During my “Mindfully Safe” talk I show the results of a large driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Here are some details from this extensive, landmark study:
- The biggest study of its kind. 3,500 drivers between 16 and 98 fitted with an array of cameras, microphones and sensors to determine their emotional state.
- The cars travelled 35 million miles and were involved in 905 serious crashes.
VT Institute Study Findings
- “‘Emotional drivers’ – those who were clearly angry, sad or agitated – were around five times as likely to crash as those who were chatting on their mobile.”
- “Overall, those overwhelmed by their emotions were 9.8 times as likely to have an accident as model motorists.”
- “Driving while emotional is more dangerous than driving while drowsy, fiddling with the radio or air conditioning or chatting to passengers.”
Obviously from this (and other studies on how and why negative emotions impact our behavior) helping employees better handle their negative emotions is an important “safety skill.” It also is an important health issue as it has been well established that when you’re upset your body is being taxed and if you experience regular duress it can cause all kinds of ailments including high blood pressure, heart damage, insomnia, depressed immune function just to name a few.
Including a few habits which I describe in my “Mindfully Safe” talk can have a powerful positive impact on a person’s emotional health. I know because they have helped me tremendously and many of my clients have told me how much they have helped them live a safer, healthier and happier life.
