Emotions

Whether you are calm, nervous, or hot-tempered, your personality affects the way you drive. Don't let your emotions interfere with safe driving. Use all the good judgment, common sense, courtesy, and safe driving rules that you can.

Extreme emotions of any kind, whether positive or negative, increase the chance that the driver is not paying close attention to the driving scene and the cars around. It only takes a second to miss a warning sign or to miss a glimpse of danger out of the corner of your eye. As a result of your mood, you may also take more driving risks than you normally would when you're calm, relaxed, and alert.

Stress, fear, anxiety, and other emotional states of mind can and will impair your driving ability. Distraction—not paying attention—is the number one cause of car collisions. Stress and fatigue are major sources of distractions. Remember, the importance of attention and alertness to the driving environment cannot be over-emphasized.