Why Driving While Emotional Increases Your Risk of a Serious Crash in South Bend

Getting behind the wheel when angry, upset, or even wildly excited about something is a bad idea. Emotional driving impairs your ability to focus on the road and react safely to changing traffic conditions, increasing the risk of a dangerous crash.

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What Is Emotional Driving?

Emotional driving is getting behind the wheel when strong feelings lower your ability to operate your vehicle safely. These emotions include:

• Anger
• Sadness or grief
• Anxiety
• Excitement
• Overwhelming Stress

Work-related stress, combined with a long commute is a common trigger for emotional driving. Relationship conflicts, financial worries, and family emergencies are other triggers that can escalate and put drivers in dangerous emotional states. Adding the stress of heavy traffic, like on University of Notre Dame game days, can be a tipping point for many people. It certainly blinds them to potential road hazards and can even make them miss roadway signs and traffic signals.

Why Is Driving While Emotional Dangerous?

Your physical and mental emotions can impair your driving abilities. Your body and brain cannot properly focus on driving when overwhelmed.

Physical and Cognitive Impairments from Emotional Driving:

• Slower Reaction Times: Strong emotions delay your response to sudden stops or lane changes by other drivers.
• Reduced Peripheral Vision: Stress and anger create tunnel vision that could prevent you from being aware of pedestrians or vehicles.
• Impaired Motor Skills: Shaking hands from anxiety or anger affects your ability to steer and brake smoothly.
• Poor Decision Making: When emotionally overwhelmed drivers risk unclear judgement about safe following distances and appropriate speeds.
• Attention Deficits: Racing thoughts from stress prevent you from focusing on traffic signals and road conditions.

How Does Anger and Road Rage Affect Driving Ability?

Anger transforms normally safe drivers into dangerous threats on South Bend streets. Your body releases stress hormones that increase heart rate and blood pressure significantly.

Road rage leads to aggressive behaviors like tailgating, excessive speeding, and unsafe lane changes. Angry drivers often ignore traffic signals and fail to yield right-of-way at intersections.

Under road rage your anger can reduce your peripheral vision and fine motor control. Your hands may shake or grip the steering wheel too tightly. Blood rushes away from your brain to your muscles, impairing logical thinking about traffic safety.

Why Crying While Driving Is More Dangerous Than You Think

Many drivers underestimate how crying impacts their ability to react to sudden traffic changes. Wiping tears while driving creates additional distraction and removes hands from proper steering position.

Tears blur your vision and create blind spots that you may not immediately recognize. Even light crying reduces visual clarity needed to judge distances and read traffic signs clearly.

When processing grief your brain will focus on sadness, or stress instead of monitoring road conditions. Heavy sobbing also affects your breathing patterns, which can cause dizziness or lightheadedness while driving.

How To Recognize When Your Emotions Are Affecting Your Driving

Physical warning signs often appear before emotions affect your driving ability. Your body provides clear signals when stress, anger, or sadness begins affecting your motor skills.

Common indicators include increased heart rate, sweating palms, or muscle tension in your shoulders. You may notice yourself gripping the steering wheel too tightly or breathing rapidly. Pay attention if you have trouble concentrating or if you start to drive on “autopilot”. Signs of distracted driving could cause you to miss traffic signals, forget to adjust your mirrors, or fail to check your signals.

Self-assessment while driving helps prevent dangerous situations on South Bend roads. Notice whether you are following too closely or driving faster than the posted speed limits.

What Should You Do if You Feel Too Emotional To Drive Safely

Drivers that recognize when emotions compromise their driving ability should take preventative measures to protect themselves and other South Bend residents.

• Assess Your State: Ask yourself honestly if you feel calm enough to focus completely on driving tasks.
• Wait and Calm Down: Take 10-15 minutes to breath and relax before starting your vehicle.
• Call Someone: Contact family members, friends, or rideshare services for transportation in South Bend.
• Use Public Transit: South Bend’s bus system provides safe alternatives when you cannot drive safely.
• Stay Where You Are: Remain at your current location until your emotional state improves enough for safe driving.
• Pull Over Safely: If emotions overwhelm you while driving, exit the roadway immediately at the next safe opportunity.

Need Legal Help? Contact Our Trusted Law Firm Today

Emotional driving contributes to serious crashes on South Bend and Indiana roads. When negligence causes your injuries, you deserve experienced legal representation to protect your rights and secure fair compensation.

At Pfeifer Morgan & Stesiak, we understand how emotional driving cases require thorough investigation and advocacy. Our attorneys help injured victims with complex cases involving negligence, insurance disputes, and serious injury claims. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means no upfront costs or fees until we secure your settlement.

Call us now or complete our online form to speak with knowledgeable attorneys who fight for maximum compensation.

Need Legal Help? Call Our Trusted Law Firm Today. (574) 444-0741