The Psychology of Hawaiian Drivers

Spicer doesn’t
believe Hawai’i drivers are any more mistaken about their own abilities than drivers
anywhere else. “We’re no better, no worse than drivers in any other comparatively
crowded city in the United States. Our roads aren’t particularly good, but our
accident rates are roughly comparable to any similar municipalities.”

But,
says Spicer, he can speak with some authority about Hawai’i drivers because he
did the research here. In the early ’60s, the federal government gave Spicer a
grant to study the “psychodynamics of motor vehicle operators.” The original intent
was to identify personality traits that correlated with auto accidents.

Illustration: Michael Austin

“We failed to find that,” he says,
“but what we found was far more interesting.” Using the relatively primitive technology
of 40 years ago, Spicer took hours of movie film of traffic situations and set
up prototype driving simulator. “What we found was that professional drivers-policemen,
truck, bus, ambulance and delivery drivers-would pick up critical cues in moving
traffic. They would see that little twitch in the wheels that signaled another
driver was going to change lanes, for instance. Good driving is being aware and
prepared to take appropriate action.”

Professional drivers noticed many
more traffic cues than non-professionals. “Think about it. Does anyone really
get trained to drive outside of a few hours in their teens?” says Spicer. “We
think we’re great drivers, but it’s a grand delusion.” A total of 136 people died
on Hawai’i roads in 2003. According to Spicer, it’s luck that keeps most of us
from being a statistic.

He uses the example of H-3. “You see people doing
70, 80, 90 miles an hour. I doubt there are 100 people on the whole Island trained
in what to do if something happens at that speed.”

Spicer’s solution: Requalify
drivers the same way airline pilots are requalified. “The technology now exists
to create wonderful driving simulators. If we just got a little professional coaching
and driving simulation practice each year, we might all be the above average drivers
we already conceitedly think we are.”

Spicer’s research is now 40 years
old. Does he think things have changed? “No,” he laughs. “The cars have changed.
They are so agile now, so beautiful and they go like a scalded cat. But the accident
rate hasn’t gone down. Because we aren’t any better.”