Survive Your Drive

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations, by reading this book you are taking an important step towards driving to survive. By practicing the information in this book, you are guaranteed to drive with less stress. You will easily recognize dangerous situations and dangerous drivers. This book will save the lives of many drivers, from beginners to advanced. It will help drivers of every age and skill level, and probably save some marriages.

If you or someone you know avoids driving at certain times of the day or week because of traffic, then this book is for you. Traffic worries will no longer be a deterrent to enjoying an active life. If you or someone you know has a problem of losing control and interacts with other drivers every time they drive then this book is for you. Instead of losing control and using hand gestures, inflicting your high beams, or tailgating another driver to teach them a lesson, give them a copy of this book, the world will become a better place. By giving an aggressive driver this book, you will have a far greater impact than trying to teach them a lesson. You could be saving their life.

Keep this book in your glove compartment to refer to until you memorize the antidotes of relieving stress while driving. You must not forget the contents in this book and apply it daily, weekly, or monthly until it becomes you. Being a safe, sane, stressless driver takes some work and in this book you will realize that the work is effortless and fun. Try to fully digest every sentence of this book. Re-read it at different times, you might interpret certain sentences differently or draw info out that did not sink in before. You might have experiences that will help you understand certain scenarios that were not fully understood at the first reading.

If you feel that other driver’s stupid careless actions are taking precious seconds from your life, I would have to agree with you. You only get one life and there are only so many seconds in it, so every second counts. If you are an aggressive driver that hates to be delayed by slower drivers and thinks that losing a second here or a minute there is so important, important enough that it angers or upsets you that someone is taking these seconds from you, then you are making a conscious effort of spending that stolen time angry or upset. Then consider the following thought. THIS IS NOT A PERFECT WORLD! Driving with other people on the road forces you to waste some of your time, that is unavoidable. So if you look back on the wasted time in your life because of traffic, it would probably add up to some considerable time taken from your life. But more importantly it would be time YOU wasted being angry or upset. Now that’s a real waste! Quit getting angry and upset at the wasted traffic time and reflect on important things in your life or listen to the radio or actually have a conversation with your passenger and you will look back at your time and say it was time well spent.

One of the biggest mistakes that a driver makes today, is when they only see the cars as objects, machinery, without realizing there is a human being in there. They judge the car as if it had its own personality and that the driver of that car should drive exactly how they would. Can you imagine how boring life would be if everyone thought exactly the same? Some drivers that operate these cars also believe their car makes them into someone they are not. For example, a luxury car means you are wealthy and do not have to adhere to minor traffic laws. A sports car means you’re virile and you should drive fast. A Junker means you are insignificant. A station wagon means a housewife with children. If you add these misconceptions together with certain traffic situations it makes a confrontation more aggravating because both sides have their minds mistakenly made up about each other, then compound the problem with personalities that do not fit the vehicle and you get road rage. Drivers should look at each car and each traffic situation as routine in a regular day. Every trip you take you should expect the following, to be tailgated, people pulling out in front of you, slow drivers, fast drivers and traffic. Drive to survive.  

What is it worth?... I often ask myself that question. You’re driving down a two-lane road under the speed limit with your kids in the car. Out of the corner of your eye you see a speeding car that looks like it is not going to stop. You panic and apply the brakes. The speeding car brakes but runs the stop sign and comes to a halt out in your lane. Meanwhile you are braking and swerving and just make it around the car, thank God no one was coming the other way. No harm no foul, right? Wrong. Your heart is pumping from the adrenaline rush. You are upset that your family almost got killed. You cannot believe the fact that people actually come to a stop sign EXPECTING to not have to stop! It takes something away from you. You feel violated or assaulted. These are perfectly normal human emotions, after all, just a few generations ago you would have been legally justified to challenge the offender to a duel to the death with pistols. In this day and age, what does that driver owe you, if any thing at all? This is an issue that will be debated in the future. Emotional damage resulting from near misses through careless driving.