Many motorists seem to have lost the joy of driving that they once enjoyed, but giving the ever increasing price of fuel, over-zealous traffic wardens, tail to tail traffic jams, and a dozen other frustrations it is not surprising. Rather than being fun, for many driving has become a burden, so here are a few tips on how you can take away some of the stress of motoring and rediscover those forgotten pleasures.
One manifestation of Murphy's Law is that when you are driving in slow moving traffic on a motorway, the other lanes are always moving faster than yours. So what do you do? You change lanes of course, and still you find yourself in the slowest one. The reason for this is that you only notice those vehicles that pass you, rather than those that you overtake. In fact switching lanes makes very little difference to your journey time, and doing so is very stressful. Sit back and relax; you will get there just as quickly.
Parking disputes are very common and it is not unusual for fights to break out over who has the right to that parking space. The fact that there might be another space just a few yards down the road don’t come into it; it becomes a territorial battle. It is best to just drive away and find somewhere else to park your vehicle.
When there are two lanes of traffic that merge into one, motorists who merge late and continue to drive past vehicles that have already merged induce passionate road rage in those that they overtake. Rather than run that gauntlet many drivers choose to merge early, but that is a waste of road. The best way of merging is just before the lanes do; it makes it quicker for everybody and is much less stressful, so merge in turn.
Many drivers, when they hear the sound of a horn, react aggressively. Their hackles rise along with their adrenaline levels and they enter fight mode. If you think about it, it is really quite childish. That horn might have been sounded as a legitimate warning rather than a form of abuse. Relax, stay calm and instead of over-reacting, try giving the honker a friendly smile.
And don’t toot your horn unnecessarily or use it as a weapon of rebuke. Many drivers who feel safely cocooned in their own little world use their horn far more than they should; it has been found that drivers of convertible cars sound their horns infrequently as they are far more visible to the world; so buy a cabriolet and only sound your horn in a real emergency; it is much less stressful.
Finally, remember that cyclists have rights too. In many cities there is now a running battle between those who choose to travel by bike and motorists. So, give them space and try to be patient when they are slowing down the traffic on a rural road. Just accept that they don’t have the intelligence to pull over to let the traffic pass them and leave it at that.
Image is licensed under CC Attribution
Claire Chat
One manifestation of Murphy's Law is that when you are driving in slow moving traffic on a motorway, the other lanes are always moving faster than yours. So what do you do? You change lanes of course, and still you find yourself in the slowest one. The reason for this is that you only notice those vehicles that pass you, rather than those that you overtake. In fact switching lanes makes very little difference to your journey time, and doing so is very stressful. Sit back and relax; you will get there just as quickly.
Parking disputes are very common and it is not unusual for fights to break out over who has the right to that parking space. The fact that there might be another space just a few yards down the road don’t come into it; it becomes a territorial battle. It is best to just drive away and find somewhere else to park your vehicle.
When there are two lanes of traffic that merge into one, motorists who merge late and continue to drive past vehicles that have already merged induce passionate road rage in those that they overtake. Rather than run that gauntlet many drivers choose to merge early, but that is a waste of road. The best way of merging is just before the lanes do; it makes it quicker for everybody and is much less stressful, so merge in turn.
Many drivers, when they hear the sound of a horn, react aggressively. Their hackles rise along with their adrenaline levels and they enter fight mode. If you think about it, it is really quite childish. That horn might have been sounded as a legitimate warning rather than a form of abuse. Relax, stay calm and instead of over-reacting, try giving the honker a friendly smile.
And don’t toot your horn unnecessarily or use it as a weapon of rebuke. Many drivers who feel safely cocooned in their own little world use their horn far more than they should; it has been found that drivers of convertible cars sound their horns infrequently as they are far more visible to the world; so buy a cabriolet and only sound your horn in a real emergency; it is much less stressful.
Finally, remember that cyclists have rights too. In many cities there is now a running battle between those who choose to travel by bike and motorists. So, give them space and try to be patient when they are slowing down the traffic on a rural road. Just accept that they don’t have the intelligence to pull over to let the traffic pass them and leave it at that.
Image is licensed under CC Attribution
Claire Chat
About the Author:
This is a guest post by Claire Chat a Londoner interested in cars, technology and telecommunication. If you want Claire to write you specific content, you can find email her here or contact her on Twitter (Claire_Chat).
This is a guest post by Claire Chat a Londoner interested in cars, technology and telecommunication. If you want Claire to write you specific content, you can find email her here or contact her on Twitter (Claire_Chat).
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