My question is, what do we do about driving stress and anger on the roads due to drivers that are endangering lives of others?
What do you recommend to help get your mind off a negative experience while driving?
I have wondered about this myself since I retired.
As I can no longer reach for the controls to activate lights and siren, I have started to develop a different perspective.
It is easy to get caught up in the emotion of the situation because you feel helpless to do anything about it other than sit and stew, sound the horn or make rude gestures at the other driver.
When you find a driver who is truly endangering the lives of others on the road, I recommend making a driving complaint to the police.
Be prepared to back it up with a written statement and the resolve to attend court if necessary.
I’m currently working through Defensive Driving Fundamentals and Attitudes, an on line course from The Thinking Driver.
One of the key points is that I control my driving stress level.
When something happens around me in traffic, I get to choose the story about why it is happening even though I don’t know anything about the other driver’s circumstances.
The difference between deciding that the other driver intentionally cut me off while making a lane change and cutting them some slack for unintentionally making a human error can result in a huge difference in your driving stress level.
Your reaction to the behaviour of other drivers also determines your driving stress level.
Honking, waving a fist or retaliating with bad driving of your own is really counterproductive.
If the driver is a selfish one, your consternation just becomes a source of amusement for them.
If the other driver has a short fuse, you may find yourself becoming involved in a road rage incident.
None of this solves the problem.
In some cases it will be a challenge, but smile and think of the things that really matter in your life when you feel your impatience, anger or frustration begin to get the better of you.
Tim Schewe is a retired constable with many years of traffic law enforcement.
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