Tips for Staying Calm and Focused While Driving

You may recall last month when I posted about the Good Hands Roadside Assistance from Allstate. One of the great things about this service is that you only pay for it when you use it.

As the mother of three children, I spend a lot of time in my car. Not to mention that I live in one of the worst cities in the United States for traffic. It is not unheard of for it to take me 30-40 minutes to go five miles. That happens a lot here in Atlanta.

I try to stay calm and focused while driving but it doesn't always happen. I have noticed that when I am distracted, I tend to have a much more stressful time in the car. I believe that this makes me more accident prone as well although it has been more than 10 years since I have been in any kind of accident.

Good Hands Roadside Assistance provides peace of mind for any driver.

The many benefits of Good Hands Roadside Assistance including:

* You do not need to have Allstate insurance to use this service
* You only pay when you use it, there are no monthly fees
* Pre-registering for Good Hands Roadside Assistance provides faster service at time of need on the road. Those that pre-register will also receive a welcome kit in the mail containing a wallet card, key fob and window cling with the phone number for roadside help.
* You can have a total of 5 drivers on your account

Here are a few of my tips for staying calm and focused while driving:

1.Make sure that when you are driving, you are only driving. I am embarrassed to admit that when I first got a cellphone, it was so I could call my friends in the car on my 90 minute, each way commute to work. This was years ago. I thought a cellphone solved my in car boredom when in actuality, it made me a very distracted driver.

2. Allow yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. I always seem struggle with this one as I joke that I became five minutes later for each child that I had and sure enough, I seem to run 15 minutes late for everything. When I allow myself enough time (or more than enough time) to get to my destination, I am much more relaxed and aware of my surroundings. I tend to be more aware of other drivers on the road rather than just myself which is always a good thing.

3. Let the small things go. It is important as a driver to be tolerate and patient. You never know who is driving in that car next to you and what their level of anxiety or rage is at any given time. There are some scary people on the road. Being considerate will hopefully mean that you will not run into any of those people.

4. Remember who is in your car. I have found myself saying some not so nice things about a driver who cut me off or did something dangerous while on the road when all of a sudden a little voice from that back seat pipes up, “Mommy? What is a ________ (fill in the blank with your choice of a not so nice word here)?” Ok yeah…this is not what I want my children learning so I really try hard to remember who is with me and better yet, not get so upset at other drivers.

5. Fully prepare before you get in the car. Do your makeup and hair at home so you won't be tempted in the car. Make sure you are fully prepared for wherever you are going before you even leave the house. You won't be sorry.

6. Say no to texting while driving. Nothing is so important that it cannot wait. Answering a text while driving is just plain crazy and if you are waiting on something important, pull over to the side of the road to read your text or better yet, stay home until that text comes so that you can safely get on the road.

7. Don't eat in the car. Health reasons aside, food can messy and very distracting especially in the car. Food call fall apart, spill and just be plain hard to eat. You need both hands on the steering wheel.

What are your tips for staying calm and focused while driving?

Consider checking out the Good Hands Roadside Assistance from Allstate. Those that pre-register will also receive a welcome kit in the mail containing a wallet card, key fob and window cling with the phone number for roadside help”.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Allstate. All thoughts and opinions are genuine, my own, and were not influenced by monetary compensation.