My Instructor's Home Page Dr. James
Take a Look at My Home Page
Leave me a message dorion@hawaii.edu
What is a Driving Persona Modification Plan?Dr. James went on to talk about his personal recollections on traffic behaviors. I laughed at the story about pedestrian traffic at school specifically at Kuykendall. Rush hour hits between classes when the stairwells are all filled with people entering or leaving the building. There are two sides to the staircases divided by the wooden railings. Most people, depending whether they were going up or down the stairs, often walk on a certain side of the stairs to avoid a cluttering of individuals and to allow traffic to flow smoothly. As Dr. James pointed out there are those stray ones who cause trouble and work against the flow of traffic, who rush others to move at a quicker pace when it is surely obvious that there is no way to do so, or simply become obnoxious by holding conversations in the middle of the crowd. As I thought of this situation I couldn't help but smile because I have definitely experienced that same reaction. The only difference was that I have never scrutinized the situation as Dr. James had done. Dr. James would become a defensive pedestrian dodging others to avoid this confusion. He was also in the rushing mood and feel totally impatient at the time. He would become irate at those who seem to bother the fluidity of traffic and perhaps leading to not so friendly behaviors or actions towards others. Negative thoughts may have also entered his mind about these students that seem to bring on more stress on his life. This story got me thinking that this wasn't just a class that would deal with a specific field like traffic psychology, it covers everything about a person. Their atitude and behavior and how it affects their thoughts and actions towards themselves and others. Perhaps, by learning how to deal with people by observing our behaviors in different traffic situations then we could work towards improving our behaviors in everything else that we do. Having a specific target was a good idea to begin this process.
Diagnosing the BehaviorSurely I would find many before I would have to write a report about my observations and how I would go about to modify a certain behavior. I set out to accomplish this task by making detailed observations whenever I drove a car. I was to take mental notes of feelings and thoughts that occured while I was driving that day. Of course, I'd have to wait til I reached my destination to write them down. The one obstacle that stood before me now was choosing that specific behavior. I am not ashame to admit that I have several behaviors that I display which surprises even myself when I am in a traffic situation. With the help of a friend, who is often with me except when I use the bathroom (hahaha) and who is a good observant of my behaviors and actions, I have chosen to modify my impatient behavior when I am caught in traffic while driving.
My Impatient BehaviorThis is probably a psychological problem but sometimes I feel the whole world is just working against me. They have plotted some evil trick to make me angry. When I am caught late for something I usually speed down the road with my car and feel that I own the road and everyone else better get out of my way or else!! There is always the traffic lights that work against me. I usually get caught in all the red lights and my impatient attitude gets the best of me. I start revving up my car hoping it would make the light turn green faster. I would mumble to myself how awful the highways were built. Why did they have to put stop signs in this area? Did they synchronize the lights changing? Once I've hit a red light it's an endless journey down the rest of that long stretch of road with red lights at every traffic light post. Whenever I have to go somewhere for an appointment or some other scheduled event I hardly ever give myself enough time to get from point A to point B. I'm usually impatiently rushing through traffic. There are several times when I get stuck behind those big trucks and we are on a two-way road. That is, only one lane for me and another for the oncoming cars. These types of roads are very common where I am from and usually they are separated by solid lines meaning there is no way to pass the cars in front of you. My impatience leads me to engage in risky behaviors when I am caught in this type of traffic situation. In order to see if there are cars in the oncoming lane, I drive my car close enough to the middle of the two lanes so I can take a peak at the view way in front of the trucks, enough to give me time to pass him and get in front. When I am even more pressed for time, I usually drive in a winding fashion. Even with the solid lines, as long as there aren't any cops in view then it is safe enough to pass those big trucks or those slow moving drivers who irritate the heck out of me. I drive out to the oncoming lane and if there is a car coming then I go back to my lane. I repeat the same weaving pattern until I see far enough that there aren't anymore and I speed up even more faster than the high speed that I am already going and make that pass safely overtaking those slow vehicles. Sometimes I find myself talking out loud as if the other driver was listening to me. Why do you have to make this difficult for me? Just pull over at the side of the road and let me pass. I don't see why he has to detain us both from getting to our destination. These truck drivers think they're the king of the road just because their vehicle is larger than mine. When I am able to pass them, I give them a scornful look and I mouth out stupid sh-- get off the damn road. One incident that I recall is driving behind a low rider. Ooh..how I hate all owners of these types of cars. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it. In this fast moving age we live, the road shouldn't be the place where we spend most of our time. We become impatient drivers to avoid all the hassles that we face in traffic. Why do these drivers bother making their cars so low that they have to practically stop in the middle of the road to avoid a bump or pothole. It is so ridiculous especially when a driver like me is following one of them and I have to stop to avoid hitting them. They are an inconvenience on the road and I have no patience for them being on the road.
Some Possible SolutionsI find it difficult to modify my impatient behavior. It would take more than a miracle or overnight to change it. I will have to develop a plan that would gradually modify my behavior. I think the first step would have to be giving myself enough time to reach my destination. Often times I find myself getting impatient when I am stuck on the road and think there is only so much time I have left to get somewhere. I could be sitting all mellow and comfortably on my seat and listening to music if I had enough time to get to my destination.I can overcome this problem with a simple method of time management as Berna Collado mentions in her report two. Time is the essence of everything we engage in. It doesn't seem very fitting for me to work on a scheduled time frame, but if it helps me to take the stress out of my driving behavior because of my impatience on the road, then I will have to consider it as a main priority. Time management may seem simple to others, like early birds, but I couldn't wake up at the crack of dawn to be somewhere. Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to do anything else. I've always lived by that and use it as an excuse to why I am late. However, in order for me to succeed at this modification plan, I will have to first conquer this battle with time. Then I will have total control of my time and my life and time won't seem so significant as I see it now. I notice that it is my impatient behavior on the road that leads to my swearing behavior. I don't normally swear, so it shouldn't be too difficult to do away with this behavior. I often catch myself swearing after a good five or ten minutes after an incident on the road has caused me to do so. I regret it of course and later I pinch myself for doing so. It is like a way of discarding unwanted behavior through classical conditioning. Sherman Lee talks about his plan in using classical conditioning to associate his tailgating behavior with pain. However, in my case I will associate my swearing behavior with pain. I remember my friend and I use to wear rubberbands around our wrists and everytime we said a bad word we would snap one another's band. It was a negative reinforcement that eventually conditioned us not to swear. I will definitely start doing that again to make my driving persona modification plan even more effective. Usually I don't think about my impatient behavior while I am driving and not worry about the response I get from the other driver. It is sometimes a matter of morality that brings me back to being sociably pleasant to other drivers. One experience that often puts me back into a regretful mood is tailgating a slow moving car and practically riding my bumper onto their bumper and finding a way to threaten them to speed up or get the heck out of my way and later realizing that it was a poor old man or lady driving that car. I feel really bad and very abusive towards the elders when I find out that I have been engaged in a behavior as cruel as threatening their life, as well as, mine and probably adding more stress to the elderly. When they finally get the hint to move and I pass them and look scornfully at them for being in my way, my heart sinks when I see that it is an old person. I begin to make apologetic remarks out loud or pray that God doesn't punish me for those cruel behaviors I was engaging in earlier with the person. Here I automatically become aware that it is the situation and the person to whom I direct my actions to that regulates what behavior I display and when I do so. Sharla Supnet touches the issue of tailgating and it's complexities in her report summarizing some of Jo Allen's point of view about the matter. I do in fact take on a different personality when I am on the road. I undergo that metamorphosis of good to evil human being when I am behind the wheel and become that "aggressive and impatient roadhog" Sharla mentioned. It was pointed out that tailgating is a sin and a person who does so have no regard for their fellow man. I do not agree on that completely. As long as a person is able to later realize that the tailgating wasn't intended towards the other driver but that the tailgater is reacting towards a more bigger force that drives him to tailgate (I mean the uncontrollable traffic situation at hand) then it isn't really a sin. I mean, for me, I realize later when I look at the poor elderly whom I have threatened, there is regret and a longing to stop them and apologize. As long as we are able to repent our sins and mistakes then we shouldn't be judged as a person who disregards their fellow man. I wish at times the goodness in me will submerge the evil thoughts and actions I have towards others. With the demands and stresses in our daily lives, I just need to live by the saying "stop and smell the roses." Perhaps my impatient behavior will eventually subside.
|