Fuel for the Mindful Driver: Music in our ears?
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER: Music in our ears? Here’s some news – now there is a study to backup your intuitive feeling, that teens and music do not mix when driving. This could make your conversation a little bit easier. Association for Psychological Science: Music in the car can cause teen drivers to tune out. While it’s well known that using a cell phone while driving is a recipe for disaster, a study from psychological scientists Warren Brodsky and Zack Slor of Ben-Gurion...
Read MoreFuel for the mindful driver: Escape the Drama
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER: Escape the Drama This is a beautiful story told by a courageous driver who was able to recognize that the thoughts in his head were a self-created drama designed to make him right and others wrong. We all do this at one time or an other, but rarely do we catch ourselves or have the universe give us a wake-up call. In MINDFUL DRIVING we attend to WHAT IS, not to what IT SHOULD be, or what WE WANT IT TO BE. That also includes being aware of feeling irritated, or being...
Read MoreFuel for the Mindful Driver: Good news for parents
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER: Good news for parents of teenagers. Parents can feel helpless when confronted with risk-taking behaviour in their teenagers and the influence of their peer groups. Parents need to know that their children do value their input and that their advice is important to their children — even though at the time parents only hear protests. I am speaking from experience: as both a mother and a driving instructor, my children heard a lot of advice and rarely...
Read MoreFuel for the Mindful Driver: Anticipation
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER: So this is what happened to day — Traveling in the right hand lane on Bay Street towards the hospital, a black car is in the left-turn-only lane, just before Cook Street. He’s just a bit ahead of me, we are both traveling at 40 km/h and since I do not see his left signal on, I start to wonder if he just might want to come into my lane. I had already made sure that even though he is a bit ahead of me, I am not in his blind spot (in case he does not...
Read MoreFuel for the Mindful Driver: Roundabouts
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER: About Roundabouts ‘Round Here More and more intersections have been converted to roundabouts in greater Victoria area. They are designed to keep traffic flowing and have proven effective in many cities for years. However, Victoria drivers are taking a while to get used to them. Most important: Before entering the roundabout, the driver must yield to traffic approaching on the left. This kind of intersection should not be confused with a traffic circle in...
Read MoreWho was the worst student? (an introduction to Mindful Driving)
Who was the worst student? Students will often ask me if they are the worst student I have ever seen. It comes as a big surprise when I tell them that the worst student was me . Some students judge their struggles in lessons as being a “bad” student, and so did I. I couldn’t understand why I was so terrified to learn to drive . It didn’t make any sense to me, but emotionally, I did not want to drive. I cried a lot and felt overwhelmed most of the time. But I also had a...
Read MoreFuel for the Mindful Driver- over-estimating ability
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER – Our biases lead to over-estimating our ability in adverse conditions This paper was written for winter driving, but the same applies for driving in rain and at night or on narrow roads. In general, we tend to assume that we are better drivers than we really are, and we fail to adjust for deteriorating road conditions. “Driving in Rain, Sleet, or Snow? Cognitive Biases Worsen Winter Driving Psychological scientists have long known that people...
Read MoreDriving Under the Influence of Friends – Link
FUEL FOR THE MINDFUL DRIVER – Driving Under the Influence of Friends. This article points out the dangers of not having your whole attention on your driving and in this moment. Teens are especially prone to distraction while driving, but none of us are immune. Article from the Association for Psychological Science, Driving Under the Influence of Friends is Risky for Teens Teen drivers are far more likely die in car accidents when they drive with friends. According to a study by the AAA...
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