Search:

Be a Better Driver

The problem with driving, especially around other people, are the variables involved. The key to any good driving, sensible driving, is to be aware of the surrounding environment. Not only is this common sense, but it is also highly practical to avoid accidents and, especially, aggressive drivers. The best kind of driving is the practical kind, met with a certain amount of instinct, which should keep things fun. But safety should always come first. Because the first principle to good driving is to be in control of the variables; and surly the only way to be in such a position is to be fully aware.

To not be fully aware results in accidents, big or small. At the very least, it results in unnecessarily offensive driving that can lead to road rage and other dangers. More often than not, these scenarios come about by one or more parties being unaware of the other; because most accidents are precisely that, accidental. This is to say that very few accidents are born out of intention. Such a reason is ridiculous. Nobody really wants to get angry, or aggressive, in a chosen situation. Matters like that tend to force upon the person.

Lose the arrogance. The key to getting along with people, most people, at least, is to be able to openly relate or empathize with them. Arrogance is like the perfect obstruction: it is difficult to empathize if all you do is model everyone else after yourself; thus if they do not meet your expectations, it is automatically a criticism, rather than just an ordinary difference. The most common example of this in driving is with cruising speed: when someone drives, say, five or ten miles slower, then the so called natural impulse would be to drive around them. Of course, this is fine; except that it usually is done in an angry fashion. This is to say that rather than just passing the person, into a freer lane, most people actually make the extra step to spite the slower driver; and in some cases this so called slow driver is pressing the speed limit. Arrogance like that is a waste of energy, and can potentially spur road rage. Pointless, trite, and in the end not worth the extra emotional effort, because like most matters in driving, it is not to be taken too personally.

Yes, arrogance spoils a lot of driving. But that's not the only thing, as arrogance comes in two forms on the road. On one hand there is the arrogance involved in aggressing other cars to drive the way you would prefer, along with the reality that comes with that kind of disappointment. And then, well, there are the other kinds of drivers, who in their own way are just as arrogant. These drivers drive too much at their own pace, without regard to traffic and the overall inconsistent nature of the road. It can be said that these drivers are just another variation of the ones that arrogantly drive too fast, as if they need to stop at a bathroom and can't hold it in.

The bottom line here is to lose the arrogance, left or right; because in the end arrogance is the same thing. Do this and, if not avoid accidents outright, stop yourself from becoming the cause of one.