Installing New and Safer Driving Behaviors to Minimize Your Likelihood of Getting into Another Auto Accident in Charlotte
As a recent Charlotte auto accident victim, you want to do everything in your power to drive safer from now on… and avoid even coming in contact with dangerous drivers or dangerous situations.
In a previous blog post, we discussed how important it is for drivers to introspect about their driving habits, beliefs, and behaviors by asking and answering several vital questions. While it’s important to learn from the accident itself, you can also learn much just by observing your day-to-day driving behavior – or by asking others who drive with you frequently for their feedback.
But let’s say that you’ve finished that work, and you come up with five big takeaways:
1. “When I’m fatigued, my driving skills and reaction time are substantially eroded.”
2. “My car is generally a mess, and I don’t get the vehicle tuned up nearly as much as I should, and I want to change that.”
3. “I don’t feel safe driving at night on the highway.”
4. “I enjoy driving with the windows down.”
5. “I much prefer short trips to long highway excursions.”
Now, you need to translate those beliefs into positive action.
In some cases, you might want to consciously change certain aspects of your daily routine.
For instance, say your boss sends you on long-drive assignments, during which you have to drive over 200 miles. Based on your new self-knowledge, you may ask to get out of that assignment or at least reduce its regularity.
In other cases, you may want to almost hypnotize yourself to engage in better behaviors.
Try using daily and nightly affirmations to reprogram your brain, almost like you would program a computer: “I’ll do my best to avoid driving while fatigued. I’ll do my best to avoid driving while fatigued. etc” Reading a suggestion like that every day and every night for weeks or months would almost certainly change your driving habits.
Lastly, you can create what are known as “if / then sequences” to help you.
First, imagine a situation that might trigger bad behavior — for instance, your boss asking you to drive 400 miles for an. Then imagine how you would most like respond. So the “if / then” to memorize might be “IF my boss asks me to go on a long 400-mile trip, THEN I’ll politely decline and suggest an alternative way to solve project.”
These are some tools to get you started, but undoubtedly you can find your own. Whatever you do, start the process. Become more active and thoughtful in the driving process.
For help dealing with the specific legal issues surrounding your Charlotte auto accident case, get in touch with the team here at The Law Offices of Michael DeMayo for a free, confidential consultation.
