Safe driving techniques are critical for protecting you on the road, but they're not enough. Your state of mind when you're behind the wheel plays an equally important role in your safety. To ensure you're in the right emotional state to drive, avoid these driving dangers.
Fatigue NHTSA estimates that fatigue causes at least 100,000 crashes annually, resulting in more than 1,500 deaths and 70,000 injuries on U.S. roads. Contributing to those numbers is the fact that an estimated 25-30 percent of adults has had trouble sleeping over the last year and as many as 10-15 percent have chronic sleep problems. Pressures at work and at home can interfere with a good night's sleep, while working late at night can interrupt your sleep patterns.
A lack of sleep is dangerous because it affects the skills you need to drive safely. Fatigue makes it tougher to concentrate, impairs your ability to attend to multiple tasks at once, and increases irritability and anxiety – both of which can lead to aggressive driving. It also impairs your motor skills and reaction time, which are critical for driving safely.
Avoiding drowsy driving is something you can control, using strategies like these:
- Strive for 7 – 9 hours of sleep every night. - Take a break from driving every two hours to stretch and to rest your eyes. - Avoid alcohol the night before a trip, since it interrupts sleep patterns. - Avoid medications that cause drowsiness. - Drink caffeine to improve your alertness, but only as a short-term measure. - If necessary, stop and take a 15-minute nap while parked in a safe, well-lit area. - If you're too tired to finish a long trip, find a place to stay overnight.
Anger We've all seen angry drivers on the road. They cut you off, tailgate you, try to keep you from passing them, yell, and use offensive hand gestures. In extreme cases, their anger may turn into road rage.
Even if you aren't one of these drivers, it's possible that anger affects your driving from time to time. You might drive after having an argument with family members or coworkers or after hearing bad news. Or you might become angered by things you encounter while driving, like traffic jams or road closures. Whether or not you realize it, driving while angry affects how you operate your vehicle. It makes you impatient with other motorists, encourages speeding, distracts you from the driving task, and makes you more likely to take risks.
If you find yourself in an angry state, try to avoid driving. If you're already behind the wheel when something angers you, find a safe place to stop and calm down. Soothing music may also help to calm you while driving.
Depression Driving is not a good way to take your mind off your troubles, contrary to what you might believe. So the next time you think about taking a drive to relax, think again. Whether your depression is chronic or situational – brought on by a specific event such as a death, job loss, divorce, financial trouble or other traumatic experience – it's important to recognize the negative impact it will have on your driving.
If you drive while depressed or upset, you'll tend to focus your attention on your problems instead of on driving. Depression can impair your judgment, lead you to take more risks, make you angry and irritable, and increase your level of aggression behind the wheel. In extreme cases, a depressed person may use drugs or alcohol – both of which increase your odds of a crash by impairing key skills needed to drive safely, including reaction time, motor coordination, and vision.
The bottom line is that a depressed driver is an unsafe driver. If you need to escape from your problems, don't use driving as the solution. Find an alternative, such as exercise or other physical activity, talking to a friend, or seeking professional counseling.
Make sure that you are always in a "Driving State of Mind" when you get behind the wheel. It can save your life!
Tom DiRocco is the President of Advanced Driver Training Services, Inc. (ADTS, Inc). Advanced Driver Training Services has been the best fleet driver training company in the U.S. for over 25 years. Large corporations throughout the world turn to ADTS, Inc. when looking for solutions to help keep their fleet drivers safe. ADTS, Inc. provides behind the wheel training, online web based training as well as driver safety publications." Advanced Driver Training Services, Inc. can be reached at 1-800-486-ADTS.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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