Stressed-out drivers seem to be a fundamental part of modern motoring. Whether the anxiety shows itself through rude gestures, aggressive driving or ignoring basic good manners and the rules of the road it’s there, eating away at many behind the wheel.
Earlier this year, the UK government’s Health and Safety Executive claimed that more than 33.7 million working days a year were lost in the UK in 2024 through mental health and stress, costing employers £51 billion. So, to help drivers stay chilled behind the wheel, here are some stress-busting tips that can be put to good use today.
Stressed drivers: Are you sitting comfortably?
Your in-car posture can have a dramatic effect on how you feel in the car, which can, in turn, affect how you react to various situations. A 2024 survey by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) found that four out of five people suffer from back pain. For many of those people, the pain is aggravated by sitting down, which you can’t help doing in a car. And if you’re in physical pain, you won’t feel at your best towards your fellow man.
Stressed drivers: Smoothly does it
The more aggressively you drive, the more aggressive you will feel. This is because constant sharp acceleration and braking forces you to constantly adjust your body. This can cause strain in your back, particularly around the lower lumbar area, which promotes feelings of stress.
Stressed drivers: Exercise it away
Stress is the body preparing to take something on (fight) or run away from it (flight). If you can’t do either, like when you’re behind the wheel of a car, it can make you become angry, irrational and erratic. Neil Shah, director of The Stress Management Society and author of The 10-Step Stress Solution, says: “Take some deep breaths. The more oxygen you can get into the brain, the calmer you’ll become. If you’re in a traffic jam and it’s safe to do so, you could also try stretching and releasing muscles in your arms and legs. And concentrate your mind on what you’re going to have for dinner, or what you’ll do at work when you get there, rather than what’s winding you up.”
Stressed drivers: Forgive and forget
Chances are the driver who has irritated you didn’t do it on purpose. So don’t take it personally and don’t let it get to you. Bill Fox who specialises in conflict management training says: “You probably know nothing about the person who has just cut you up, so it’s safest to just let it go.”
Stressed drivers: How would you react out of the car?
Before you give another driver an abusive hand gesture, ask yourself what would happen if neither of you were in a car. “If you’d just bumped into them in the Post Office, you’d probably simply both apologise to each other,” says Bill Fox.
Stressed drivers: It’s all in the planning
Being on the road is stressful enough without making it harder for yourself. If you leave late, thinking you can make up time in the journey, you’re setting yourself up to get stressed. Leave in plenty of time and if there’s a small delay on the way, it won’t be a big deal. Equally, plan your route or take a sat nav. There are few things more stressful things than getting lost, particularly if you’re late as well.
all sensible advice
Great advice. Especially about the potentially violent person in the other car. Deep breaths and let it go! Wish I’d read that before I was threatened by another driver who followed me home. It’s not worth it.
Great advice, thank you. 🙂
Most of the people who cause me to give them the finger etc are morons who are not fit to drive. I have held full licences for cars motor bikes HGV and PCV. Most drivers just take a car test (trained to a low standard by a moron who is just as useless as his pupils), appallingly poor UK eyesight test, That is why I give them the “Royal Salute” when thy cross me.
The law should prosecute more drivers for tail gating.
This causes so much stress having a car that needs to it in your bot
Can’t agree on those who cut you up not intending to. Most have no regard of keeping enough stopping space, but they expect everyone else to slow down to accommodate them. And, then you are likely to pull up alongside them at the next junction.
I don’t get stressed if someone makes a genuine mistake. What winds me up are the people who think their time is more important than mine. When I’ve sat in a queue of traffic for half an hour to exit a motorway and drivers drive past the half a mile of patient drivers indicating left until they reach the front of the queue and force their way In nearly causing a serious collision.
good advice
I get stressed out when I’m driving at the legal speed limit but the person behind tries to get me out of the way and “push” me faster by getting too close. Happens in roadworks too. How am I supposed to get out of that?
I’m female, and an older driver.
Very sensible and valuable advice, and a great reminder that it’s our own responsibility to keep our mood right and therefore stay safe, both for ourselves and others
I do a regular 3 minute ‘Thought for the Day’ on my local radio station Morning show. As the ‘thought’ is meant to have a religious basis I often relate it to being a good neighbour and nearly always I sign off with the words: ‘mind how you go on the road’ . I am thinking about having some car stickers made with the words!
Great tip about pretending you’ve bumped into one another in the post office. I’ll try and remember that one.