Manitoba Public Insurance and road safety

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• Manitoba Public Insurance and road safety

It just makes sense.
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Emotions in Motion

• Driving around with the stress of our lives

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What contributes to collisions?
Vehicle Defects
Road Conditions
Driver Action
Weather
Source Adapted from Manitoba Highways and
Transportation data
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Theres more to driving than having a license

• Good driving requires
• skill development
• concentration to react (split second decisions)
• judgment ensuring the safety of drivers and
  passengers.
• trust (that the other guy is responsible)

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Stress affects your ability to drive because you
are . . .

• more easily distracted
• more likely to act out emotions in car
• more likely to use alcohol or medications that
  impair judgment

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Emotions in Motion

• What is stress?
• Accepting and managing stress
• How stress affects driving
• How driving adds stress
• Dealing with stress to make roads safer for
  everyone

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Stress is real . . .

• 70 to 90 of Canadians are stressed
• 70 to 85 of illness is stress related
• WHY?
• Our jobs, relationships, finances, change and
  uncertainty

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Are you stressed?

• Cant sleep
• Unexplained weight gain or loss
• Heartburn
• Diarrhea
• Aching neck, back, legs
• Emotional and less productive at work

• Irritable and dizzy
• Unable to concentrate
• Forgetting things
• Withdrawn
• Headaches, migraines
• Dont feel well
• Low tolerance
• Say or do things you regret later

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If you dont deal with stress

• Relationships with family, friends and co-workers
  deteriorate
• Risk of cancer, heart attack or stroke increases
• You lose the ability to cope, control or deal
  with situations or their outcomes
• Risk of a workplace or driving incident increases

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Types of stressful situations

• Situations we have no control over Let
  the situation resolve itself - but take care of
  yourself in the interim
• Situations we can do something about Deal with
  the underlying issue

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The first step Understand and accept stress

• Realize stress-related incidents in the workplace
  and on the road are 100 preventable
• Its healthy to admit you are stressed and want
  help
• Learn stress management, job enrichment and life
  skills

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Take care of yourself . . .

• Exercise, diet, sleep
• Hugs and laughter
• Talk, self-talk
• Deep breathing
• PMR (progressive muscular relaxation)
• Meditation
• Medication

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Take charge of the root cause of your stress . .
.

• Take a stress-management seminar
• Join a support group to discuss family issues
• Volunteer
• Take a course

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Stress affects your ability to cope . . . at
home, at work, at school and on the road
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How much stress does it take?

• This morning you had a DISCUSSION with your
  spouse or child
• This afternoon you had a DISCUSSION with a
  co-worker
• On the way home someone cut you off and you DID
  SOMETHING ABOUT IT

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Driving adds stress to your life

• Time Constraints
• Traffic
• Road conditions
• Weather conditions
• Construction zones
• Vehicle performance and reliability
• Other peoples driving habits

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How do you react to other drivers?
aggressive driving
utterances
gestures
violence
The driver behaviour spectrum
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You could be too tired to drive . . .

• When you are stressed you cant sleep, and when
  you cant sleep you feel stressed
• Drowsy?
• poor or no sleep
• road boredom

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Reduce stress -- Get a good nights sleep

• We need sleep
• Circadian rhythm
• restorative value of sleep
• sleep prepares us to deal with stress
• Driving tired is dangerous to
• ourselves and others

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Drowsy driving is dangerous! Watch for these
signs

• Cant stop yawning
• Trouble keeping eyes open and focused
• Head dropping
• Dont remember driving the last few miles

• Weaving, tailgating, or missing traffic signals
• Mind wanders
• Nod off at the wheel
• Drive off the edge of pavement

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Tried these tricks to stay awake?

• Turn up the radio
• Sing loudly
• Chew gum or eat
• Slap yourself
• Roll down window for fresh air
• Drink coffee or pop with caffeine
• Run around the vehicle

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The only cure for drowsy driving is sleep . . .

• Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night
• If you get drowsy when driving, find a safe spot,
  pull over and grab a 15-minute nap

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At risk

• Shift Workers
• The sleepy, dangerous drive home
• Shift work affects relationships and raises
  stress levels
• Students
• Late nights, disrupted sleep patterns

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Prepare to
take the stress out of driving
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Take care of your vehicle to reduce stress

• Regular maintenance --Air conditioning --Windsh
  ield wipers
• Clean windows
• Oil and gas
• Tire pressure

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Plan your drive

• Listen to local traffic and weather reports
• Adjust route to miss construction zones
• Leave earlier or later to miss rush traffic
• Keep your favourite CD or tape in the car
• Take time out -- go shopping
• Keep your cool in traffic jams (Everyone else is
  stopped, too!)

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Keep your road stressin check

• Dont overreact to other drivers mistakes
• Dont make driving mistakes that cause other
  people stress
• Dont drive impaired by alcohol, drugs or fatigue

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Avoid these bad driving habits

• Tailgating
• Weaving across lanes
• Failing to signal
• Blocking traffic
• Using a cell phone

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Learn safe driving practices

• Merge safely
• Drive at appropriate speed
• Obey turning lanes
• Use passing lanes just for passing
• Show courtesy

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Get passengers on your side

• Set rules on noise, stereo use, heat/air
  conditioning
• Set rules on advice and back seat driving
• Keep passengers busy so they wont distract or
  annoy you
• Share the driving

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Leave driving stress to others

• Car pool
• Take a bus or cab
• Walk, cycle, blade or board

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Road safety is affected by the emotional state
and awareness of everyone on the road. Keep your
mind focused on driving because a second of
distraction could have a costly or tragic
outcome.
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Deal with your stress -- and make driving safer
for everyone Be RoadWise