The May bank holidays offer the perfect opportunity for day trips and weekends away. Many others will be thinking the same with reports in recent years suggesting that at least 16 million cars have taken to the roads. This heavy traffic can lead to a lot of stress, but what are the best ways of dealing with this frustration?
What causes road rage?
You’ve made your plans for the big bank holiday weekend, packed the car and are ready to go. The moment you drive onto the motorway, you find yourself stuck in standstill traffic that doesn’t move for hours.
This might throw your plans out of the window. You have to deal with stop-start traffic and other motorists who are driving recklessly. Annoying, isn’t it?
Anger can make you lose concentration, react in dangerous ways and ultimately become more reckless as you follow your emotions rather than thinking rationally. Physical effects of stress and anger, including an increased heart rate, can also affect the way you drive.
Seeing others do these things behind the wheel, can cause frustration:
- Taking unnecessary risks (speeding, running red lights, cutting off other drivers)
- Tailgating
- Yelling or making gestures
- Hogging the middle lane
As most incidents are minor, road rage doesn’t have an ‘official status’ but it is a very real issue that can affect anyone on the road.
How to stay calm when driving
Anger and stress can impact your driving in negative and potentially dangerous ways. It’s important to drive safely, keep your stress levels down and stay calm when faced with busy traffic.
There are a number of ways you can defuse road rage:
Share the drive
As soon as it is safe, pull over into a safe space and let someone else take the wheel. If you’re worked up, you could make mistakes that put you, your passengers and other road users in danger.
If you’re going to let someone else drive your car, make sure their insurance includes driving other cars cover. If they don’t, buy temporary car insurance. This flexible and fully comprehensive cover lets them drive your car without affecting your no claims bonus.
Compare temporary car insurance quotes
How do I get temporary car insurance?
Want to share your drive but worried about spending hours on the phone arranging it? Relax, you can get a quote in under 2 minutes by doing the following:
- Visit our temporary car insurance page
- Enter your car registration
- Fill in your cover and driver details
You’ll then get a quote. If you’re happy with this, buy it right away. It starts at the time and date you ask for.
Practise defensive driving
Anger and stress can cloud your judgment and lead to poor decision making. Try to drive slowly and safely, observing speed limits at all times within a safe stopping distance. Keep an eye on your mirror for other drivers and prepare for any erratic actions. Make sure you indicate in good time if you want to turn or change lanes and stay with the flow of traffic, avoiding switching lanes if you can.
Remember others are in the same position as you. As frustrated as you feel, you should remember this incident will pass and you will still get where you need to go.
Find a calmer mindset
Take a deep breath, gently open the windows and count to 10. Adjust your driving position so you feel more comfortable and play one of your favourite songs or some calming music. You could also put on an audiobook, podcast or even a language-learning lesson to help settle your mind.
Even though you might not have moved as much as you would have liked, it’s still important to take breaks, stretch your legs and get some fresh air. The Highway Code recommends taking a break every 2 hours and 15 minutes so try and factor this into your plans.
Plan ahead
We all know bank holiday traffic is going to be busy. To pre-empt this, leave a little earlier and check out alternative routes before setting off. If you struggle in traffic, that earlier start time could make all the difference.
Wherever you’re going, remember how important it is to stay calm and considerate while driving. If someone else is driving in a way you don’t like, try to let them go past and stay well away. You don’t want to start your bank holiday with an argument or accident.
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