The Lost Art of Courteous Driving

Have you ever noticed that driving has changed a lot in the last 5 years? Road ways appear to be more hostile environments than ever before. First of all there appears to be more cars and trucks traveling the roads these days even this past summer when we were at peak gas prices. The people driving all of these cars seem to be in more of a rush, a heck of a lot less courteous to the other road users. There also appears to be more distractions for the driver, with less focus being paid to the task at hand which is driving. Think back 5 years ago, it wasn’t common place for people to have DVD’s constantly playing in the cars for their children. Everyone has cell phones now a day and they aren’t always being used for talking, texting is the worst distraction when done in combination with driving. People are more anxious in general these days rushing trying to get to work on time has never been more important which causes our anxiety levels to escalate which can often lead to poor driving.

We've all been taught that we must learn to drive defensively to stay collision free on the road ways today but what if the best defensive maneuver was a proactive technique? If you have to use a defensive maneuver it is because you are reacting to something that has occurred a few seconds before. Driving with courtesy to other road users can be the best proactive driving technique.


Road rage has been a big problem that contributes to the collision rates and has been reportedly increasing by 7% per year. Road rage happens for many reasons, mostly stemming from stress. Heavy traffic, feeling rushed, having a conflict with someone on the cell phone or another passenger in the vehicle, other road users behaviour, bad weather, unfavourable road conditions and fatique can all contribute to the stress of the driver. Road rage occurs as a reaction to these stresses. As drivers it is our responsibility to recognize that we can not control these outside factors but rather we must control our reactions to them. There comes a point when drivers must take personal responsibility for their actions. In the end, how we control our anger is the best offense/defense against this growing problem. If people drive responsibly and courteously they will reduce the chances of conflict on the road.


Experts recommend the following tips to drive courteously and avoid road conflicts:

1. Plan your route in advance - Some of the most erratic and inconsiderate driving occurs when motorists are lost.
2. Make a conscious decision not to take problems with you when you drive - This includes lengthy heated discussions on cell phones as well as with passengers. Pull over deal with the conflict, take a few deep breaths and then when you are calm again return to the task of driving.
3. Drive in a courteous and considerate manner - Give the right of way at busy intersections and where traffic lanes merge. By giving someone else the right-of-way you stay in control of the situation. Just because you may be entitled to go first, the other driver may not give way. Doing the courteous thing will keep you collision free.
4. Don't compete - Don't try to beat someone to the light or swerve in and out of traffic lanes to get ahead of an annoying driver, rather let aggressive drivers stay ahead of you. If someone's driving annoys you, don't try to "educate them". Leave traffic enforcement to the police.
5. Don't tailgate - If someone is tailgating you, move over and let them pass. Weaving and darting rarely gains anyone more than a few minutes on their travel time but it does increase everyone's stress level, so be proactive and move over to let them pass - keeping these aggressive drivers ahead of you keeps you in control.
6. Don't retaliate - You can't control what someone else does, but you can control yourself - by flipping someone the bird or some other obscene gesture, making eye contact with an angry driver or honking your horn to make a point, may give you a momentary sense of satisfaction, but it may cause the situation to become more dangerous as the results of this retaliation can be unpredictable.

There comes a point when drivers must decide whether being "right" out weighs doing the "right thing" or being courteous. In the end, how we control our reaction to a situation is a great offensive/defensive maneuver against this growing problem. Putting common courteousy and decency back into your driving will put you on the road to a lifetime of collision free driving!!

Source for this posting came in part from “source Beverly Beuermann-King,
www.WorkSmartLiveSmart.com”