I am currently enjoying slower drives these days. While I was never used to the being a driving maniac, I would get increasingly frustrated when people would drive slow and keep me from driving fast, or cut me off. That was a stressful experience.
Not anymore. Since my last drive in Tanzania, which imposes a strict 50km/h traffic rule in towns and populated areas. And there are very many satellite towns along the highway. There is heavy police presence and violators are fined.
Highway cameras are installed together with traffic officers with ‘road speed guns’. The speed is annoyingly slow. But surprisingly, that is how I learnt that that driving is a much more calm, serene experience, and I enjoy it much more.
I look around at other drivers and wonder whether they really need to get to where they’re going so fast, and whether they’ll slow down when they get there. I wonder if it’s really worth burning all that fuel and getting so angry and risking so many lives. And then I think about other things, because driving for me has become a time of contemplation.
I heartily recommend driving slower — for many reasons, but one of the best reasons is that it has made me a much happier person. It’s such a simple step to take, but it makes an incredibly big difference.
Since then, I adopted a new way of driving, I never speed.
People often think they’re saving time by driving faster, but it’s not very much time, and it’s not worth your sanity or safety. In Africa, deaths due to road traffic accidents are highest among the most economically active population (15-59 years).
Here are just 5 reasons to drive slower:
- Save gas. The best ways to save gas (besides driving less or driving a fuel-efficient vehicle) are to avoid excessive idling, more gradual accelerating and decelerating, and driving slower (see report on Edmunds.com). With gas prices so high these days, wasting gas by driving unnecessarily fast is something we can’t afford.
- Save lives. Driving fast can kill people (including the driver). Two stats: Road traffic accidents constitute 25% of all injury-related deaths in Africa. Faster driving gives you a shorter amount of time to respond to something in your path, and even a fraction of a second can mean the difference between life and death. Drive slower for your safety and that of those around you … especially drive slow around runners, cyclists, schools, and neighborhoods with kids on the streets.
- Save time? While you think you’re saving time by driving faster, it’s not a lot of time. And that small amount of time you’re saving isn’t worth it, considering the other factors on this list. Better yet, start out a few minutes early and you’ll arrive at the same time as someone who drove faster but started later, and you’ll arrive much happier than that person to boot.
- Save your sanity. The above three reasons are very important ones, but for me the most noticeable difference has been the huge drop in stress levels when I drive. Far from being a crazy experience, driving is actually a relaxing and pleasant experience now. I no longer get road rage, because I simply don’t care whether other drivers are going slow or cutting me off.
- Simplify your life. This is related to the one above, but expanded. In addition to saving your stress levels, driving slower can reduce many other complications as well — the headache of accidents and speeding tickets, for one, going to the gas station too often, for another, but also the hectic pace of life. Why must we rush through life? Slow down and enjoy life more. If we’re always in a hurry to get places, when will we get to our destination and finally be happy? Life is a journey — make it a pleasant one.
OK, assuming that you want to drive slower, here are some of the tips to guide you:
- Play relaxing music.
- Ignore other drivers.
- Leave early.
- Brainstorm.
- Keep to the right.
- Enjoy the drive.