The choice to drive is a choice to lose my unique voice. I am no longer Amy: speaker of inflected words, expressions of face, language of body. Now I am Red Hyundai: honker of horns and blinker of blinks.I enjoy the sense of escape that comes with encapsulating myself in a private island on a sea of road. But often, something interrupts the autonomous driving experience and I’m acutely reminded of the fact I'm sharing this road with other encapsulated souls. And I really wish I had the ability to cogently communicate with them, not as a vehicle, but as Amy.
On the road, I feel most crippled by the inability to effectively communicate the phrases “Thank you” and “I’m sorry.” The message of those powerful words just can’t always be adequately sent with my limited arsenal of motor vehicle communication: a wave of the hand, a flash of headlights, a honk of a horn. I know truckers can flash thank-yous and all sorts of other useful messages with their four way lights and marker interrupt switches - but I drive an Elantra.
Another driver kindly lets me in a long line of traffic, but it’s dark and they can’t see my hand raised in appreciation. They don’t know their efforts aren't being taken for granted. I long for a simple way to send a little voice of humanity to them. Perhaps I can push a simple button which I'm confident relays a warm “Thank you so much! I appreciate you!”
I accidentally cut someone off. I promise I'm not being an inconsiderate jerk - it's an honest mistake. The offended one communicates disgust with the honk of a horn and a lovely hand signal. Technically, I can choose to reciprocate the driver’s aggression, but that’s just not my thing, so there’s really nothing I can do to answer back. I do nothing but go on my way while the driver behind me fills with road rage. Of course, it’s that driver’s choice not to give me the benefit of the doubt - but I think the road would be a safer place if we all had the ability to send other drivers some peace in the form of an “Oh wow, I just made a really dumb mistake. Please forgive me?”
Do you feel limited by your ability to communicate in a car? How would you go about designing a universal thankfulness or apology message for motor vehicles? Would it be a blinking light, a secondary horn, a hand signal? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!
October 20, 2010 3:07pm
I was going to make big signs on posterboard and keep them in the front seat so I could hold them up when I needed to communicate with other drivers. You know, sort of Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner.
Seriously. I have thought of doing this.
October 20, 2010 3:09pm
I definitely feel limited. Especially when I want to say thank you. Sometimes I'll wave my hand a few times, just to make sure they see me. I also can't stand the lack of communication when I'm trying to let someone into my lane and they're not moving. I try to blink my brights, but of course, some people use that as "the police are near". I never do.... *cough*. I'm not sure what I'd use as a universal thanks or what not though. Good question!
October 20, 2010 3:21pm
It would be a voice activated LED sign on the bumpers of the vehicle. Preprogrammed responses including:
"Pardon me."
"Personal space, pls."
"No, you first."
"My bad?"
"I'm lost and panicky."
"Shame on you."
"U-turning!"
"Call 911."
"AllIwannadoistothankyou."
October 20, 2010 4:06pm
your intentions are gracious-courteous and polite. However, realistically and with all intent for on road safety, you do not want to buy into the emotional response to anyone on the road while driving. In reality it distracts you from your on road driving tasks and takes your mind to the other person's response and/or your response you would like for that person to realize. Signs-placards-etc are a great novelty, but in reality can cause someone to try to read what has just been displayed and cause that driver to be distracted even for a fraction of a second and crash. Your vehicle is equipped with legal communication tools which can be very effective when we use them appropriately. There will always be drivers who are zoned into their own little world of what is going on with them and them alone. It's evident nothing or no one else matters. The safest driving behavior is "don't take the bait" and do not respond. The only thing that happens is you and your passengers safety are being compromised.Stay focused on your driving tasks which are many. Personally your creativity reminds me of things I think about, cause I'm thinking of things like that too; however it would only be in the form of a novelty teaching tool for safe and appropriate on road response. "Share The Road" is a huge Safety Promo in Oregon. If every driver could implement the "share the road" mentality in their driving behavior to other drivers-vehicles- motorcyclists-bicylists-pedestrians-truckers-we would all have less on road aggressive and rage. We know the word "ALL" is unrealistic but "ONE" will make a difference. and then another 'ONE"...and on and on.Just some objective things to think about which I deal with all the time. A fraction of a second of distraction is all it takes for a crash. A fraction of a second.
October 21, 2010 6:14am
Hah! As a teenager, I came *this* close to putting a scrolling LED marquee in my rear window. I still have the unit somewhere. I was all set to pre-program the thing with mature, helpful messages like "Why not just connect to my trailer hitch?" and "Dim your freakin' headlights!"
November 15, 2010 9:52pm
Mark and I have talked about getting one of these:
www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/d138/
You might want to check it out! :)
November 15, 2010 9:54pm
You might want to check out the link below. Mark and I have talked about getting one of these for a while! :)
