Driving safely is all about
attitude. In fact, all I can really teach you is attitude.
Think about it—if you've been driving for a while, you
know most all the rules—OK, so maybe you do need a refresher
occasionally—and you know how to drive "defensively."
You may not think you do—but you do. You learn by surviving
to drive another day. What we often lose sight of are the
dangers of driving—it is such a normal part of our lives
that we don't consciously think about how dangerous it really
is. Thinking about this occasionally is a good thing.
Driving conflicts have been with us since
the beginning. "In Ohio in 1895, there were only TWO
motorcars. Guess what happened?" An old photo actually
showed the two horseless carriages on a collision course to
a "T" intersection, both (male) drivers jabbering
merrily to a carload of female passengers, and neither one
looking anywhere close to the direction they were speeding!
I'm not sure if that very old joke is based in truth or not,
but if you have driven in this country you KNOW it could be!
If you drive, you will be involved in conflicts. You can't
totally control them, but you can control how you react to
them. What makes the difference, and what you need to remain
safe in today's traffic circus, is to keep a calm, positive,
and detached attitude. This is something you can LEARN to
do.
I can tell you from experience, most of
the tickets or mishaps I've ever had happened when I was angry
or upset (there've been a few). When your emotions are running
high, your judgment can fail you, and you may not notice otherwise
apparent, even obvious, dangers. If you find yourself driving
while emotionally stressed or upset, it is important that
you pull over, take a few deep breaths and calm down, before
something happens that would be a cause for further regret.
Since we all make mistakes in our driving,
it goes without saying that at any given moment, other drivers
are doing exactly that—making mistakes, not intentionally
malicious moves. When other drivers do something wrong, shouldn't
our reaction be to let it slide, chalk it up to unintentional
human error, the same as we hope they'd do for us?
Remember these words: "It doesn't
matter." When other drivers make mistakes, or are
rude (even intentionally), what do you gain by letting it
affect your attitude or behavior? It doesn't matter. In ten
minutes, you won't even remember that it happened. Since we
are all human, we can't be perfect all the time. Don't let
the error the other driver commits be the reason you lose
control (one way or another) and have a collision, or worse.
Many collisions occur when a driver is mad, upset, stressed,
or distracted in some way. Try to keep your attitude rational,
calm and positive.
<Rule
#10: Drive Precisely!
Rule #12: Look Down
the Road>
