Motor Mentality

You and I like to say we are good drivers, we respect the inherent dangers of driving, pay attention to the road and never drive inebriated. This is all good, but good still gets us over 30,000 deaths per year. Good is not enough, perfect is not possible, but better is. A crucial step towards a safer driving environment is a greater focus on your personal state of mind before you get in the car. A clear mind laser focused on one thing and one thing only, the act of driving, is the best way to prevent accidents and avoidable deaths.

Operating a motor vehicle is one of the greatest responsibilities each and everyone of us is given, but this fact gets lost on us. We are in control of 6,000 pounds of steel, capable of moving faster than Roger Federer’s serve of a tennis ball, yet we hop in absentmindedly and drive to our destination without a second thought. Think about driving like competing in a sport. In a basketball game, are you gonna be successful if you are just going through the motions? Could you just wake up and immediately start playing a competitive game of chess? The same thought process should be thought through before driving. You want to be totally in control of your mind for those two activities, so why not for a much more serious activity in driving?

When people think about driving in the right mind, sobriety usually becomes the center of discussion. While it is only the base of being in the right mindset it is certainly a requirement and first step for being mentally okay to drive. If being against the law and the immense legal trouble caused by a DUI is not convincing enough, hopefully the risk you pose to others is enough. I frequently think back to a tragedy close to me. A 24 year old, who is the son of one of my dad’s best friends, was driving home from work one day when his truck broke down. He pulled off to the side of the road and called his dad. He told his dad where he was on the highway, so he could come out and help him. The call ended sort of abruptly. His dad tried to call him back to no avail, so he started his drive. On the way he saw lots of emergency lights, and then realized, to his own horror, they were around his son’s truck. While the son had been on the phone with his dad a drunk driver had swerved off the road and killed the 24 year old pinning him against his own truck. There is no excuse to drive drunk. Convenience is a pathetic justification for an evil deed. Further, getting home without causing any harm does not excuse the guilt one should feel for their decision. Deciding to impair one’s ability to drive means deciding not to drive.

As previously mentioned that is just the most basic necessity to drive, but what makes good drivers not good enough is the inability to zone in. I compared driving to sports earlier and this is about that mental concentration that goes beyond being a sober driver. Most people know they shouldn’t drive if they are very emotional. For example, right after a break up or traumatic experience. This is the right idea, but it just needs a little refining. You do not just want to be okay, you need to be ready to perform. The task of driving is not all that complicated, but this is also a trap that lulls us into a false sense of security. We need to constantly be zoned into our surroundings and the road. Each time you realize your mind had been wandering and your attention was not really all that focused on the road is an easy opportunity for some simple mishap to cause an accident. It is as simple as the car in front of you slamming on their brakes for a deer and you noticed a few seconds too late because you were daydreaming about the presentation you would have to give at work.

So how do we keep ourselves zoned in during our drives each and every day? There are plenty of general meditation and other techniques you can use to help clear your mind, and it is about finding what works for you. I like to take five deep breaths right when I get in my car to get me to be consciously thinking about my drive and nothing else. Remember back to your drivers training. Recollect that anxiety in your body when you drove with the instructor. Think about all of those little worries you had every second on your first drives. Compare that to how you drive now. Be mindful of how you’ve let yourself get a little too relaxed behind the wheel, and the importance of being cautionary in your drive.

Driving is not meant to be a difficult process, but to make a sports reference, we play down to our opponent and when we do so we risk lives. Driving is dangerous and we need to make sure we are in the zone before we start our engines. We are good drivers, but we need to be better.