What our driving says about us (pt. 2)

"It's not about YOU!" but that's the way we think when we are driving, says Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book"Traffic, Why we drive the way we do" and subject of our continuing series. This week will we cover emotions, sub skills, honking and a few other topics. The book is a very good read and will have an affect on your driving attitude. So, Harmony is sharing it with you, as part of our commitment to safer highways and in keeping with our AWARENESS style of instruction.

Let's look at the question we asked last week, Who honks more, Men or Women? It would seem, according to the book, that men do honk more than women. Not so fast ladies! It was also pointed out that both, men AND women honk more AT women. Honking seems more likely to be done by city drivers than by rural drivers and it would seem that, if you are driving a nice car, you are less likely to be honked at. Who knew so much could be determined by honking? Does your driving say what you really want it to say about you? Vanderbilt also says "If someone cuts you off, you feel that the world is becoming a dark and lonely place," he continues, " But if someone waves you over to get in the turn lane, you have a more positive outlook on life. In theory, neither event should matter all that much."

What kind of merger are you? early or late. Merging is a simple maneuver and proper merging helps keep the smooth flow of traffic. "Early mergers" are considered honorable by most drivers viewpoint, while those who wait till the last minute, are thought to be looking out solely for themselves. Studies in traffic flow with merges, show that later merging actually improves traffic flow by 15%. Now, let's give a short note on parking. The book speaks of an "endowment affect" citing that people take longer to leave a parking space if someone is waiting. The affect being; that once people have something, they are reluctant to give it up. Parking lots are a very big contributor to minor collisions and yield nearly 46% more incidents involving pedestrians. Driving with full concentration means, even when you are not, on the highways.

The skill of driving, encompasses about 1,500 sub skills, therefore, none of us are as good at driving as we think we are. Traffic experts call it the "above average effect." "Driving in traffic works best when there is conformity and cooperation, but when the roads are filled with people who see themselves as superior to everyone else on the road, we all suffer," states Vanderbilt. "Narcissism promotes aggressive driving." As humans, we are capable of making any number of complex maneuvers. Harmony would agree with this and for this reason we would like for you to learn more about what we offer. Our courses are designed to be personal as well as informative. Our approach to educating drivers and helping them improve their habits, proves more effective, than the methods currently offered by defensive type courses. Please attend one of our courses soon. Next time we look at complacency, countering traits and a review. The final post will cover the driving experience abroad.

Thanks for reading and remember, You are not a great driver and yes it CAN happen to you!