What Do You Do To Keep Yourselves On The Straight And Narrow?

Title says it all. I’m curious to know what the other members here do to keep yourselves in the right mindset every day. In many ways I’ve become a better driver as I’ve gained experience—more skill in all areas, better judgment, more proficiency and productivity, etc—but not in everything. I feel like the longer I’ve driven the easier it’s become to get too comfortable and take unnecessary risks, and to forget some of the basic safety principles that were drilled into me daily and weekly as a brand new driver. The main thing I struggle with is impatience—it’s not so much that I’m in a hurry as it is just that I get too easily frustrated with the reckless antics of other drivers (driving local doesn’t exactly help with this since I’m surrounded by four wheelers most of the day).

What I’ve been doing lately is writing notes for myself on sticky notes and putting them on my dash as reminders and replacing them and writing new ones when they wear out. I’ve also been logging into this site more often and I feel like both of those things have been helping me stay a lot more relaxed. I know I can still do better though.

So what methods do you use to stay focused on safety? Especially those that have been driving for a while, how do you keep yourselves from getting complacent?

Yeah, great topic.

Like you said, this site helps me keep my head in the game. I also read everything posted on the forum no matter what it is.

And I take it one day at a time, so to speak. Every day before I leave my parking I promise myself that today I will be alert, safe and professional. Next day, repeat the same thing, and so on down the line.

Also, I remember that I have loved ones depending on me to come back safe. (And with a paycheck, lol)

If you don't already have one, I recommend getting a dash cam and trying to catch people doing sketchy stuff on the road. This helps keep your head in the game by being constantly on the lookout for other drivers' bad decisions and dangerous tactics.

It also helps with defensive driving bc you are constantly trying to anticipate what other drivers might do so that you can record it.

Just don't get tunnel vision by focusing on one vehicle too long.

I keep my head in this site for sure. I try to picture what the old timers here would say if they were riding along with me. Like if I'm headed towards doing something stupid, I picture Brett, or OS, Gtown, Turtle, PackRat, etc and what they would have to say.

I often think about how many times we see a post on here that one single lapse in focus, one error in judgement can be catastrophic failure.

It scares me that I'm comfortable in a lot of situations in the truck, because there is a fine line between comfortable and complacent

I noticed after 5.5 years driving I have started letting the things other people do on the road bother me. I used to shrug it off, not it makes me angry.

I have to keep reminding myself that what they do doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

The first thing is coffee. I jokingly tell people that my code is crucial to the safety of others. I don’t know that I have one particular thing that keeps me in the zone but more a culmination of procedures that I do every day. I think we all suffer from those moments where things that shouldn’t get to us do but we’re all human and we just have to try to not let emotions get the best of us when someone else does something really dumb. Then again, part of our daily duties is to anticipate the actions of other motorists so anymore, I’m not really surprised by the things that used to get my stress level up. Anymore, I’m more shocked when they don’t. The occasional person that signals to let you over when you’ve had your signal on, trying to change lanes for almost an entire county, the drivers on their cell phones who don’t cut you off trying to bail at the next exit, the ones paying attention who occasionally wave politely on a 2 lane. Those are the things I find myself paying more attention to because they truly do catch you off guard. I think we all know that we can’t control the actions of others, merely mitigate safety risks to ourselves and sometimes, those expectations surprise us in a positive way that we weren’t expecting.

For me it's less of a method, and more a way of life. Long ago I learned to not sweat the little things. Losing focus or becoming angry doesn't solve anything, and at the end of the day the other guy keeps on going, oblivious to what he or she did. What does getting upset do? Absolutely nothing other than robbing you of a few precious moments in your life.

So what if they cut you off. So what if they caused you a loss of a few seconds when you had to lift the throttle. In the big picture, you only lose when you let it get to you. Shrug that mess off and move on.

Maintaining focus and positive energy is a Zen like state for me. The peace that comes from letting things go is far more powerful and lasting than anger and distraction.

"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things." - Carlin

BK said:

Every day before I leave my parking I promise myself that today I will be alert, safe and professional. Next day, repeat the same thing, and so on down the line.

Thanks BK, I really like this. My biggest flaw is that I'm forgetful as all hell so maybe putting something on the steering wheel at the end of the day or something so I remember to think about this BEFORE I start my day the next day would be helpful. Like you I've noticed that when I make the conscious decision to be safe before I start driving my whole day goes better.

BobcatBob said:

I noticed after 5.5 years driving I have started letting the things other people do on the road bother me. I used to shrug it off, not it makes me angry.

I have to keep reminding myself that what they do doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Dude this is literally my exact scenario and the reason for this post. Very true.

RealDiehl:

If you don't already have one, I recommend getting a dash cam and trying to catch people doing sketchy stuff on the road. This helps keep your head in the game by being constantly on the lookout for other drivers' bad decisions and dangerous tactics.

What dashcam do you use? I've been thinking about getting one for quite a while but just haven't taken the time to pick one out and buy it. Great idea

Robert B. the dragon:

Then again, part of our daily duties is to anticipate the actions of other motorists so anymore, I’m not really surprised by the things that used to get my stress level up.

This reminds me of something someone else on here said not too long ago that also really helped me. I don't remember who it was, may have even been Brett. Something along the lines of anticipating what others are going to be doing and even making a game out of it. One of the more frustrating ones that happens alot here on I25 in the great state of Colorado is I get in the left lane to pass someone and then they speed up. If I get back behind them alot of times they slow down again and it's more frustrating than anything else because most of the time they don't pick a constant speed. Something I've started doing that helped alot with the frustration is making a game out of it. If I get stuck behind someone I make a game out of seeing how long they'll stay on the road. Most of the time if I just wait it out I only end up behind them for maybe 5-10 minutes. I think the record so far was being stuck behind someone for around an hour and that's pretty rare. My goal is to make it a competition and see if I can "outdrive" them and stay on the road longer than they do. If they have to get off or take an exit before me, they lose. It's childish I know but it entertains me and reduces the frustration.

Davy:

I often think about how many times we see a post on here that one single lapse in focus, one error in judgement can be catastrophic failure.

This is the part that scares me the most tbh. I don't ever want to get angry enough to react to someone's bs on the road because all it would take is one wrong move to kill an entire family.

Turtle:

Maintaining focus and positive energy is a Zen like state for me. The peace that comes from letting things go is far more powerful and lasting than anger and distraction.

Thanks Turtle I really like this. I could definitely benefit from applying this throughout my whole life like you do, not just in driving.

I like the responses to this.

Whenever I catch myself tensed up, breathing shallow and white knuckles gripping steering wheel, I’ll tell myself to relax.

I’ll take several long slow deep breaths visualizing the tension flowing out of me. I’ll be relaxed and more alert.

I had to do this today in some heavy traffic.

I have noticed a few times now that I’ve become to comfortable in my job, and have taken my fair share of risks like many of us have done, one time or another. But I’ve become a lot better.

My company host safety classes multiple times a year that drivers can attend. I attend these classes as many times as I can get by one, as it is a great reminder what can happen if you become to complacent with your job. I alway remind myself anytime I’m taking unnecessary risks to stop and think about the possible outcomes, and to do the right thing.

Personally, this has really helped open my eyes and keep my on the tight track of safety.