This site is dedicated to kids, parents, teachers, student leaders, adults and all the kind and courteous drivers who want to replace the current highway aggression with kindness. The only proven long lasting way to combat violence is through kindness. The first step is courtesy. On our city streets and highways there are many courteous drivers. It is not uncommon to witness one driver slowing to allow another to turn in a lane. In a busy parking lot we often see one driver slow and motion for another driver to freely pull out of a space. These are acts of courtesy. For the most part they are random and depent on just the right circumstances. And, other than throwing up your hand there is little we can do to acknowledge courteous acts.
Courtesy requires a reward. When you perform a courteous act, you open a door for an elderly lady, you give up your space in line to accommodate another etc you expect a reward. The reward is typically a smile of gratitude, a wave of the hand to say “thank you”. If you continued to open doors and no one replied, rewarded or reinforced your courteous act with a gesture of “thank you” you most likely would eventually not repeat the courteous behavior.
On the other hand if every time you performed a courteous act you were rewarded with a reciprocal “thank you” you most likely would repeat the courteous act as often as possible. Eventually you would repeat the courteous acts out of habit. When you perform a courteous act with out need for the reward you have performed a kindness. Courtesy, with repeated, reciprocal rewards leads to kindness. And this is how we will take back our highways from the aggressive drivers.
Many have tried to institute a rewards method such as organizing hand gestures, waving hand held signs, flashing bulky thank you devices and such. The technology for communicating simple words like “please”, “thank you” etc are already at your disposal. The common highway hazard lights, often called “flashers” are intended to communicate to other drivers that your vehicle is in distress. It is easy to control your hazard lights to communicate a simple code.
To control your hazard lights follow these steps: first locate the hazard lights in your vehicle while your car is parked. Push the button. You will note that the hazard lights will continue to flash until you push the button a second time. By starting the lights and ending the lights you may control the number of flashes you want to send. Practice sending messages before you attempt to communicate while on the highway.
The official highway courtesy code is as follows: One flash of the hazard light means “please”. Say “please” when you are asking other drivers to allow your vehicle to enter traffic, or when you need to move around a parked car, or to communicate to a parked vehicle attempting to back out of the space that it is safe to proceed.
Perhaps the most often used coded message will be “thank you”. “Say two for thank you” is our official slogan. Whenever you are the recipient of a courteous act while on the highway push your hazard lights button. Let it flash twice and turn it off. Practice saying two for thank you in a parked car and you will be ready, without effort to safely “say two for thank you” when needed. When you do say two for thank you it will make you feel as good as the driver who receives the message.
In some cases you make a mistake. If you accidentally enter a lane in traffic, pull out to soon in traffic, you stop quickly to allow a pedestrian to cross the crosswalk etc you can say three for “I am sorry”. To say three for “I am sorry” is no excuse but it often helps to acknowledge your wrongful act. Finally, if you are in distress, or need help communicate to others by flashing your hazard light four times and pause. Then repeat until assistance arrives. When others see that you are actually attempting to code a message they will be more likely to respond then if they see that you hazard lights are randomly flashing.
Somehow all the kind and courteous drivers of the world will find us and together we will make our highways a safer, kinder more courteous place to drive.
How can you help? Use the code on the road! Tell others about the official highway courteous code. Teach others. We have outlined a seven step course outline so that teachers and student leaders may enlist our children to encourage adults to become courteous drivers. Kids up to age 12 that join in our program are called “Road Rage Rangers”. Teenagers from 13-17 join our Road Rage Riders program, Kids, when properly trained, can teach their parents and others to be more courteous on the highway. And, when a Road Rage Ranger or Road Rage Rider becomes an adult driver they will most likely continue to practice the courteous gestures they have grown up with.
Kids are going to learn about driving through the gestures they see adults perform. Let’s make sure the kids see courteous drivers. The next generation of drivers are being trained today. Let’s make sure they are trained to be courteous drivers. Many of our highways are crowded and in desperate need of a social change from aggression to kindness. Please help us.
Road Rage Reducer.org is a non-profit corporation dedicated to positive social change on the highway. We offer a “Road Rage Rangers” decal and a “Certified Courteous Driver” ribbon to be placed on the rear window or back bumper of your vehicle.
Photo courtesy of PDPhoto.org
