to say, it is not a pretty sight. So that led me to the conclusion that I must look just as stupid when I'm in a rush and I think I have control over the stop light and the other cars around me.ComparisonsA person that would agree with me that speeding is stupid is Ms. Joleen LaiShe is irritated by the fat that these speeding drivers can't see that they are endangering the lives of other motorists and pedestrians. She says that speeding drivers are more likely to get into accidents. She also goes on to say that they end up no further ahead of her than they were earlier. She doesn't understand why these drivers cannot see that in the long run, their reckless behavior will not only slow them down with an accident but everyone else on the road also. "I've seen some real jerks on the road, speeding through heavy traffic, cutting in and out of lanes....they are just concerned about their own needs."Michelle Ota gives another side to the speeding issue with her discussion of "turtle drivers." As I also said in an earlier paragraph, "some people think that the lower the speed limit the safer they are." She goes on to say, "This is not true at all." ModificationWhether you are speeding or driving to slow, we all need to turn to Traffic Psychology and examine what we are doing wrong and change for the better. For me personally I have to learn to budget my time more so that I will not be pressured into speeding by the fact that I am late. I need to give myself enough time to get to my destination and not use my vehicle as a time machine. I must also not provoke or antagonize the situation of a speeding driving by purposefully boxing him/her in. I must tell myself constantly that I'll be a nice person today and in every way possible to help this speeding driver on his/her way.ObservationSignaling seemed to be another major factor in my driving persona. Since we are not alone on the road, through signaling we are able to communicate our intentions to other drivers and vice versa. We need this type of communication for us to evaluate certain driving situations. An example would be, turning onto a busy street that has no traffic light. Before taking this class, I did not think about the amount of mental and physical processes that go into driving or even more specifically, making a right turn onto a busy street. It takes timing to turn onto any busy street, especially in Hawaii. Again, I depend on the oncoming traffic to signal their intentions to me so I can evaluate my situation. In this way I will know when it is safe to enter that busy street without the oncoming traffic and I getting into an accident. It prolongs my stay at that stop when a driver turning right onto the street that I am on does not signal their intentions. By the time that I can safely say that they are going to turn into my street, another car would be coming in the other direction preventing my to turn into the street they were on safely. As with any relationship, communication is the key to a harmonious union. Without communication there would be chaos.ModificationAgain I am being a hypocrite by being frustrated and angered by those that fail to signal. There are a lot of times that I could have helped another driver with their evaluation process by simply signaling my intentions. I should stop getting mad at other drivers for not signaling because I sometimes forget to signal myself or my decision to signal is at the last minute. Also it does not help me any to lose my patience. Sometimes when we rush our judgment is affected which causes us to be impulsive, and this impulsiveness could lead to an accident.ObservationMy final observation about my driving persona that needs modification is my relationship between myself and pedestrians. Anyone who has had to wait for pedestrians to cross the street before you can enter has had the thought, "why do pedestrians have the right of way? I am the one with the control of the hundreds of pounds of moving metal, get out of my way." Plus what seems to add to my frustration, is "if you let one person go, you have to let all of them go." What I mean by this is the fact that when you let pedestrian cross the street (especially at large shopping centers such as Pearlridge) large groups with follow onto the crosswalk. You will be stuck at that stop for awhile and you cannot do anything about it because they have the right of way. Or how about times when your were crossing the street and impatient drivers would come so close as inches to get under way or they would giver you that, "walk faster" look. We have to shed our egocentrism when it comes to thinking that we are the only ones on the road.ModificationMost if not all of us have had the experience of being a driver and a pedestrian. We must remind ourselves that we do not own the road. Again, since we must share the roads and sidewalks with others, we might as well make the best of it. We must be able to put ourselves in the other persons shoes and be patient.ConclusionAs I said above, it is up to us to evolve into that facilitative driver. this is a new set of skills to learn which in the end will make you a better, stronger, healthier person. We must try to make it easier for everybody else to do whatever they want. We mast evolve in a way that we feel happy when someone cuts in front of you or speeds, etc. You must have love for everyone to facilitate them. By putting this kind of thinking to work I have greatly reduced the amount of stress put on me by my commute from point A to B, and vice versa. Although I do considered myself a 100 percent facultative driver, I am moving closer and closer to that goal by "thinking" like a traffic psychologist. So go ahead and put your mind to good use, "Think Traffic Psychology!"back to top |