Road rage, horn honking, hand gestures and aggressive driving are all obvious signs that the person behind the wheel is stressed.
The combination of the busy lives that we lead, high volumes of traffic and increasing levels of congestion make it no surprise that many drivers get agitated.
Interestingly though, research from satnav provider TomTom suggests that many motorists suffer significantly increased levels of stress while driving without realising it.
It’s far more prominent in men than women and apparently in frustrating situations such as dense traffic men can see a 60% increase in their stress levels.
It’s well known that we don’t do things as well when we are stressed so it’s important that drivers can recognise when they are getting angry and try to do something about it.
The researchers explain that there is a range of noticeable symptoms. Of these, the physical effects can include dizziness, breathlessness, muscular aches and even chest pains, while behavioural symptoms include agitation and erratic driving.
For your own health and wellbeing, and that of other drivers around you, it’s important to try to reduce stress as much as possible.
Now I’m no expert in this area but I guess that different things will work for different people, so you probably need to work out your own stress-busting techniques.
However, an approach that I would always advocate is good journey planning.
Simply setting off in plenty of time, trying to drive outside of peak times, and avoiding the roads that you know to be the most congested has to be better for your nerves than rushing the journey, getting stuck in a queue, and not getting to where you want to be on time.
In terms of dealing with stress when it rears its head, whether it’s putting on the radio or chatting to a passenger, drivers need to get better at recognising the signs and doing something to combat them.
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