Do You Give Way?

I've have been carrying out extensive research for my book, which means I have missed my deadline but no change there then, the problem of course is getting too indepth. Although my book itself is not for the driving instructor market, there are two chapters which relate to the young driver and the complacent one, so mid sifting through the reams of material sent to me from various resources I was pointed towards some medical research about mood swings and driver patterns.

Our brain rewards us depending on behaviour, so a rush of pleasure because someone thanks us when we let them pull out of a junction gives us a greater high than when someone lets us go, the brain sees that information as approval of our behaviour and in turn transmits happy endorphins. The happier the driver the less instances of road rage, the shared space environment then becomes a safer one, as the driver relaxes the likelihood of tailgating reduces, thereby allowing a more acceptable safety margin.

So does a reward system work for the learner driver? Apparently not. A novice driver finds that someone allowing them the opportunity to pull out when at the earlier stages of their learning cycle, to be stressful, however the tutor sees the invitation to proceed as a reward, thereby increasing the chance to demand the novice joins a traffic flow that they do not feel themselves to be personally in charge of.

We then have a conflict of interests, the happy endorphins flood the brain of the tutor the depressed endorphins flood the brain of the learner and a mistake is more likely to happen. In this research it was found, when questioned, that a tutor feels pressured to respond to the driver giving way as they see this as holding up the other traffic if they fail to react, some admitted to helping control the situation by either encouraging the learner to proceed against the novice's better judgement, or to take control by moving the car themselves while the pupil steers.  Both actions reduce the positive mood in the brain for the novice but increase the happy mood in the brain for the tutor as they have achieved their goal.

So should we be taking more of a back seat when it comes to decision making, the research suggests a resounding yes, ignoring the chemical make up of our brain is difficult, but a good tutor would quash the urge and make no comment, this allows responsibility to be placed solely at the hands of the learner.

Being thanked by the other driver when a novice gives way has a positive affect on them and the learning experience, this triggers their internal reward process and encourages them to be courteous in a shared space environment. Sadly the research amongst the learners surveyed told a story less encouraging, with the majority feeling pressure from their tutor to push on and take ultimate road space in the name of progress, whereas the majority of learners preferred to stop. There was however a different response from the early novice, uncomfortable with stopping and starting wanted to press on and hope for the best, disappointed that their tutor in some instances wanted them to give way, being thanked didn't reward the learner enough because their fears of moving away again and feeling under pressure squashed any elation they may have otherwise felt.

This therefore indicates that not enough time is spent on core skills, and the learners own desires and wishes are over ridden by the tutor. The surveyed group all had a maximum of twenty hours tuition. The brain activity research was taken from a paper not yet published, but due for release and ultimately for sale in November 2013.