Are you wondering how stressful emotions impact your driving? Well, simply put your emotions affect the way you drive. I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to you. We all deal with other drivers who exhibit road rage and aggressive driving, for example.
So, let's have a look at what some emotionally charged driving distractions are.
Any sudden situation that causes your mood to instantly shift, thereby causing your judgment to become completely clouded, is considered to be a driving distraction. Strong emotions will interfere with your ability to think and reason and drastically reduce your safety on the road. Some types of emotional driving distractions include: running late for a job interview, getting into an argument with your teenager, suddenly receiving negative or positive news or another driver who cuts you off.
As a result of losing focus while driving, accidents can occur such as hitting an unseen pedestrian, hitting the car in front of you, backing out of a parking space into another car, or sudden slamming on the brakes.
The consequences of emotional distractions while driving can be quite serious resulting in jail time and/or lawsuits.
What are some things we do to prevent emotional driving distractions?
* Awareness is number one. Becoming aware of your own emotions as you're driving and being aware of your surroundings at all times.
* If you feel yourself becoming angry, sad, too rushed, stressed-out, frustrated, nervous or tired, take a few minutes to pull off the road to breathe, slow yourself down and cool off, before proceeding.
* Keep your cool, when feeling stressed because of other drivers' lack of courtesy.
* Become an intentional defensive driver. The standard Safe Practices for Motor Vehicle Operations, ANSI/ASSE Z15.1, defines defensive driving skills as "driving to save lives, time, and money, in spite of the conditions around you and the actions of others." This definition is taken from the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course.
Permission granted to reprint with author credit only. Permission is not granted to reproduce, copy or distribute any part of this article without prior approval from Ms. Lynne. ©1995 - 2018 Sherry Lynne. All rights reserved.
So, let's have a look at what some emotionally charged driving distractions are.
Any sudden situation that causes your mood to instantly shift, thereby causing your judgment to become completely clouded, is considered to be a driving distraction. Strong emotions will interfere with your ability to think and reason and drastically reduce your safety on the road. Some types of emotional driving distractions include: running late for a job interview, getting into an argument with your teenager, suddenly receiving negative or positive news or another driver who cuts you off.
As a result of losing focus while driving, accidents can occur such as hitting an unseen pedestrian, hitting the car in front of you, backing out of a parking space into another car, or sudden slamming on the brakes.
The consequences of emotional distractions while driving can be quite serious resulting in jail time and/or lawsuits.
What are some things we do to prevent emotional driving distractions?
* Awareness is number one. Becoming aware of your own emotions as you're driving and being aware of your surroundings at all times.
* If you feel yourself becoming angry, sad, too rushed, stressed-out, frustrated, nervous or tired, take a few minutes to pull off the road to breathe, slow yourself down and cool off, before proceeding.
* Keep your cool, when feeling stressed because of other drivers' lack of courtesy.
* Become an intentional defensive driver. The standard Safe Practices for Motor Vehicle Operations, ANSI/ASSE Z15.1, defines defensive driving skills as "driving to save lives, time, and money, in spite of the conditions around you and the actions of others." This definition is taken from the National Safety Council's Defensive Driving Course.
Permission granted to reprint with author credit only. Permission is not granted to reproduce, copy or distribute any part of this article without prior approval from Ms. Lynne. ©1995 - 2018 Sherry Lynne. All rights reserved.
RSS Feed