Many experienced drivers have predictability on their side, so what makes a driver take a chance even when they know the possible dangers of the outcome? They’re not true professionals and make decisions without using practical wisdom or moral intelligence.
Their actions often force them to make defensive maneuvers. Sadly, even knowing all the possible things that can happen out there, unprofessional drivers will still blame the other driver.
Maybe this quote will help some drivers remember.
“You can never make the same mistake twice. The second time it is no longer a mistake, it becomes a choice.”
A typical unbalanced scale.
Too much application of confidence often leads to aggressive driving or driving complacency and can increase your risk of having an incident or accident. This seems to be the typical scenario, especially for experienced drivers.
Too much application of caution can also increase the risk of an accident. It can make you nervous. A nervous mind loses its ability to think rationally and can have panicky reactions. Nervous drivers can actually drive too slow making them a hindrance to the flow of traffic. You can never condone the actions aggressive drivers take, but it’s a well-known fact that driving too slowly only further encourages high risk behaviour from others.
Lastly, most people have the misconception that the better they know a road the safer they are. The truth is the complete opposite due to human nature. The better we know a road, the more aggressively we drive it, and the more dangerous we could possibly become. You push yourself a little faster each time you drive it.
Balancing confidence and caution. Do you use your experience as an asset, or a liability?
Think about what a race car driver does to win. They practice a course to learn the maximum speeds they can take every bend or section of the track. Even though a race car driver needs to apply more confidence for their circumstances, they still maintain that tiny bit of caution to keep them on the road.
Even a race car driver has to find that balance or mean. Remember that we aren’t driving race cars and it isn’t a competition.
Having a couple of million safe driving miles under my belt is a lot less than some drivers out there. The important thing is not the miles you’ve driven, but what you’ve driven into your head from those miles.
With over one billion drivers on the planet, I know I can’t change anyone else’s driving habits. I already know how tough it is to make changes in my own life when I recognize a need for it. I can only share the philosophy of driving that I’ve learned in order to raise awareness.
How you decide to make safe driving a virtue is up to you. But remember you have to want to do it first. If you don’t think you need too, or just plain don’t want to, that’s your choice, but at least respect those out there that do.
Remember SEEM. Safe, Efficient, Ethical, and Moral and make safe driving a virtue.
Thanks for reading Balancing Confidence and Caution
We hope you enjoyed our mini series on Safe Professional Truck Driving. It was presented in a different way than your typical safe driving stuff for a reason. We want to inspire you how to think for yourself, instead of teaching or conditioning you what to think. That’s the whole underlying philosophy behind practical wisdom.
Thanks so much.
Truckerswheel team
