Most drivers are aware of the dangers of distracted driving. It is no secret that using a cell phone, applying make-up, or playing with the radio can pose a serious threat to a driver’s safety and the safety of those driving around them. What many drivers do not realize is that their emotions, state of mind, or mood can also affect how well they drive. Fatigue, stress, and anger can cause serious impairments to how we operate a vehicle and should be taken just as seriously as textbook distracted driving. Show Negative Emotions are a Serious Driving DistractionStudies have proven that drivers in the midst of a high level positive or negative state of mind can experience levels of distracted driving that are even more serious than those drivers using cell phones behind the wheel. These high emotion levels can cause otherwise good, safe drivers to experience impaired observations and reaction times, make risky maneuvers and even have them feeling as though they are disconnected from other vehicles and conditions of the road. Keeping Emotions Under Control While Behind the WheelAlthough these types of mindsets may seem inevitable, it is important to identify what your emotional level is before getting behind the wheel. Keeping emotions in check makes a huge difference in an individual’s ability to operate a vehicle and ultimately is the key to keeping yourself and others safe on the road. If a driver is experiencing a high-level emotional state, they should completely and critically evaluate their ability to drive – if emotions cannot be controlled, ask someone else to take the wheel. Road Rage – What Should You Do?Road rage has become the cause of a large number of accidents on the road. These types of accidents are caused by a driver’s overreaction to another driver’s behavior and it has been reported that over half of U.S. drivers have experienced road rage themselves or encountered it from another driver. This is why it is important to “keep your cool” while on the road. Make sure to not internalize or personalize the mistakes of others and, when you make a mistake, try and acknowledge and apologize for the error to other drivers using hand gestures or mouthing “sorry” but only if it is safe to do so. Emotions and emotional states can take a large toll on how our bodies and minds operate. Although it may not seem like a big deal to get behind the wheel after a heated argument or sad event, it is important to know that these high-level emotional states can impair judgment and reaction times in drivers. When driving, it is imperative to keep your eyes, thoughts and focus on the task at hand – driving. If you feel your emotional state is not conducive to driving, don’t get behind the wheel. If you have trouble controlling your emotions when driving, you may want to hire a South Jersey driving school to train your teen how to drive. Training Wheels has been serving the local area for years and would love to help your teen learn how to drive safely. For more information about our driving lessons, click here.
Whether you’re feeling sad, elated or just plain grumpy, your feelings could affect your capabilities behind the wheel, says road safety researcher Dr Samantha Jamson I want you to imagine two scenarios. In the first, you’ve just received an exciting piece of news. Let’s pretend you’ve been awarded a longed for promotion at work and rush home in a state of excitement to tell your family and friends. Now let’s suppose the news wasn’t so good. Your boss has accused you of not pulling your weight and said you’re in danger of being made redundant. You feel angry and sit behind the wheel of your car fuming with frustration. If I were to ask which scenario is most likely to result in you crashing on your homeward journey, you would probably point to the latter. After all, we tend to think that angry drivers are bad drivers and that we would prefer to share the road with happy ones. That is certainly the assumption made by the participants in a recent exclusive survey of attitudes towards driving. The polling of 1,094 UK drivers was conducted online by YouGov on behalf of Aviva in conjunction with the Telegraph. When asked about the interplay between emotions and driving, 80 per cent said that they thought a driver’s emotional state would have an impact on their performance behind the wheel. As I would expect, two-thirds of these people pointed to anger as the emotion with the worst influence on driver safety. A further 19 per cent identified stress, and four per cent said nervousness or fear and apprehension would have a negative impact. Strikingly, only a handful said that feeling happy would affect a person’s driving. So the widespread belief among UK motorists seems to be that negative emotions lead to poor driving, while positive ones have a benign influence. However, this assumption might not be accurate. Recent research into human factors in road safety, in which I am involved through my role at the University of Leeds, suggests that positive emotional states could be just as detrimental to a driver’s performance as negative ones. We can all play a part in making the roads safer In fact, what matters from a road safety point of view is less the emotion itself than how we unconsciously respond to it. So the really important issue is the impact emotional states have on things such as our ability to perceive hazards or the frequency and direction of our eye movements. To return to the scenarios I mapped at the beginning, the chances of your being distracted are similar in each case. Whether you’re steaming with rage at your unjust boss or floating on air at the thought of your imminent salary rise, there is a possibility that you won’t be paying the road as much attention as you ought. But there’s more at stake even than this. Your emotional state may also prompt your body to allocate energy in certain ways, which could impair your performance as a driver. As a general rule, our bodies like to exist in a state of equilibrium, neither too excited nor not excited enough. Our default mode is one of moderate stimulation – enough to be attentive to our surroundings but not so much that we can’t focus. When we veer away from neutral, our bodies put energy into restoring balance. So as well as a state of high excitement making us more easily distracted, in these circumstances we will also unconsciously divert energy away from focusing on the road and towards getting back on an even keel. We tend to think that angry drivers are bad drivers and that we would prefer to share the road with happy ones Likewise, if we are not excited enough, our bodies will put energy into geeing us up, which might reduce our ability to spot hazards or respond to danger. The drivers in this survey are partially right, therefore. Emotions are important in driver safety but they are not the be-all and end-all, and anger is by no means the only emotion to result in bad driving. Whatever we’re feeling, the point that really matters is how our bodies respond, and that is not necessarily linked to the character of our emotions. Whether you jump in the car feeling on top of the world or in the depths of despair, you may be just as likely to drive badly. This is a useful piece of self-knowledge, because it can help you to take stock as you turn the ignition key, and ensure that you stay as focused as possible before hitting the road. Ultimately, that’s the value of surveys such as the one conducted by the Telegraph, Aviva and YouGov. They help uncover driver attitudes. Then they provide an opportunity to enhance awareness among motorists by exploring the interaction between what people think and how research suggests the world really is. Armed with that understanding, we can all play a part in making the roads safer. Are you a safe driver? Download the Aviva Drive app to put your on-the-road skills to the test. Plus, find out more about the Aviva safe driving challenge here
Making safe, risk-reducing driving decisions depends on calmness, presence of mind, logic and the ability to systematically evaluate the driving environment – even in undesirable conditions where things do not go to plan. Human emotions are powerful forces that can easily disrupt this ideal mental state if left unchecked. Think about how many times on a day-to-day basis your emotions affect the choices you make and the way you go about things. Imagine, how easy it would be to live a successful, productive and efficient life without emotions getting in the way. Just as emotions can lead you to make stupid decisions in your personal life, at work or in school, they can lead you to make stupid and often dangerous decisions behind the wheel. We can’t get rid of our emotions – and we wouldn’t want to! However, we can and must keep an eye on our emotional state and take steps to stop it from impairing our driving ability. Intense emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety and despair can adversely affect your driving ability just as much as drugs or alcohol. Any driving decisions you make while under the influence of these emotions are likely to be poorly thought-out and risky. As a driver, it is your responsibility to ensure you are focused, relaxed and free from emotional distractions while in control of your vehicle. If the emotions you are currently experiencing are so strong that you cannot achieve this, do not drive, it is as simple as that. Dangerous emotionsBelow are some of the most dangerous emotions and mental attitudes to have behind the wheel. You may be surprised at some of them!
For most new drivers, it is the “positive” emotions in this list that come as the greatest shock. After all, it can be hard to imagine how extreme happiness or love could be a bad thing! The point to take away from this is that any extreme emotion, whether positive or negative, can render you unsafe to drive. You are just as likely to make a fatal error while overjoyed about a college acceptance letter, as you are while festering with rage over an argument with a friend. All strong emotions have the power to distract you from the driving task. Let’s find out a little more about how this occurs. Emotions and mental driving skillsA mind that is preoccupied with an extreme emotion is less capable of managing other tasks effectively. If you drive while under the influence of anger, sadness, excitement or infatuation, you will:
As we know, being a safe driver rests on being an attentive driver. While emotionally impaired, it is physically impossible to be properly attentive to the roadway and the driving task. Emotions and physical driving abilitiesStrong emotions do not only exist in the mind. Feelings of extreme happiness, despair, rage and anxiety have a very real physical effect on your body. As such, they can impair your physical driving abilities. For example, a strong emotion may manifest itself physically as:
Experiencing any of these sensations while driving will distract you and render you less attentive. As a result, you are more likely to miss important information while scanning the road and face an increased risk of collision. Furthermore, these negative physical effects could hinder your ability to control your vehicle effectively. Your hands may slip on the steering wheel, you could have trouble managing speed and you are significantly more likely to stall your engine. How to avoid extreme emotionsAs it is impossible to completely “switch off” our emotional responses, the only way to negate the risk posed by extreme emotions is to avoid driving when you experience them. Minor emotional upsets may be brought under control by taking 10 minutes to calm yourself before driving. Go for a short walk or sit somewhere quiet and focus on your breathing until you feel more in control. If this does not work, you will have to seek alternative transport. Never drive if you are:
Driving under any of these conditions is extremely dangerous, as you will be more likely to respond inappropriately to roadway hazards and driving situations. Anxiety may cause you to hesitate and confuse other drivers; anger may lead you to respond aggressively to other people’s mistakes; excessive happiness may cause you to underestimate the risk involved in a particular action. Practice self-controlWhile learning to drive, you must practice self-control and work on managing your emotions. Put your feelings to one side when you drive, or do not drive at all. Your life and all its joys and sorrows will be there waiting for you when you’re done driving, or at least they should be if you stay focused behind the wheel.
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