Getting into an accident can be pretty nerve wracking. It can become hard to have the confidence to get back behind the wheel again. However, post-accident driving doesn’t have to be worrying. Rather, there’s a few things you can do to get comfortable once more with driving…
Post-Accident Driving: Managing Anxiety
Start off simple
When you start trying post-accident driving, it helps to start off slowly. Trying to get right back onto the high-speed, risky interstates can ramp up your anxiety. This will make it harder for you to get your confidence or focus back, and could even increase the chance of a repeat accident.
Rather, think of it like an athlete recovering from an injury. You have to get comfortable with the basics before handling the more-difficult things. Start off with some easy driving around the neighborhood and locally. Once you feel comfortable with that, then you can get back out to longer driving.
Drive with someone else
Driving post-accident can also be made easier if you have someone with you. Trying to drive by yourself can leave you with a lot of thoughts racing through your head. This can make you doubt or second-guess your decision making, and in turn, make you feel overwhelmed and want to give up on trying to drive again.
Having someone else with you in the car can reduce some of these fears. A passenger can help let you know your decision making is correct and not to doubt yourself. Plus, for those times you do get overwhelmed, they can take over. That way, you can watch them and start to emulate what they do.
Learn defensive driving
When you try to drive post-accident, you may want to learn how to avoid accidents in the future. This could involve taking something like a defensive driving course. Like the name implies, defensive driving is all about keeping alert and being defensive when on the road.
For instance, these courses can teach you how to recognize situations which can be dangerous. They’ll also educate you on how to handle them to avoid getting into an accident. This knowledge can be very useful in helping avoid repeat incidents.