Can negative emotions affect driving?

Having a sound mental health is really important for being able to focus and concentrate on your driving and make the right decisions.

Certain emotions such as feeling impatient, hurried, angry, upset, stressed, worried or depressed can cause distraction, cripple your judgment, and slow down your responses to hazardous driving situations:

Impatient and Rushed?
When you are impatient or rushed, you are in one of your worst states of mind for making decisions. Here are some common mistakes people make who are impatient and rushed:

• Drivers who are in a hurry tend to speed recklessly without any attention to traffic laws.
• Impatient drivers do not want to wait until the traffic is cleared to make a right or left turn; they tend impatiently cut in front of other cars.
• Impatient drivers tend to tailgate other cars thinking that they can force others to go faster.
• Rushed drivers tend to run red lights at intersections.

If you are an impatient driver, learn to leave early and give yourself extra time to get where you want to go. This helps you get to your destination without any stress and anger.

Angry or Upset Drivers?
When you are angry or upset, you are extremely distracted and may not be able to concentrate on your driving. You also not going to be able to make a sound decision when you need to deal with a hazard or traffic situation.

If you are angry, annoyed or upset, find a safe place to pull over and try to relax and take a few deep breaths and think positive, happy thoughts or about people you love and make you feel happy. Once you are calm and in a positive mood, start driving again.

Stressed, Worried, Depressed?
When you are stressed, worried or depressed, your mind drifts away in a cloud of negative energy, and you cannot focus on your driving or making sound decisions. Focus on positive and happy thoughts about your favorite activity, or think about people in your life whom you love, and love you.

Having a happy, positive thoughts will give your brain and body the energy it needs to function normally.

The Right Attitude for Driving?
Having a good attitude while driving is an important aspect of driving safely.

People with bad attitudes do not care about the laws and health and safety of others. Sometimes they believe that they know better, and it is okay to break the laws.

People with bad attitude are risky drivers because they tend to:

• Be impatient and annoyed and, therefore, act aggressively and negatively toward other drivers.
• Feel that they know better, and it is okay to break the law.
• Seem to be overconfident about their driving ability and not think about the consequences of their actions.

If you feel that you may possess some of the qualities of a bad attitude driver, you can re-invent yourself by:

• Removing the negative thoughts, emotions and stress from your mind and replacing them with calming and happy thoughts.
• Concentrating on your driving and being courteous to other drivers.
• Not allowing other drivers with bad attitudes to influence you. Stay calm and positive and let the negative emotions go.