It’s nice to drive… But it’s even nicer to be driven. As much as we may enjoy the feeling of control and freedom we may get behind the wheel with a long stretch of open road ahead of us, it’s even nicer when our significant other utters those magical words… “It’s okay darling, I’ll drive!”. It means that we can have a drink if we want one, enjoy our journey without having to consider the rigours of traffic or weather and get that lovely feeling that comes with being chauffeured by the one we love… At least in theory. If the way your partner drives irritates or vexes you, or even makes you fear for your very life, it can be difficult to know how to break it to them. Conflicting driving styles can be a flashpoint between couples when on the road. Often the differences will amount to little more than nitpicking, but if your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend is guilty of these bad habits, it’s in everybody’s best interests to (sensitively) pull them on it…
Failing to stop for the sake of “making good time”
While it’s a nice feeling knowing that you’re ahead of schedule, it shouldn’t come at the expense of your family’s safety. If your SO keeps powering on through their driving just to get to your destination ahead of schedule this might seem noble, but it’s surprisingly dangerous. Driver fatigue is responsible for around 20% of major road accidents and could even have fatal results. Driver fatigue can impair judgement, impede hazard perception and lead your partner to take unnecessary risks. Make sure that you stop for at least 15 minutes for every 2 hours of driving for peak concentration levels.
Driving aggressively around HGVs
Nobody likes to be stuck behind a heavy goods vehicle on a long motorway journey, but vehicles of such size, weight and power need to be treated with respect. You should also consider that the driver may also have been driving for a long time and may even be trying to combat driver fatigue. Around 40% of sleep related collisions involve heavy goods vehicles. If you don’t want to be just another one of those trucking accidents statistics, make sure that you give HGVs a wide berth and keep a respectful distance. It’s better to arrive at your destination a little late than to never arrive at all.
Driving on fumes
If you and your partner are both responsible for car running costs, you likely want to take every step you can to keep those costs down. However, driving for long periods on very low petrol can not only make for some touch and go journeys, it can also potentially damage your fuel pump resulting in an expensive repair. If your partner is in the habit of waiting for the warning light to show on their fuel gauge before they really need to be educated on just how dangerous this can be.
You know better than anyone what the right way to talk to your partner about their driving may be. But if you carry on saying nothing, you benefit nobody.
