Driving Consciously
The Traffic Girl TM
Master Instructor – Happy
Happy
Traffic has a message to all drivers in the great country. Drive on purpose. One of our favorite people, a great
inspiration to us, is Wayne Dyer.
He
speaks frankly about living consciously.
It’s music to our ears.
Many
of the our staffs greatest mentors, modern day gurus,
inspire us to love our selves and respect our selves. Happy Traffic, Inc. believes this is one of he main things a driver needs to implement in their lives in
order to reduce the risks of being in a crash.
If you love yourself, you are bound to pay attention. That is why
Significant
human effort is what is need to employ conscious
driving. At
Aggressive
Driving is very real. Happy Traffic,
Inc. has found many sites on the internet that reference Aggressive
Driving. Aggressive Driving is a great distractor from on purpose driving. Happy Traffic in publishing this article
hopes to bring you into the realm of awareness.
Whatever you are feeling for the moment, it’s a feeling you need to be
aware of. To understand your emotions
are very much hormonal driven gives you an upper hand. The only way to control your driving environment
is to be conscious of what you are feeling, be conscious of what’s happening
around you, understand human nature, good and bad, love yourself and make
decisions on purpose. You need to be
fully conscious while you are playing the game or you will lose. Just like a video game, the minute you turn
your head you lose.
Driving
is as exasperating as playing a video game that is why we make this analogy. Its fun, it's thrilling and it's hard
work. There is a power innate in
driving. A car can do things humans
can’t. It can get you some where in no
time. In an attempt to talk about this
on a social level and not a psychological level, I believe that when people get
behind the wheel, that is the last thing they are
thinking about. Conscious, awakened,
driving, needs
to begin before you get in the car.
Happy
Traffic, Inc. knows there are many obstacles we face each time we get into an
automobile. These obstacles can be human
related, vehicle related, traffic related, environmentally related, etc. In essence, everything around us is an
obstacle to free flowing driving. This
reinforces the need for conscious driving.
Happy Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 1 For
Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT YOUR DRIVING
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 2 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 3 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT YOUR CAR
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 4 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT POSSIBLE EMERGENCIES
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 5 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT EACH TRANSACTION YOU MAKE ON THE ROAD
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 6 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT WHAT THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU ARE DOING
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No 7 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT WHERE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU ARE LOCATED
Happy
Traffic, Inc. Rule No. 8 For Conscious Driving
THINK
ABOUT THE SPACE
You
must think about your driving, and make an effort to not think of other things
until you get out of traffic. Every
transaction is an encounter of a very close kind. But if it doesn’t make your adrenialine explode it doesn’t feel like potential
danger. Collisions don’t happen when you
expect them. Keeping
the possibility at the forefront of your mind, a great prevention technique. Happy Traffic Comedy Driver Improvement
Schools believes in order to survive our roads today, happily and peacefully,
you must be aware of your surroundings and potential dangers. You have to be aware, and you have to know
what to do in the face of adverse conditions, in order to prevent a bad
situation in the first place. Happy
Traffic, Inc. advocates defensive driving.
But I am not adversed to employing some good
offensive driving techniques as well. We
may need both when driving on the road with other motorists. You can control your own psyche, but you
can’t control other peoples. You have
to defend yourself and know how to avoid situations that require that. Conscious driving will keep you aware. Awareness is one of the best ways to practice
prevention.
The
importance of awareness cannot be overstated.
Be aware of the Police officer and you reduce your risks of getting a
ticket. Be aware of the conditions and
you reduce your risks of a collision. Be
aware of the Rules of the Road and you reduce your risks of conflict and
confrontation. Be aware, another words, not under the influence of any mind altering
substance, and you will substantially reduce your risks of all of the
above.
THE
UNCONSCIOUS DRIVER
Crowed roads, heavy traffic, all that stuff really
affects the average driver. Happy Traffic, Inc. understands that every
day, at some point in the driving day, some one does something to piss someone
off on the road, while we are driving, and visa versa. There is a number of contributing factors to
this phenomenon, for example, economics.
The economy certainly effects people, all
people. Lack of money for insurance, or
for proper vehicle maintenance, having to rush to get to your next job, having
to get to the bank before it closes, stressful
financial situations at home or in the office, even crime, all these things are
economic based and they affect our driving.
Sadly, today we may find things getting worse. Times like these cause
people to drive aggressively or with emotion, emotions that are absolute. Emotions are strong and overwhelming, causing
surges in hormone, and cause us from being fully aware of every situation. However, not if you have an understand of
emotions,
Strong
thought obstructs the driver’s ability to concentrate on the issues before
them. Everyone has overpowering thoughts
that are emotion driven. The question
is, How do we control our strong emotions? First you must understand the different
emotions, the different hormones, different reactions. Once you understand it all, you become aware. Think about your driving skills and follow
the Happy Traffic, Inc. Rules of Conscious Driving. Think about your skills,
think about the direction you are driving, think about the condition of your
car and the surrounding cars. Keep your
brain space traffic related. Don’t zone,
and certainly don’t let someone else’s driving stimulate your aggressions.
Know
what's going on out there and keep up with it.
If you drive consciously, and make skillful conscious decisions, every
moment of your driving, then you will reduce your risks of being involved.
A
healthy driving experience requires that the driver make an effort not to be
preoccupied. Catch yourself. You must retrain yourself. Most drivers around us are preoccupied. To think otherwise is to be in denial. Everybody around you is busy. The road has a tendency to swallow us up in
thought. Signs, trees, buildings,
billboards, activities, music, along with the relaxing movement of the car, can
send us deep into thought. The idea is
that we all experience being stimulated and fall into the “ZONE OUT” factor at
some point in our driving. If you drive
consciously, that means making skillful conscious efforts every moment of your
driving, then you will reduce your risks of being
involved.
What
would you do if you saw someone behind you flashing? Of course you would make ever effort to get
out of their way. That’s if you seem
them. If you want to survive this, you will
have to be able to detect this behavior before you are in the position to be
forced to make a transaction. You should
have been able to see them coming up on you.
And you should be able to detect the pace of that driver. Here’s the hard part. You have to be able to do this and you have
to be prepared to do it with all the other potential transactions that might
take place around your little space.
Failure to do this properly can stimulate aggression in other drivers. The consequences are unlimited and never good.
Search
for drivers that might be making turns, or lane changes. Look for them,
predict what they are going to do? Bet
with yourself. The Instructors and
Trainers at
Unfortunately
vehicle crashes help to make drivers more conscious. But you don’t need to crash. Just be observant.
Happy
Traffic, and the
1 Elder drivers – they have fewer
reflexes, their sight is not as good, and their hearing is not as good, not as
considerate, drive slower, often cause others to get angry
2. Young drivers-carefree, the kamikaze
pilots. They operate on pure
hormones. Many are lacking drivers education because the course isn’t offered anymore
in the public school system. Many are
lacking experience and supervision.
Parents just don’t have the time or energy to practice with or monitor
their childs driving
experience.
3. Out of Town drivers-unfamiliar, also
often cause others to get angry. They
are unfamiliar with the local driving patterns and unfamiliar with roads
4. Foreign drivers-drive like they are in
their country. These drivers don’t take
lessons to get familiar with the area.
They drive the way the learned to drive and survive from where they came
from.
5. Unlicensed and Uninsured drivers-are out
there, no recourse, sorry. This is why
we all need to pay attention. Be
aware. Drive on “conscious.”
6. Chemically intoxicated drivers-legally,
illegally, hormonally, etc. Understand
that almost half the people that are driving on the road at any time are under
the influence of some mind and body altering drug. Anything from illegal drugs
to legal drugs.
7. Emotional, Hormonal, Stressed, Angry,
Happy, Lustful, Depressed. Emotions have
a tendency to distract us mentally.
8. Aggressive Drivers-fast, offensive, lack
of patience, often experiences road rage.
This is when an individuals literally goes
temporarily insane. Many people are able
to feel angry emotions without taking it over the limit. However some drivers,
depending on their state of mind, will cross the line, feeling the need to
express their distain loudly or physically.
9. Universal
elements like lighting, and weather conditions-night driving is terrible,
visibility is cut in half. If you aren’t
worried about your own visibility, think about what the other guy is seeing. It is truly all about the other driver. 90% of one car collisions happen because the
driver is impaired. This means drivers
who are not impaired are not likely to have a collision with themselves
alone.
10. Poorly maintained vehicles, people who just
don’t know how to maintain their cars.
Today, we have many people who can’t afford to maintain their cars. That
is a condition that is likely to get worse and create higher risks for
you. Economics, lost a job, living check to check,
just got robbed, bounced check, house is in foreclosure.
11. Zoned
drivers-stimulated by the environment.
These are drivers who are in la la land. They can drive for miles while occupied by
deep thoughts or no thoughts at all.
12. Spontaneous Emergencies, Road Debri, Sickness. Debri has been known to kill drivers. A judge in
13. Poorly marked roads-no road markings,
unclear, or faded markings.
Potholes, chips, rocky roads.
14. Attitudes- These are the people who always
need to be first. Although
the red light camera may change this.
People with attitudes thank that all other drivers around them are
incompetent or inconsiderate.
Nothing
on our roads is perfect.
This
article was written by
The
Traffic Girl TM
Revised
on August 1, 2010
Happy
954-924-9999