There are many kinds of emergencies that you may need to face while driving a car. Some could lead to just minor damages to the vehicle, but others could cause tragic consequences.
Proper training in the driving practice, like the one provided by LTrent Driving Lessons, might determine essential differences in the outcome. But you can also focus on foreseeing and avoiding, as far as possible, those eventualities.
Identifying Risk Factors
A clear “map of the danger while driving” subdivides the risk factors that can develop into an emergency in the few following categories:
- Driver-related factors
- Vehicle-related factors
- Environment-related factors
This simple list already suggests the three main areas that can present critical issues; the first point is how you have more control.
Driver-related Risk Factors
Both the physical and mental condition of the driver influence the way a vehicle is conducted, along with knowledge and respect for circulation rules. Besides chronic pathologies or clinical conditions, or the use of certain medicines, there can be occasional disturbs that may as well turn into danger, like migraine-related aura attacks or fading because of blood glucose drop.
Get used to paying attention to your body and its messages. If your symptoms could turn into danger, possibly avoid driving. If you already are, stop as soon as possible. If you really can’t, get mentally prepared on how to face that situation safely.
Also, extreme psychological conditions like intense emotions can influence your way of driving dangerously. Listen to your feelings about your body, keep a slight detachment from them, and understand if they’re altering your behavior. If needed, stop and try to calm down or to recover. If you feel overwhelmed, ask for help without hesitating.
On the psychological side, another matter is how you tend to react to unforeseen events and emergencies. Do you use to get blocked or to panic and lose control? You can work on it with a therapist or try practicing activities to safely train you to manage high-stress sceneries (like a professional self-defence course).
Also, take some time when you’re quiet to consider your way of driving: how respectful of the road rules are you? Do you tend to get easily distracted? Are you too much in love with your mobile phone?
Identify as honestly as you can your weaknesses, and do your best to correct them.
Vehicle-related Risk Factors
The first thing to do to drive safely is to make sure all the car systems – ESPECIALLY THE SECURITY ONES – are working fine.
Good functioning depends on having regular and adequate maintenance, both on the vehicle and on the tires. It will prevent worse problems. If constant cares seem too expensive, consider passing to a car that makes them affordable.
When you drive a machine new to you (just bought, lent by somebody, or rented), remember you don’t know all its characteristics and problems. So, raise your level of attention while driving, be more careful and go slower; if something seems weird, possibly stop and check the situation with who provided you with the car.
Environment-related Risk Factors
In this category, you can include all that is outside you and your car. From the road and its conditions to the atmospheric events, the other people and animals along the road and things like flooding rivers or slopes collapse.
You’ll rarely be able to have control over those, but you can still do something:
- Keep a high level of attention and awareness about what surrounds you.
- Get informed and analyze situations and behaviors as best as you can.
- Use imagination, logic, and common sense to foresee developments.
- Don’t act automatically but adapt your reactions to the actual situation.
- When in doubt, be cautious and ask yourself: “What would I suggest a beloved one do, in this case?”.