Stress and Driving

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For some people, the act of driving can be a stressful process, for others, general stresses can have a negative effect that they don´t always realise, because, as stress becomes an increasingly common problem for society as a whole, the consequences can lead to extreme risks when on the road, and a higher probability of an incident.

On the one hand, the stress you suffer due to your life circumstances will influence your driving style, directly impacting accident rates, on the other, the traffic system itself contains many elements that are a source of stress in themselves, such as traffic jams on the way to work.

Stress will therefore become a relatively common occurrence in our cities and on our roads. This is worrying, because stress alters the skills necessary for safe driving (especially your behaviour in traffic) and dangerously increases the risk.

What is stress?

Stress is a normal psychological process that occurs when a strong demand is presented and you do not know how to respond to it in a clear and appropriate manner. If you could respond to that demand immediately and effectively, the situation would be successfully resolved and the negative consequences associated with stress would not occur.

However, if you are unable to respond quickly and effectively, your body will put into action a general emergency mechanism. The bodily changes that this mechanism produces are what you probably know as stress (although you can see that they are actually just one part of the process). In this way, your body tries to prepare itself to face any type of problematic situation.

From the above we can conclude that a certain level of stress is necessary to successfully overcome many situations. However, if the alarm response becomes too intense or is prolonged for a long time, stress can go from being an adaptive mechanism to being a serious health problem.

In traffic situations, displays of stress are often unhelpful, counterproductive and increase safety risks.

For example, if you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam and you are in a hurry, you may develop a stress response: your blood pressure, heart rate and muscle tone will increase. However, none of this will help you get out of the jam, but it can easily make the perception of the situation worse, and lead to impulsive or aggressive behaviour.

How does stress affect driving?

The stress process is divided into three phases: alarm reaction, resistance phase and exhaustion phase. Each of these affects driving in a certain way, although in general the most prominent are changes in your behaviour: aggressiveness, hostility, competitiveness, impatience, impulsiveness, less caution, reckless behaviour, and less respect for the rules.

Alarm reaction

In this first stage, your body mobilises a large amount of energy and adapts to cope with the situation that has triggered the stress:

Your body prepares to exert maximum muscle strength and speed. For example, adrenaline and blood glucose levels rise, and heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tone and breathing increase.

Your mind prepares itself to better process the most relevant information. For example, you focus your attention directly on the stressor, ignoring any other type of information in the environment. This is why perception, attention, memory, and decision-making are altered.

In principle, all these resources should not have any negative effects on driving, since your body is alert and ready to act. However, let’s not forget that the stress response is not the most appropriate for traffic situations.

Therefore, a series of maladaptive and dangerous driving behaviours may appear in this first stage of stress.

Effects:

Your behaviour may be more competitive, aggressive, or hostile, which may lead to provocations towards other drivers.

You may react with impatience and impulsiveness, which makes you tend to increase speed and make serious mistakes in decision-making, in addition to decreasing your ability to anticipate traffic events.

You may act more recklessly or even foolhardily, which is accompanied by a lower perception of risk and a higher tolerance for it.

You will have less respect for traffic regulations and coexistence in traffic.

Resistance phase

Your body cannot remain in a state of alarm for too long. If the stressful situation continues, there will come a time when your body will have to combine the demands of the source of stress with all other bodily functions and daily activities.

As a result, the physical and psychological responses to stress continue, although less intensely than in the first phase. The result is excessive wear and tear, with many of the health problems characteristic of stress appearing at this stage, such as headaches or digestive disorders. Driving at this stage can also be dangerous.

Effects:

The same alterations that we discussed for the alarm phase may appear, although perhaps with less intensity: aggressiveness, hostility, competitiveness, impatience, impulsiveness, less caution, reckless behaviour, and less respect for traffic regulations.

It is also common to observe a lower tolerance for frustration, which is why any small setback that occurs in the traffic environment can upset you more than you would expect.

Exhaustion phase

If the situation that causes stress continues for a long time, you will end up feeling deeply exhausted. It is at this point that many of the problems of stress will manifest themselves, seriously altering your quality of life and frequently causing social, family and work problems:

The immune system is weakened, which increases the risk of contracting infectious diseases.

Changes in the circulatory system end up increasing the chances of suffering some type of cardiac disorder, especially a heart attack.

Digestive disorders are common, including ulcers.

Pain, especially muscle pain, and migraines are common.

Sleep disorders appear, including difficulties in falling asleep.

Fatigue appears very quickly and is very intense, which seriously affects performance in any type of task.

In addition, at a cognitive level, mood swings (for example, sadness), irritability, aggression, impulsiveness, difficulty concentrating and frequent forgetfulness, among many others, are often experienced.

In relation to driving vehicles, it is important to highlight that during this last stage of exhaustion the body experiences a clear deterioration in performance, so that driving can become very dangerous.

Effects:

Your decisions will be much slower and you will make many more mistakes, which could sometimes be serious and fatal.

You’ll find it especially difficult to keep your attention on traffic, so you’re more likely to be distracted.

The onset of fatigue is increased, so even short driving periods represent a clear risk.

You may experience severe mood swings, which may lead to aggressive, hostile, or impulsive behaviour.

You are more likely to act recklessly because you tolerate a higher level of risk.

You may show less respect for traffic rules and coexistence in traffic.

External factors to driving that generate stress

Stress occurs when a person perceives a situation as a threat, a challenge, or some kind of loss or harm. Each person experiences stress differently and in different situations.

There are some situations that are generally associated with high levels of stress for most people. These situations can have serious effects on your driving behaviour, so it is important that you know what the main ones are:

Sudden or frequent changes in lifestyle or work: moving house, marriage, birth of a child, separation or divorce, death of a close family member, starting a new job or being fired, among many others.

Work overload, especially if the work is precision-related or requires a lot of concentration.

Self-demand, setting excessively high goals, maintaining a fast-paced lifestyle, excessive competitiveness in the environment or frustrating situations.

Excessive or annoying environmental stimulation, such as high traffic density situations, very noisy environments, loud music, noise, etc.

Situations in which the integrity or safety of the person is at risk, such as incidents or numerous traffic events.

Among these situations that are generally stressful, the so-called life stressors stand out for their high frequency and their relationship with traffic. These types of stressors imply important changes in people’s lives and have a great impact on a psychological level, such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, serious financial problems, or dismissals, among many others. Various studies have shown that:

Many drivers who have suffered an incident had been through or were currently experiencing one of these particularly stressful life situations in the previous months.

The greater the number and intensity of these life stressors, the greater the severity of the accidents.

The likelihood of suffering an incident is greater the more intense the stress experienced, the more stressful situations occur or the less time has elapsed since they occurred.

Driving factors that cause stress

In addition to the influence of stress produced outside the traffic environment on the driver, there is a clear relationship between the driving situations themselves and the appearance of this dangerous syndrome.

Many characteristics of traffic and driving conditions are already a source of stress in themselves, which will significantly affect your ability to drive safely. Traffic often involves risks to people’s lives, driving is often under time pressure, driving occurs in an environment that can be annoying, and many tense situations are repeated frequently. All of this makes traffic situations a common source of stress for many people.

How to mitigate the effects of stress while driving

When faced with stress, the best solution is always to avoid driving as much as possible and to seek professional help. This will minimise the duration and intensity of the stressful period and teach you techniques to prevent it from happening again in the future.

In short, if you are experiencing significant effects of stress, you should drive with special caution. During the most critical phase of stress, you should avoid driving your vehicle as much as possible (especially if you are taking medication). However, if driving is essential, do so with extreme caution and try not to let driving situations cause you more stress.

The official DGT recommendations:

Get into the habit of getting up with enough time, not just at the right time, to calmly deal with any unexpected events on the way to work (whether in traffic or at home).

Try to get the necessary hours of sleep, following the recommendations for proper sleep hygiene.

Don’t set yourself unattainable goals and prioritise your needs. Carry out tasks one after the other, always planning time to rest, and always keep in mind that your resources are limited. Also learn to relax at the right times.

Perform relaxing activities on a regular basis: from massages, a simple bath or weekend getaways, to more specific and sophisticated relaxation techniques.

Avoid alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, or medications. Be especially careful with stimulants such as coffee or tea.

Listen to relaxing music when you are driving and find yourself in a particularly stressful situation.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle: a balanced diet and regular exercise are always recommended practices to keep your body prepared for any challenge and to relieve stress.

Before you go on a trip, leave with enough time to deal with unexpected events, take breaks as often as necessary and never set a fixed arrival time.