In order to be courteous to a fellow human being, we first have to be aware of them… to acknowledge them… isn’t that true? The dictionary uses the locution “consideration toward others” to depict politeness.
Let’s excogitate this for a moment, shall we? The more you march on towards being a master driver, the easier it is to discover that the common property of defensive driving is your knowing of what’s happening outside your truck.
Most all the issues, minus one, that can transform one into a negligent driver revolve around events within the vehicle. Cell phone calls, talking to passengers, and writing text messages, enjoying music… all this stuff is what distracts you from concentrating on road situation.
The other constituent here is your mind-set. Think about it, if you are displeased about something, a car is not the best spot to be and you should be self-aware enough to adjust your manner of driving till you chill out, or not drive at all. Your measure should always be politeness.
If you are courteous then a bunch of good things are happening in that processor in your brainpan. When you are courteous, you are focusing on what’s outside. You are also paying attention to fellow drivers' demands, which is as decent as it gets. There are dozens of occasions on the routine journey around town to be nice to fellow drivers. They may not invariably discover your courtesy, but they usually do. In my long experience those limited benignities you donate to complete strangers usually get returned to you by other complete strangers as if by magic… kind of cool actually. You suddenly find drivers letting you into tight spaces when earlier they behaved like dorks… magic I tell you.
If you will just risk to be as respectful as possible to fellow drivers for five days, I call you will be pleasantly surprised. It actually switches your whole view on driving while at the same time clearly identifying you as a real crackerjack. Who among us doesn’t desire to be a crackerjack?
What winds up happening, is that you before long find yourself chasing chances to give the other guy a break, which makes you feeling good about yourself. It also focuses you… pay attention here… focuses you beyond the bubble in your car. You are concentrating on what’s happening out there much more, when you risk to be courteous to fellow drivers.
This limited practice in human relations 101 can change you from a mediocre driver to an excellent one in no time flat. So… you if you seek to be a better driver, it is easy… just cut the other guy some slack. Even if they don’t recognize it, you will be a better person and a safer driver for doing it.
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 489
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:52 am
Yeah, Joshua,
I agree absolutely! Thing that strikes me most in your observation is that being polite *automatically* makes you being aware of your surroundings - and this alone immediately increases your safety tenfold...
This is good. I know the core advice: to stay aware of your surroundings, to be courteous to others and not be self-centered works where ever and what ever a person is doing, driving or working among co-workers on a job or in an office setting.
There was a time when I was not always polite but after living in California for so long and then moving back to Arizona I realized that courtesy was the best way to prevent road rage. As I grew older I learned to just remain calm and move with the flow, if only others would do that.
There was a time when I was not always polite but after living in California for so long and then moving back to Arizona I realized that courtesy was the best way to prevent road rage. As I grew older I learned to just remain calm and move with the flow, if only others would do that.
Adapting to the surrounding always helps you in every situation you get into. Car driving is not the exceptional. When you drive rash then you get noticed and criticised
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