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We\u2019ve probably all had that<\/em> moment out on the roads. We all try to avoid road rage, but sometimes its hard. You know, that moment when a spicy thought or phrase enters your head and, with any luck, leaves again with a deep breath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it, driving while under the influence of high emotion can put you and other peoples\u2019 safety at risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Defensive driving is key<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you find yourself in heavy traffic, it\u2019s important to make sure you don\u2019t air your frustrations, behave aggressively or in a way that\u2019s likely to incite other people and get you into trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a good idea to keep your speed low, leave plenty of room for lane changes, and have plenty of time to ensure you can change lanes without incident.\u00a0 An accident or serious injury simply isn\u2019t worth it. Lay off using that car horn!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, we know it\u2019s sitting right there. We understand the reasoning that it\u2019s there to be used, but please be wary of using your car horn in traffic. It\u2019s there for emergencies, and emergencies only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Loud noises like honking the horn can really set other drivers off, and you may find yourself at the receiving end of an obscene gesture or worse. Focus on the road ahead, not the driver next to you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are bound to be other, more aggressive drivers out there than you. But be aware that it\u2019s not a wise decision to start pushing these peoples\u2019 buttons to make a point, to entertain yourself or otherwise. Be polite and respectful of others and you\u2019ll go far (literally). Even if you\u2019re not an aggressive driver yourself, learning these habits can inadvertently prevent road rage from occurring in others too. You don\u2019t want to need to take a detour to the nearest police station. Having an angry driver get out of their car and in your face is not any kind of fun! Luckily, I don\u2019t speak from experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leave yourself plenty of time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you know you\u2019re going to hit traffic, leave yourself plenty of time to get to your destination.\u00a0 Sitting in a ball of rage while you inch towards where you\u2019d rather be rarely helps get there faster, can lead to decisions that compromise safety.\u00a0 Give yourself an extra 10-15 minutes and you\u2019ll calmly thank yourself on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy is the enemy of road rage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We can each probably recall a moment where things weren\u2019t just flowing like we wanted them to on the road.\u00a0 It can be hard, and we find that a bit of empathy goes a long way.\u00a0 After all, you\u2019re all in it together, right?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to other triggering gestures we\u2019ve mentioned, bad driving behaviour like tailgating, brake overuse and not indicating are all ways to show that you don\u2019t have concern for others in traffic. Try spinning it around, look at yourself as a cool, calm and collected driver that understands it\u2019s tough in traffic, and you might find you\u2019ll start having some fun!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We\u2019ve probably all had that moment out on the roads. We all try to avoid road rage, but sometimes its hard. You know, that moment when a spicy thought or phrase enters your head and, with any luck, leaves again with a deep breath. Let\u2019s face it, driving while under the influence of high emotion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"single-wrapped-thumbnail.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[208,209,207,206,210],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-3304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-driving-tips","tag-angry-driver","tag-defensive-driving","tag-driving-tips","tag-road-rage","tag-safe-driving"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3304"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3314,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3304\/revisions\/3314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3304"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myautoshop.co.nz\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=3304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Although New Zealand is a relatively friendly country, we can all be prone to moments of high stress, and aggressive driving can sometimes be the result of this.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also doesn\u2019t help the traffic ease up, so you\u2019re far better to lay off the horn and do your ears a favour by listening to some calming music<\/a> or a podcast<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many road rage incidents occur quickly and without warning. Avoid making eye contact with other people, just keep your eyes resting on the road ahead. Distraction isn\u2019t your friend. Instead, use this time as a way to build and steady your focus. A bit of belly breathing<\/a> is always in good order too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n