The form of interpersonal communication in a public space is greatly restricted by the urban environment. Specifically, an urban structure that includes skyscrapers, underground shopping malls, over-condensation, and noise might act to obstruct interpersonal communication. Furthermore, in driving situations, various factors such as long distances between road users, noisy traffic conditions, tightly shut automobiles, transitory human interaction and high-speed mobility are enumerated as obstacles. Nevertheless, as driving is very dangerous, it is necessary to communicate intentions of road-users appropriately on the road. It is characteristic of the driving situations that a variety of obstructive factors exist along with a great necessity for communication. Nagayama (1975) considers that the traffic environment is divided into three: road, meaning and interpersonal traffic environment. The road traffic environment shows road characteristics such as road widths and linearity, road pavement, sidewalks, etc. The meaning traffic environment gives drivers meaning and information, such as traffic signals, road status displays and guide signs. An actual traffic situation is the dynamic interpersonal environment where not only one's own car but also preceding and/or oncoming cars travel, bicycles and pedestrians pass by, and such road-users interact with each other. Nagayama describes the very interpersonal traffic environment created mutually by multiple road-users as the least adaptable environment for drivers. Interpersonal communication in a traffic space is understood as an active, adaptive behaviour of a road-user in the interpersonal traffic environment. In daily life, people usually communicate their intention by verbal and nonverbal means. In roadway interpersonal communication, however, language is hardly used: Instead, messages are transmitted with body languages and/or devices such as horns, blinkers and headlights and so on. (Author/publisher)
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