Even if you’ve been driving for years, you still might not feel as confident as other people. You’re perfectly capable of driving, but you always get that light, fluttery feeling in your stomach whenever you pull out of your driveway and onto the main street. The problem is that an unconfident driver can be just as dangerous as an overconfident one, so how can you improve your confidence to make yourself the best driver you can be?
Practice Makes Perfect
If you’re a new driver, you need to remember that you won’t be perfect immediately. You’ve passed your test, which means you’re proficient enough not to be a danger to others, but a lot of driving expertise comes with experience. While driving instructors try to make the lessons as close to real-life as possible, you will still come across scenarios that you never encountered. The only way to experience these is to get into your car and drive around. If you’re still nervous, going somewhere you are familiar with will help you practice with more confidence.
Force Yourself Into Unfamiliar Situations
On the other hand, you will never become a great driver if you avoid specific situations. For new drivers, this is usually the highway. It’s understandable that cruising down this vast road with trucks and other cars surrounding you can be intimidating, especially when you consider how many horror stories you see on the news about highway collisions. However, once you get onto the highway and just drive, you’ll find there was nothing to worry about. But you might be better off sticking to the slower lanes at first until you can build your confidence further.
Ignore Other Drivers
Other drivers are the bane of unconfident drivers. They always feel too impatient, too close, and like they are specifically targeting you. This usually isn’t the case, and they are busy focusing on where they are going. However, you might still feel intimidated by them. This can wreak havoc on your confidence, but you must focus on your driving and no one else’s. If they are too impatient, they will pass you at some point, and if they don’t, they clearly don’t mind.
Have The Right Support
Sometimes, you need someone with you in the car to tell you you’re doing a good job. So bring a friend to help you feel more confident. Although you must make sure they don’t act like a backseat driver along the way. Likewise, if you’re worried about an accident, you should know what to do if something happens. This includes knowing how to collect details for insurance, calling the roadside assistance, and the information for a top rated personal injury law firm that can help ease some of the stress, especially if the accident was not your fault.
Driving Your Happiness
Driving confidence doesn’t mean you should look for the next big rally race or start thinking about signing up for F1. It just means that you’re happy to go wherever you want (and need) to go without suffering a sudden anxiety attack. Once you try those journeys that you thought were scary, you’ll realize it’s not so bad at all.
