Road Rage - How to relax?

olivesmarch4th, now that you’ve got the ‘distance to the next car’ settled, the next thing I would recommend (since I don’t know if you do this already) is to look further down the road.

A lot of people that I know for whom driving causes anxiety are watching the cars right in front of them. They feel constantly under, well not ‘attack’ exactly, but you know what I mean. Because they can’t predict the changes in traffic flow from one moment to the next.

But now that you’ve got enough stopping room in front of you, you’ve got a little time.

Work towards focusing on the cars much farther in front of you. I’d guess I usually watch at least a quarter-mile out, more if I’ve got the view for it. You might not feel comfortable with that distance at first, but work towards it.

Watch all of the traffic in between with your peripheral vision. (Again, it’s not exactly peripheral, but it’s similar.) You can see enough of those in-between cars without actually focusing on them to catch problems. When you see something that ‘alerts’ you (e.g., brake lights flashing, cars swerving, etc.) in those in-between cars, you can refocus your attention there.

Doing this gives you a much earlier warning of many traffic problems ahead, so that you can have more control and more options, and you frequently have time to deal with them less drastically. For instance, I can often just slow down a bit (lifting my foot off the gas) rather than having to hit the brakes to avoid a slowdown in front of me.

This is not only less stressful (it can even become a bit of a game!), it actually improves traffic flow behind you. (Well, right up to the next idiot riding someone’s tail, anyway.)

What’s it about, please?

ETA: Cause I’m always looking for podcasts. And it’s really hard to find ones you like because it’s so subjective. People are like “this shit is so funny” and you listen to it and you’re like “Hahaha - No.”

It’s a weekly news quiz/comedy show on NPR. They have a host and three panelists (the panelists vary from week to week although a lot of them recur), and various caller participation quiz games. They also always have a guest, who is usually a politician or celebrity of some sort. It’s pretty consistently funny, IMO.

Ok, I will try it. Thanks!

Ok, I’ve decided to hell with the radio, I’m getting an mp3 player. My birthday’s coming up.

I love Podcasts. This American Life is my favorite. I could definitely listen to something like that without getting more stressed.

Olives, did you know that the Abbot SPG is road-legal? :slight_smile: In the U.K., anyway. :slight_smile:

HA! That just might work.

Oh yeah, long trips in the car have become much more bearable ever since I got an iPhone. I have one of those FM adapter thingies that broadcasts the output from the phone (works with an mp3 player too, of course) on an FM signal inside the car, so you can pipe it through to the car speakers. I listen to podcasts in the car all the time. WWDTM is a big one. Sometimes I’ll get Car Talk, or Planet Money. Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe is often good. Also Marc Maron’s podcast, although in my opinion it’s best if you skip through the opening 15 minutes of Maron bitching about his life, and go straight to the interview segment.