Have you ever wondered about your attitude’s role when you get behind the wheel? Driving itself already comes with so much risk, yet when we are not in the right frame of mind due to our emotions, we may be putting ourselves in grave danger by driving in such instances. The need to understand our state of mind before driving is vital.

The 6 common ways our attitude affects our driving are:

1.    Driving while dealing with Feeling

2.    Driving while dealing with Annoyances

3.    Driving while dealing with Personal Factors

4.    Driving while dealing with Stress

5.    Driving while dealing with Anger

6.    Driving while dealing with Aggression

1.    Driving while dealing with Feelings

Take a moment to consider how emotions and feelings affect how we view things. You are generally more optimistic when you’re in a good mood or get a sudden burst of motivation. The converse also plays a similar role because when we are in a bad mood, we are generally more pessimistic.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do your feelings influence your driving positively or negatively?

How do you feel when another driver cuts in front of you abruptly?

2.    Driving while dealing with Annoyances

In your driving experience, what are some of the annoyances you deal with behind the wheel? Most people experience frustration, anger, disgust, etc.

Safe driving involves our attitude, skills, and knowledge. When we experience annoyances, our driver safety knowledge and skills are not affected, but our attitude is. We don’t act normal when our attitude is off; behind the wheel, this can be detrimental.

Awareness of our mental and emotional state is key to remaining calm under these strenuous circumstances. Many who have allowed such annoyances to take over make abysmal choices that result in severe injury or death

3.    Driving while dealing with Personal Factors

Personal factors such as deadlines, emotions (anxiety and frustration), impairment, stress, and distracted driving can distort our mood and decision-making abilities. Under the influence of these personal factors, we increase the risk we are willing to take while driving.

I’m still amazed at how people blame traffic or other drivers for being late to a meeting. Many people caught speeding will cite time pressure as a reason for excessive speeding. Is the meeting time to blame or the fact that you set off late? If you planned, traffic wouldn’t be a problem.

4.    Driving while dealing with Stress

Stress is the gap between our reality and our expectations. The more significant the gap, the bigger the stress. We know that stress negatively impacts us, and it is no different when driving. Its effect can be very subtle at times.

We find that the more things we can control, the less stress we feel. We don’t have control over certain things, such as our bosses, the weather, our colleagues, etc. We only have control of our thinking and our responses to things. We can reduce stress through relaxation, sleep, exercise, and humor.

5.    Driving while dealing with Anger

We have all experienced anger in our lives; the outcome most often was acting irrationally and losing control of our emotional state. Anger springs up when we feel threatened, frustrated, powerless, and disrespected. It is unwise to drive under such conditions.

Under circumstances like this, we see road rage and aggressive driving. Events or situations are not the causes of anger. Anger comes from within and depends on how we interpret circumstances. Whenever you feel anger welling up inside, take a moment to evaluate the situation. You may discover that your perceptions and expectations need to change.

6.    Driving while dealing with Aggression

Aggressive driving is the primary reason for excessive wear and tear on a vehicle. Stress, time pressures, and anger play a massive role in aggressive driving. These are personal factors that expose a driver to excessive risk-taking. Some drivers are habitually aggressive. Either they are always late or have always driven this way.

The good news is that most drivers are not habitually aggressive. They are situationally aggressive, which causes them to occasionally drive aggressively when under stress, time constraints, or anger.

Self-awareness is critical when behind the wheel. Our attitudes can lead us to take unnecessary risks, which are never safe. Excessive risk-taking can lead to a crash. You can completely alter your driving experience by changing your thinking. Expect to come across aggressive drivers all the time, and manage your emotions when you encounter them.