Do you ever panic?
Discussion
Today, whilst driving home from a long pointless fun drive, my phone rang. I was expecting a call from my mum to tell me whether i need to pick up my gran from the bus station. It was important because any further i drove the further from the bus station i would be (was heading home by this point). So i let the phone ring out, and pulled into a driveway, one wheel on the road.
Traffic was quite heavy at this point, but there was easily enough room for traffic to get past on my side without waiting for the traffic coming the other way.
However sods f
king law dictates that a car coming the other way should decide the house whose driveway i had chosen to stop in was their house and they wanted to access their drive. By this point i was browsing through my phones contacts book, looking for my mums number to return the call.
I looked up, just as the car coming waiting to turn in was coming to a final halt.
I panicked, put the phone down, stuck the car back in drive and took my foot of the brake, the car started to roll forward. At this point i checked my mirrors and noticed there was a car moving slowly waiting to go past me about 10 meters back. (I presume that he had noticed mine and the car waiting to turns predicament and had slowed right down)
In my panic i forgot to check my mirrors before pulling out.
I then pulled into the entrance to the driveway two houses further down, slightly shaken because by this time i realised id made a right tit of my self by holding up about 10 cars.
I made my phonecall and set about pulling back out, this time with indicators mirrors and lots less panic.
So, do you ever panic behind the wheel?
Would you have been calling me a dick if that had been you in either the car behind or the car whose driveway i was stopped in? Am i worrying unnessarily about one small time when i pulled away a foot before checking my mirrors?
Reassure me please.
Cheers!
Traffic was quite heavy at this point, but there was easily enough room for traffic to get past on my side without waiting for the traffic coming the other way.
However sods f
king law dictates that a car coming the other way should decide the house whose driveway i had chosen to stop in was their house and they wanted to access their drive. By this point i was browsing through my phones contacts book, looking for my mums number to return the call.I looked up, just as the car coming waiting to turn in was coming to a final halt.
I panicked, put the phone down, stuck the car back in drive and took my foot of the brake, the car started to roll forward. At this point i checked my mirrors and noticed there was a car moving slowly waiting to go past me about 10 meters back. (I presume that he had noticed mine and the car waiting to turns predicament and had slowed right down)
In my panic i forgot to check my mirrors before pulling out.
I then pulled into the entrance to the driveway two houses further down, slightly shaken because by this time i realised id made a right tit of my self by holding up about 10 cars.
I made my phonecall and set about pulling back out, this time with indicators mirrors and lots less panic.
So, do you ever panic behind the wheel?
Would you have been calling me a dick if that had been you in either the car behind or the car whose driveway i was stopped in? Am i worrying unnessarily about one small time when i pulled away a foot before checking my mirrors?
Reassure me please.
Cheers!
orangeknight said:
you're a confident motorist then?
No.blunder13 said:
The good thing about your post is that you understand you made a mistake. Learn from this and try to prevent it in the future.
Oh and turn your phone off in the future. None of the problems you had would have happened if you didn't have the mum distraction!
Thank you. I guess that was what i was after. Oh and turn your phone off in the future. None of the problems you had would have happened if you didn't have the mum distraction!
Yes I suffer with panic while driving.
I don't panic about my driving ability. I'm confident (but realistic, before I'm jumped on) in my driving ability. I'm not too sure what I do actually panic about - but I do (also get them in non-driving related situations).
I don't really know what else to say. You're not alone by any means.
I don't panic about my driving ability. I'm confident (but realistic, before I'm jumped on) in my driving ability. I'm not too sure what I do actually panic about - but I do (also get them in non-driving related situations).
I don't really know what else to say. You're not alone by any means.
Pothole said:
Benbay, I can't understand why other people's opinions of your driving should bother you so much. As long as you're not actually breaking the law, is it really going to affect anyone very much if you hold them up for a minute or so?
I was merely checking that i wasnt on par with the devil for having let the car move off without first checking the mirrors.Benbay001 said:
Pothole said:
Benbay, I can't understand why other people's opinions of your driving should bother you so much. As long as you're not actually breaking the law, is it really going to affect anyone very much if you hold them up for a minute or so?
I was merely checking that i wasnt on par with the devil for having let the car move off without first checking the mirrors..Pothole's question seemed valid though. In both your examples you talked about other drivers you might have been holding up. Are you letting that concern you and affect your decisions? Not wanting to hold people up or get in their way is admirable, but if you find yourself in a situation like that it's much better to carry on and complete what you were doing. You have all the time in the world to reflect and decide whether you'd do anything differently next time after the situation's resolved
.I sometimes experience diving panic in my tractor. There's a shuttle to use all gears in either forwards/reverse. Even if I'm in a low range gear, which would max out at 2 kph, when I let out the clutch, I don't half jump when the tractor goes the opposite way to what I was expecting because I've forgotten to switch the shuttle. Cue me then stamping on the brakes for a dramatic low speed emergency stop...must look a right muppet from outside.
Panic is the bodys inital reacton to an unexpected sudden event. It is the first indicator of the fight or flight state, the inaction will translate into one or the other as soon as the brain processes the data it is being presented with.
The very best way to tackle this when driving is to try and be several seconds ahead of the car and always have a plan B for every situation (for example "ok I need to stop and make a call, is this driveway ok? what if someone wants to come in/out when I'm on the phone? what should I do? how will I do it?")
Take your time and use measured judgement, when you are driving give some thought to the environment you are in and how situations could develop, even if they do not.
If something surprises you when you are driving then you are not paying enough attention or thinking far enough ahead.
The very best way to tackle this when driving is to try and be several seconds ahead of the car and always have a plan B for every situation (for example "ok I need to stop and make a call, is this driveway ok? what if someone wants to come in/out when I'm on the phone? what should I do? how will I do it?")
Take your time and use measured judgement, when you are driving give some thought to the environment you are in and how situations could develop, even if they do not.
If something surprises you when you are driving then you are not paying enough attention or thinking far enough ahead.
Benbay001 said:
I guess another example would be last weekend, i went for another drive. Had to do a U turn in a tight lane. Cars came from both directions. I panicked and did the U turn at near warp speed. How i didnt redesign the front and rear bumper i will never know! 
Perhaps your judgment here was poor. Did you consider driving to a suitable turning point and manouvering in a low stress environment. Its likely that is what I would choose to do.Edited by crisisjez on Monday 6th May 22:47
crisisjez said:
Perhaps your judgment here was poor. Did you consider driving to a suitable turning point and manouvering in a low stress environment. Its likely that is what I would choose to do.
The lane was a road i had never been down. I had driven past and never seen another car turn in/pull out from it, so i presumed it was less than well traveled. Edited by crisisjez on Monday 6th May 22:47
I get the impression that you would probably benefit from some driver training.
Your driving process seems very monocular.
The fact you have posted on here is a big plus in that you already recognise you need some guidance so I am sure an observed drive would be a bit of a revelation for you.
Good luck and don't sweat the small stuff
Your driving process seems very monocular.
The fact you have posted on here is a big plus in that you already recognise you need some guidance so I am sure an observed drive would be a bit of a revelation for you.
Good luck and don't sweat the small stuff
Edited by crisisjez on Tuesday 7th May 13:23
I'd start by reading these books. Ideal toilet literature, in my opinion.
£0.01 used, via amazon.
and get yourself along to an IAM or RoSPA/(Roadar?) group meeting.
If you still ride a motorbike, then obviously you could do it on 2 wheels, although it sounds as if you might benefit from somebody talking to you on the observed drive.
£0.01 used, via amazon.
and get yourself along to an IAM or RoSPA/(Roadar?) group meeting.
If you still ride a motorbike, then obviously you could do it on 2 wheels, although it sounds as if you might benefit from somebody talking to you on the observed drive.
crisisjez said:
The fact you have posted on here is a big plus in that you already recognise you need some guidance so I am sure an observed drive would be a bit of a revelation for you.
Excuse me? Ive passed my IAM i will have you know! 
But yes, im considering ROSPA at the end of this year.
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