Are you a stressed driver?

Only when I'm behind the wheel..........


























or see you coming.

 

I get annoyed just like you for the exact same reasons. It has gotten to the point where my wife will not ride with me when I'm driving.. So, I fixed it by letting my wife drive everywhere, when we're together that is. When I'm by myself, or driving back and forth to work everyday, I just have to deal with it as best as I can.

 

our church did something involving this. Tomorrow decide to take the slowest moving lane whenever possible. When you aren't in a hurry it calms you down a lot.

 

There are some things you can do to lessen the stress.

Leave early and don't be in a rush.
Distance yourself as much as possible from a motorist who is driving in an "annoying" fashion.
Take deep breaths and keep calm.
Keep in mind that you can control your own behavior, not the behavior of others.

If this doesn't work, and you cannot find a way to prevent a stressful reaction to other drivers, the problem lies with you, not them. For the sake of your health, see your doctor.

 

Not stressed but I do worry about some others out there.

 

I live in CA, that should answer your question...

 

Only when I'm in the city which is less than half of my drive. When I get back into the trees nothing bothers me.

 

Find a way to occupy your mind enough to let those things go but not enough to distract you.
Me = Sunflower seeds, they make a mess but they keep my mind busy!

 

Two things have done it for me. During a high-speed (90 mph+) business trip to Memphis, I got a ticket. Pretty big ticket. Funny, because I had already gotten to the city limits. I was flashing folks out of the left lane and deriding poor grandma-out-for-a-drive for not clearing a way for me. My stomach was in a knot, too. Something clicked, and I decided that I wasn't being a very good citizen, that the other drivers didn't deserve my abuse, and that I would try a different approach.

So, I decided to keep to the right lane, unless it was blocked, or my passing wasn't going to inconvenience anyone. And I would keep a distance between me and the vehicle in front of me big enough so that any semi could pull in and still have tons of room. If someone pulled in front, I'd just ease off a trifle.

That was the nicest ride of my life. I had time to look around, and it's a lovely drive. The area around the Tennessee River, near Paris, TN, is amazingly beautiful. And I didn't come across a single moron or idiot. Sure, there were folks who blew right past me, going too fast (as I had, hours before), but they didn't bother me. Folks cutting across from the left lane to exit had lots of room, so didn't bother me. Oddly enough, their erratic and nonsensical driving were almost amusing, since I'd become a non-threatening entity on the road. No rage, stomach relaxed, and I felt great. All from the right lane, keep-my-distance technique. It was a real eye opener.

The other thing that helped, as many of you know from personal experience, was having a gun with me. Tussling in traffic over who's in from of whom, or some fellow's lack of manners was kind of beside the point. I was prepared for big trouble, so picking a fight over poor, impolite driving wasn't worth it. I can actually say to myself, "Yup. He's a dope. But stupid's not a killin' offense, now, is it?"

 

If anger, indignation and frustration solved traffic jams ... they couldn't exist, right?

Other drivers don't cause your discomfort, you do.

The belief that

is the attitude of a child stamping its feet and whining when they don't get what they want, when they want it and delivered to them with a smile.

Consider: for any given event when you drive from some point to another point, whether it on on a freeway, thoroughfare or even residential streets, it will require n amount of time to complete. You can endure that time with your teeth clenched, a death-grip on the steering wheel and a constant stream of invective aimed at the idiots getting in your way ... or just relax, drive and get where you're going.

You have tried the angry child approach ... not working well, is it?

 

Not to sound cheesy, but when no one else is with me, I fully expurgate my attitude and feelings vocally and with expressions to the Lord. I've learned not to keep it in. Hint: Always try to keep your verbal "assault" as humorous as possible. NOTE: Also be willing to laugh at and or criticize yourself when you make the same foolish mistake(s) sometime later in the day or week. This is key to remaining level headed throughout your driving time. Hope this helps.

I'm not just whistling Dixie here either as years ago I would easily clock between 250 and 300 miles a day at least five days a week. This wasn't over the road driving by a long shot! This was staying in a certain area of town. (For those that know Jax, Fl. My area was everything North of Beaver St., to East and North of the St. John's River, which included downtown proper, and from these boundaries "lines" all the way out to the county line.)

When someone makes a clown "donkey" move that could have gotten you killed, hurt, or make your insurance go up, it may be good for you to "let it out" verbally or you might get really frustrated always internalizing it. Whew... if that old dashboard of mine could talk. With rare exception, unless I actually knew the other driver or were familiar with them, I would never directed it personally at them, but instead just speak it out so as to get it off my chest.

Not so much back then, not that I noticed anyway, but nowadays a LOT of "drivers*" will intentionally try to either cause frustration, confusion, or wrecks on purpose. When this happens, I always have to laugh at these types as I cannot get upset with or bring myself to verbalize frustration over a person that is so miserable in their own lives that they would begin to use their vehicles as extensions of their mental deficiencies as human beings. Simply put, some people never grow up, get a driver's license, and then "act out" while "driving.*"


* Not really able to actually classify these people driving or drivers, but rather burning fuel and being fuel burners. Get my drift?

 

This is very consicely put. I don't get stressed when I drive because I know, for a fact, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that my trip is going to take just, exactly, as long as it takes.

My options are to relax and drive or stress out and drive, neither will make a difference in my arrival time but both will make a large difference in my arrival mentality and condition.

I'm not often late to where I'm headed. If I am running late, I phone ahead and let whomever is expecting me that I'm going to be late. They are going to have to just live without me until I get there. I'm not going to drive like an idiot and get all bent about other people just because things aren't happening on my time table.

Let it go, there's no place I need to be very badly that will be a better place if I get there angry.

All that said, I love to drive fast but, I do it intentionally because I enjoy driving fast, not because I'm in a hurry.

 

The other drivers aren't stressed because ignorance is bliss.
I find that if you just lightly make contact with their car instead of doing everything you can to avoid them when THEY do something stupid/dangerous, that usually stresses them back out.

That'll learn them.

 

He'll keep calling me until I come over.

 

Laugh it off, let it go. That's what works for me.

 

Van pool. Cycling... essentially I found alternatives to driving. Unfortunately I currently live 56 miles from work. Fortunately I ride my bike to the van pool and the van pool to and from work.

1. I no longer am stressed as I can relax and play a game on the laptop, watch a movie or if the load is light, lay down and take a nap.

2. My fuel bill, maintenance bill and wear and tear on my vehicle is reduced. Dramatically reduced on the fuel bill. Also less miles = lower insurance.

3. My hours are set in stone. IF my boss wants me to stay late, the company has to pay for my cab ride home. DOH! So I don't have to stay late. To work by 0700 and leaving by 1600.

4. Since I have to pay for parking on campus... well I get 90 parking passes as part of my van pool fee. Which is like $86.00 a month. I would burn that much in gas in less than two weeks, easily.

When I was living closer (only reason I moved was the place I was renting was being sold...) I rode my bike each way. I would consistently beat my co-workers that were driving home. At that time it was a 10 mile commute.

Dunno if van pool in an option for you but something to look into. Otherwise there are other mass transit options. Or carpooling. If you are really that stressed then the alternatives are your only solution.