7 Tips To Keep You Calm During A Driving Incident

Getting to a driving accident can be a very traumatic experience for many. One minute you are driving with no care in the world, but in the next, you find that your airbag has dispatched and you have collided with another vehicle. It is natural to always assume the worst in these kinds of situations, but remaining calm is essential to the situation. Having high levels of anxiety and adrenaline gives you potentially dangerous reactive powers in tense situations. This can alter your decision-making and interfere with how you perceive things. If you have the unfortunate experience of getting yourself involved in an accident, here are seven tips for you to keep calm throughout the experience.

Do Not Forget To Breathe

Breathing remains anxiety's worst enemy. Deep breathing exercises are utilized everywhere for stressful situations. Taking deep breaths is incredibly effective for combating stress and anxiety. After the accident, all you need to do is taking a few deep breaths, preferably in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus on slowing down your mind that is probably racing, and you'll eventually feel your heart rate slow down. Car crashes can certainly be scary depending on the severity of the situation. However, it can be even scarier of what might happen if you make foolish decisions based on your central nervous system going into overdrive. Combat that by taking in some huge breaths of oxygen.

Do Not Focus On The Long-Term

One of the reasons why anxiety levels get so high in car crashes is because people like to focus on what their life will be like in the next few months, when they are not focusing on what will happen in the next few minutes. It is natural to worry about potential injury to you or the other victim and how you will be using transportation. However, none of that matters when you should be focused on the immediate future. Do not put any thoughts in your head about what is going to eventually happen. Limit your focus to the next few minutes, and you can deal with everything else at a later time.

Remain In Your Car For A Moment

Many make the mistake of instantly jumping out of their car, likely out of panic and fear. Instead, what you should do is take a minute to observe what happened and discern how your body is reacting to everything. You need to make sure that you yourself are okay first. Is your heart racing faster than usual? Slow down, and breathe. Are you trembling? Take a few seconds to cool off. Are your thoughts wandering in every direction? Relax. Getting out of your car likely means encountering a likely frustrated, angry or upset driver, and that will only exacerbate matters. If the driver you happened to collide with is particularly aggressive or abrasive, instantly confronting them, even if with the best of intentions, is asking for trouble.

Drink Some Water

Believe it or not, being hydrated as plenty of more benefits than you know. You may not always have a bottle of water on your person, but if you happen to have a place that does have water nearby, you should drink some. With your racing heart, increased stress and noticeable sweating, water is a great way to cool yourself down both physically and mentally.

Speak In A Calm Voice

You essentially have no idea how the driver you collided with is going to react. Perhaps they may be as calm and mellow as you hopefully will be. However, there will inevitably be just as many people who will look for any reason to make your life miserable. It can be a difficult thing to deal with, but the key is maintaining you cool, and when communicating, you should maintain a soft tone. Anger and yelling increase your blood pressure and heart rate. This can also lead to physical altercations that will leave you far worse off than you were beforehand. Do not make your life needlessly more miserable.

Wait For The Police

You are required by law to stay at the scene of an accident and it is also necessary for you to exchange information. However, if you are able to perceive that the person you are with is not willing to have any kind of coherent discourse, then the best course of action is to call the authorities and let them mellow out the situation for you. This can calm you down, because a person of power will be able to take charge, as opposed to you acting impulsively and out of anxiety.

Try Meditation/Prayer

Not everyone is religious, but there has been sufficient research to suggest that mediation can help you with your mental health. Obviously, you should not stay behind your vehicle for half an hour without assessing the situation, but simply briefly closing your eyes and relaxing or communicating with whatever religious figure you may serve may help you get a sense of inner peace that may otherwise be lacking in such a stressful situation. The best part is that it does not even have to be long. Something as short as 30 seconds can suffice to instantly change your mindset and make you feel better.

These are just a few tips to help you remain calm during a driving incident. Everyone wants to stay safe on the road and avoid trouble, but even the best of drivers have occasional hiccups. Keep some of these tips in mind if you happen to find yourself in an incident, and you will have a great sense of calm. As for the legal proceedings that may soon follow, you can feel free to contact cnglawyers to help you with any issues that you may face.

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