How does emotions affect driving

Know that how you're feeling is okay and perfectly normal. Then, take a few more moments to recollect before getting behind the wheel of your car. Take a look at our section below, Handling Emotional Distractions , for steps to take before driving once you've experienced a situation that's left you with negative emotions. Similar to the effects of negative emotions, positive life events can also leave you just as distracted on the road.

A few examples of positive situations that could result in distracted driving include:. Although these situations may not seem problematic at all, getting wrapped up in the emotions that come as a result could lead to very negative consequences. In fact, for some it might even be harder to let go of positive emotions than negative ones.

So, if you find yourself getting excited as a result of positive circumstances, let yourself experience the inevitable happiness and enthusiasm to their fullest extent. Then, when you're sure you can fully focus on the road ahead, hop in the car and drive as if it were just another day. See our section on Handling Emotional Distractions for more tips on how to manage emotions that can lead to distracted driving. If you find yourself experiencing strong positive or negative emotions, notice them , and try to acknowledge the specific effects they're having on your physical and mental state.

Before you decide to react on the road, you should:. The most prevalent results of emotional driving distractions are aggressive driving and road rage.

If law enforcement catches you engaging in road rage, you will face criminal offenses , which can result in jail time, required court appearances, and higher fines.

Additionally, you may cause accidental damages to yourself or other drivers on the road. Some examples may include:. All of these accidents could result in personal injury lawsuits , which could then result in jail time and court fines for you. So, allow yourself the small amount of time it takes to regain focus after an emotionally stimulating event—it could save lives.

We are committed to not only fighting for your recovery, but to guiding you through the entire process. How Do Emotions Affect Driving? Emotional Driving Distractions Your mood can shift in a matter of seconds due to emotional stimulation that, on the surface, you may not see as affecting you at all.

Negative Emotions Some examples of negative events that may affect your mood and ability to focus on driving include: Getting into an argument with your significant other. A stressful day at work. Another driver on the road cuts you off. Running late to an important appointment. Positive Emotions Similar to the effects of negative emotions, positive life events can also leave you just as distracted on the road. A few examples of positive situations that could result in distracted driving include: Receiving a raise at work.

Heading to or from a celebration. Winning a prize. Take deep breaths, perhaps while counting backwards in odd intervals. Remember that you have full control over your own actions and intentions, not the person, idea, or event affecting you.

Envision the consequences of your actions if you began driving recklessly. Consequences of Emotional Distractions The most prevalent results of emotional driving distractions are aggressive driving and road rage.

Some examples may include: Drifting into another lane. Driving through a red light or stop sign. Rear-ending the car ahead of you. Hitting a pedestrian. Avoiding Conflict with Other Drivers If your emotions got the better of you, and you accidentally do something to upset another driver, make every effort to express remorse. Ways you can do this include: Waving. In the event another driver continues to go after you and begins threatening you: Do not pull over on the side of the road to get out and confront them.

Do go to a public place where there are plenty of witnesses. Do call the police and wait for them to defuse the situation. This causes worry and you can lose focus. There was a study where people with low, medium and high anxiety were given a task.

They were distracted with neutral, positive, physically and socially threatening stimuli. In that study, those with low and medium levels of anxiousness not anxiety as a disorder were less distracted than those with high levels of anxiousness.

They also reacted strongly to physically threatening words. Now imagine driving along that guy on the road. Of course, this depends on how vulnerable you are as a person and if you generally have any anxiety disorder. But this is an important thing to note because driving is a high-attention task. A lot of these reactions also depend on the specific driving situation, traffic density and the behavior of the others on the road.

British-German psychologist, Hans Eysenck argues that anxiety varies from person to person. But philosopher and psychologist Shlomo Shoham said that anxious drivers react very quickly to certain road situations and it leads them to commit traffic violations. So, however we define anxiety and whatever personality traits you have, anxious driving is a terrible idea. Some drivers do become very cautious if driving situations made them anxious.

But that also depends on the complexity of the task itself. So, what we know for sure is that anxiety has an impact on your ability to process information.

That has a direct effect on your driving. Whether you become more careful or reckless due to anxiety depends on the person and their ability to cope with the situation. When we talk about sadness there are so many categories in there. It could be because of a temporary or permanent loss, could have any time interval—recent to childhood trauma—could be your own or the grief of a loved one.

It could be mild uneasiness to full-fledged tears and screams. These feelings could lead to guilt, low self-esteem, a change in appetite and sleep. These in turn cause lack of energy, sleep, trouble being able to think clearly and whatnot. All of these things without a doubt are bad for driving. Sadness interferes with the amount of attention you can give to a task.

Unlike anger and anxiety, the connection here is not so direct. Even sad music can create a withdrawn mood and prompt rumination. So the connection here is indirect. Some studies have found that emotional problems did not lead to any kind of risky driving. But some studies identified that depression is a negative emotion and that can lead to road accidents, especially in young people.

Grief has the same result. A lot of drivers who lost someone ever! But scientifically, we only know that there is an indirect connection and it cannot be ignored.