Tips to keep safe
Check in on yourself before driving and if needed, take action to focus on driving safely before you hit the road. Make sure you are calm, focused and ready before driving.
Being aware of your emotions and mood, and dealing with potential mental distractions before driving can impact how you deal with events that happen on the road. Your actions while driving can be the difference between life and death.
If you are too overwhelmed with emotion, delay driving until you can calm down and refocus. This may involve pulling over to a safe place if something happens while you are driving (for example, someone cuts you off, you receive bad news, you find yourself ruminating on an upsetting issue).
If you are feeling overwhelmed by life events and need support, please contact Lifeline.
Recommended ways to help balance emotions and focus on driving include*:
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Be prepared – Plan ahead to leave early or as scheduled, so you don’t feel rushed (and therefore stressed). Research shows that leaving 5 minutes early can make a difference, not only by arriving on time (or early) but creating a more relaxed mood for the drive and having the capacity to deal with on-road situations more effectively |
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GPS – Before you head off, set your GPS or get directions to reduce the stress of navigating where to go |
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Music – Actively listen to the right playlist or podcast (that is, engaged, calming, uplifting but not excessive) |
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Deep breathing – use this to re-focus on driving if distracted by other matters or emotions and to calm your nervous system |
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Self-talk – use this to remind yourself to let things go and focus on driving. For example, telling yourself it’s not worth getting angry over someone who cut you off. It’s okay, let it go |
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Focus– Have a deliberate focus on the act of driving |
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Take a break – pull over to a safe place and have a break to calm and refocus on driving |
Music
Music has many benefits for emotional wellbeing. It can change and uplift our mood, releasing neurochemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. Music can also help to reduce anxiety in response to a stressful event by regulating breathing and heart rate.
