HOW YOUR DRIVING STYLE AFFECTS YOUR HEALTH

Driving is an extremely essential activity for virtually every human being. Nonetheless, it is of greater essence that you remain attentive to your personal health even more than your car’s while you engage in this critical activity.

You just might happen to be among the many people who are oblivious to the fact that the driving style you adopt can adversely affect your health over time. That is why we have decided to bring this article your way to educate you. Majority of people, especially the entrepreneurs who rarely drive based on the fact that they work from home or have people specifically employed to cater to their transport requirements seem to be unmindful of the effects of whatever driving style they frequently take on could have on their personal health. Some people even tend to be more concerned about the health of their vehicle and pay little or no attention to the effect of driving on their personal health and such continuous negligence could lead to very fatal health implications.

The fact is, whether you drive a couple of minutes a day or spend 5 or more hours behind the wheels every day, it is very crucial that you pay attention to your personal health as regards driving.

Perhaps, you engage in one or two of these driving styles without knowing their nametag. In this article, you would get informed about the different styles of driving and know how they affect your health in particular.

5 DIFFERENT DRIVING STYLES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH

1.  Aggressive and dynamic driving style: This style of driving mostly takes place on express roads or highways and race tracks unless of course, the driver is trying to escape a deadly chase. It is common amongst expert drivers, car racing competitors, or people on the run and it is generally referred to as performance driving in the sense that it puts you on edge. Aggressive drivers are people who are super poised about their driving competence and take it beyond limits; they like to drive at higher or highest speed. While this style of driving jacks up your adrenaline levels putting you under a lot of undue tension, it also raises your risk level and exposure to fatal accidents, and accidents that occur during an aggressive driving escapade take a miracle for the driver to survive.

Aggressive driving also affects your health in indirect ways as it causes vehicle parts to wear out easily and that puts you in constant worry about repairs or replacement of damaged parts. Trust me when I say the headache that accompanies the frustration of not being able to use your car when you need it is beyond splitting. Asides from financial worries, you suffer delays that can adversely affect your business as an entrepreneur, cause I know most of us operate online cum mobile office in which timely delivery plays a vital role. Imagine someone calls you to make an urgent delivery and your car is indisposed. Worst case scenario, you call your most reliable dispatch personnel and you’re told “sorry, I am out of the state”. And your client says, “if you can’t deliver in the next two to three hours, don’t bother, I can’t miss my flight, I’d just get it elsewhere.”

2. Angry and hostile driving style: This style of driving is typically a frequent expression of road rage, frustration, and intimidating behavior from a driver towards other drivers. Angry and hostile drivers are fond of verbally cursing, horning repeatedly, and flashing blinding lights at fellow drivers on the road. One place that harbors a handful of angry drivers in Lagos, Nigeria. There’s hardly a day I step out without seeing two or more drivers insulting each other.

Angry driving is dangerous to your psychological health as well as that of the person you’re hauling insults, flashing lights, or hooting horns at. You never can tell the state of mind of anybody, therefore, you would not be able to ascertain the level of damage you could do with your words and attitude towards them. Negative words have a way of spoiling good vibes for you too regardless of the fact you spoke them.

3. Anxious driving style: this is most common amongst newbies with little experience in the field of driving. However, some people are perpetually anxious when it comes to driving. They get easily intimidated when on the wheels, so much so that the anxiety sometimes causes them to pull over for another driver to go on ahead.

As careful as this category of drivers may seem, this style can still be classified as dangerous because the anxious driver lacks confidence, often misjudges distances and speed of other vehicles which can result in miscalculated moves. People who adopt this style tend to view driving as a tense, stressful experience, which poses a threat to their life, regardless of the driving situation and context. They are therefore psychologically maimed by this feeling of anxiety.

4. Careless and reckless driving style: This driving style is widespread among youngsters who are still exploring their driving prowess.  They are wheel-fully exuberant and exploit every opportunity to rev at high speed without caring for the vehicle, theirs’ or others’ safety. All they care to do is “muuve”. They pay no attention even to the state of the roads. This style is probably the riskiest of all driving styles because drivers in this category go overboard with their thrilling road adventures and deliberately violate the driving norms. They tend to be fearless, enjoying risk and the adrenaline rush they get from this expedition.

5. Careful or calm and relaxed driving style: This is driving at standard and regulated speed limits. This category of drivers drive at optimum speed, follow their speedometer and read road signs to follow the specified speed limit at designated places. If you fall into this category, you just earned yourself the title “law-abiding citizen”. Careful or calm driving is most common in urbanized cities especially residential areas with short distances or roads with heavy traffic.

The careful driver is modest and considerate about other road users; both pedestrians and motorists. They are generally agreeable and warm, conscientious, sensitive, and capable of coping with anxiety in a healthy way.

Which of these styles are you used to and which would you like to adopt having read this article? Do you have any questions on your car maintenance and repairs kindly leave us a message in the comment section or send us a chat on Whatsapp +971547765927, also connect with us on https://t.me/swifttrackautos