‘Tis the season for lots and lots of last-minute shopping. And all this holiday shopping brings a phenomenal opportunity… if you’re not doing all your shopping online that is. What I’m getting at is that this is a time when a ton of people are out driving. For those of you needing to put in hours on your drive log, this is like hitting the jackpot! Not just because you have more reason than usual to drive, but because of what’s happening on the roadways as well.
You’re going to get experience driving in heavy traffic areas. This is great, because you won’t have to go through this type of traffic for the first time on your own like others who had to do their hours in the Summertime. So, you have an advantage there!
We talk a lot about being aware of emotion while driving – especially “heightened emotion”. Not just your emotion, but the people in the vehicle with you and also the emotions of others that are sharing the roadways with you. This is super important during the holiday season. This time of year the full spectrum of emotion exists on the roadways at a heightened level. Meaning, there’s drivers that are really happy, giggly, angry, depressed, stressed, anxious (from too much caffeine, too little sleep, money, time etc. etc.), and more.
But you, you are calm, cool and collected. Right? This is a unique opportunity to get experience looking out for and making yourself aware of these types of drivers, so you can practice defensive driving. For example: You see a vehicle that has people laughing or making big motions inside and the car is drifting in and out the lane. Defensive driving would be to remove yourself from that vehicle’s area and give plenty of distance.
Take this opportunity to not just fill out that drive log, but also take advantage of the IRL experience this season can give learning drivers such as yourself!
