How Is My Driving?
Privileges and rights are parts of most constitutions in democracies around the world. People know the literal meanings of both these words but confuse them between the two concepts these days as they want their privileges just like their rights. Rights are granted by the constitution to individuals while privileges are those that provide immunity, benefit, or exemption to certain people or groups. Problems begin when people think of privilege as their right as they equate the two rather than being grateful for being given privileges. That being the case every driver must examine their emotional state of mind prior to getting behind the wheel.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas leads the nation in traffic fatalities. A little known fact is that since 2000 at least one person has died on Texas highways every single day. Of the approximately 37,000 automobile related deaths nationwide more than 3,600 happened on Texas roadways. While TXDOT has lobbied for a plan that would result in zero traffic fatalities by the year 2050, Texas Legislature has yet to warm to that concept.
In order to provide a conceptualization and measurement of a person’s habitual driving style, Taubman-Ben-Ari, Mikulincer and Gillath (2004) distinguished among eight different driving styles in which individuals may usually engage in:
(1) the dissociative driving style, which reflects the tendency to be distracted while driving and to commit driving errors due to this distraction
(2) the anxious driving style, which refers to the proneness to feel anxiety and distress during driving and to express lack of security about his or her driving skills
(3) the risky driving style, which relates to thrill seeking while driving, deliberate violation of safe driving norms and the tendency to engage in risky behaviors such as tailgate other drivers, race with other cars, illegal passing, and so on
(4) the angry driving style, which consists of the tendency to feel irritable, angry and to behave aggressively towards other drivers, such as cursing or flashing lights
(5) the high-velocity driving style, which involves the tendency to drive fast and to express signs of time pressure during driving
(6) the distress-reduction driving style, which refers to the tendency to engage in relaxing activities during driving in order to reduce distress feelings, such as meditate
(7) the patient driving style, which reflects the tendency to be courteous and respectful towards other drivers
(8) the careful driving style, which represents the tendency to be careful while driving including planning ahead, attention to road, and keeping the traffic rules.
Studies have revealed that difficulties in emotion regulation are significantly related to different driving behaviors. More specifically, findings indicate that higher difficulties in different emotion regulation abilities were positively and significantly related to anxious, dissociative, risky and angry driving. When you break it down, driving is pure behavior. It involves perception, cognition, emotion, and social acumen to operate a car. It also requires respect for our fellow drivers. Let’s make 2020 fatality free on our roadways.
Below you can find my video, take a minute to listen to Dr. Doug's Goal Plan for 2020!