Driving requires optimum attention and focus on the steering wheel, the road ahead, and your surroundings. A study has revealed that around 85% of accidents that occur are the consequence of reckless and distracted driving. These collisions could be avoided if drivers kept their emotions in check; doing so alone could save more lives. Strong emotions can certainly play a huge role in influencing your control over the wheel and leading to an accident. Let’s understand how it influences one’s consciousness and focus while operating a vehicle.
If you’ve been in a tragic car accident and are planning to file a legal claim against the responsible party, consult a skilled attorney. They will assist you in legal proceedings, negotiation, and making a compelling argument to the defending counsel. This article will help you understand and learn more about emotional driving and its whereabouts in road accidents.
What’s Emotional Driving?
Emotional driving refers to when drivers operate their vehicles while experiencing emotions—pain, grief, joy, excitement, distress, trauma, sadness, fear, and worry. Extreme sentiments can be as dangerous as intoxication or drugs while driving. Road rage is treacherous for motorists, as it makes them want to hurt others. Your emotions affect your driving, as certain feelings like despair, anger, or sadness can impact how you react to different situations. When you are overwhelmed with intense feelings, you may act aggressively toward other drivers on the road, making the situation more risky.
For instance, you may get angry or upset after being cut off by another driver on the road and try to retaliate. You may feel angry after getting stuck in traffic or being late for an appointment. You experience emotions like anger, sadness, despair, or pain because something tragic is happening in your life, and road situations somehow trigger and escalate them.
Emotional driving also includes positive emotions—feeling proud, excited, or joyful. For instance, if you are finally getting that promotion you’ve been waiting for years, you receive good news related to your family members, or you are receiving a bonus this month for your hard work. All these situations boost the adrenaline inside your body, making you feel joyful and in a positive mood.
How Emotional Driving Increases the Risk of Car Accidents
The only difference between a near crash and an actual crash is the timing the driver takes to make a wise decision. When an individual is operating a vehicle, proper focus and attention are needed to prevent collisions, pedestrian accidents, and other fatal life-or-death situations. Emotional driving is a form of distracted driving that causes fatigue and mental fog in the driver’s mind, slowing down their reaction time in dangerous situations. These split-second decisions are vital to preventing a crash. Hence, when a driver is daydreaming or lost in the clouds of their emotions, they fail to provide proper attention to their surroundings while driving, leading to an accident.
Emotional driving can cause situations like:
- Speeding if you are angry about traffic or another driver’s honking,
- Sudden stops,
- Hitting the rear end of another vehicle,
- Driving too slowly,
- Take your eyes off the road,
- Not staying in or sliding to a different lane,
- Brake checking the driver behind you,
- Running through a stop sign,
- And not paying attention to pedestrians or cyclists.
Steps to Take to Minimize Your Intense Emotions While Driving:
- Cool Down: If you feel the emotions are overwhelming you, take a moment to cool off. Take a break to breathe and relax; this act will keep your emotions under control.
- Sideline Your Emotions: If you are worried about a meeting, project, or friend, you must set that concern aside and focus on the present task—driving the vehicle. Furthermore, you can switch on the radio or tell yourself that you will think about those feelings after you stop the car.
