Breathe in Between the Lines: The Importance of Meditative Driving

Breathe in Between the Lines

The Importance of Meditative Driving

Education is the highway to competence. It propels us to a zenith of expertise, which is essential when both a mammoth machine and lives are at hand. Though enacting skills comes over time, knowing every rule and life saving maneuver is the only way to keep our vitality off the rumble strips. Drivers ed forces us to acknowledge the mistakes of those before us so we don’t have to learn them the hard way. Statistics scare, instruction teaches, and tragic stories chill new drivers into attentiveness, placing indispensable information before young eyes. Without it, our blind spots would be enormous, and driving deaths would surge beyond compare. In short, drivers ed converts common sense into permanent imprints ridden with pathos.

In addition to being educated, several imperative steps can be taken to reduce the frequency of accidents. Often flippantly mentioned in drivers ed, the importance of driving serenely needs desperately to be addressed. Truly, “the data shows that drivers who are observably angry, sad, crying, or emotionally agitated increase their crash risk nearly tenfold when they get behind the wheel” (Dockrill). Indeed, driving with an overactive mind is both driving distracted and impaired, as thoughts distract and emotions impair. In order to prevent something so involuntary, there are a series of actions that need to be performed.

For instance, we need to meditate behind the wheel. Meditation helps sooth our mental RPM, the nerves and feelings revolving hourly, which often is redlining from sunrise to sunset, so we are rarely mentally in the driver’s seat. Therefore, we must have a cleanse before getting in the car, which needs to at all times be regarded as a tranquil environment, and take some deep breaths to not only relax, but to awaken the senses and rid of our persistent drowsiness. We should deter recurring thoughts and rationalize problems, indulging in healthy outlets prior to travel.

As with many, I have been in a car accident due to a miscalculation of the physical world, demonstrating how important it is to devour visual information. A driver can only do this if all logical distractions are put aside, and the mind is not occupied by countless thoughts. In addition, I have witnessed how “driving while observably angry, sad, crying or emotionally agitated increases the risk of a crash by 9.8 times compared with model driving.

(Knapton).” Though my elders, and frankly myself, do not think of emotional distress as a means of driving irresponsibly, it is very apparent that it impacts even the mindless driving skills drastically.

Personally, to increase the safety of myself and those around me, I must achieve a clear mind before putting the key in the ignition and have emotionally neutral conversations with passengers. Likewise, I am obligated to treat driving as a life dependent duty and not a hobby that allows for pensive time. Lastly, I shall remind all who are about to depart not just to drive safe, but to drive mindful, and breathe between the lines.

Bibliography

Dockrill, Peter. “Driving While Angry or Sad Increases Your Risk of Crashing by Nearly 10 Times.” ScienceAlert, www.sciencealert.com/driving-while-angry-or-sad-increases-your-risk-of-crashing-by-nearly-10-times.

Knapton, Sarah. “Which Emotion Raises the Risk of a Car Crash by Nearly 10 Times?” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 22 Feb. 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12168472/Which-emotion-raises-the-risk-of-a-car-crash-by-nearly-10-times.html.