3 Driving Wellness Tips

Fitness is essential to a healthy lifestyle, but did you know that exercise can also help you be a safer driver? Here are three tips that will not only keep you healthy, but will also help you become a safer driver.

1. Make Exercise A Part of Your Daily Routine

Have you ever noticed that you feel exhausted after a long drive? From squatting to get into your car to turning your head to check blind spots to flexing your foot to reach the pedals, driving is a full-body activity. Four areas of exercise that can improve the physical driving-related movements we use everyday include: flexibility, strength, range of motion, and coordination.
So take a few minutes each day and go for a walk,  maybe do some lunges and squats — gently stretch your neck, turning your head from side-to-side and raising your chin up to the sky and down to you chest a few times. It may not seem like much,  but it makes a big impact on our bodies and our daily driving.

2. Train Your Brain

Mental fitness can make you a safer, smarter driver. A study funded by the National Institute of Health found that adult drivers who were given cognitive training for memory, reasoning, or speed of processing had 50 percent fewer car accidents than those in the control group.
Including mental exercises in your daily routine can help you maintain critical driving skills, such as attention and reaction time, concentration, problem-solving skills, and memory.
A few simple ways you can stimulate your brain include:

• Playing games like Chess or Scrabble
• Creating Art, in any form
• Learning something new, like a second language
• Gardening
• Conversations with others
• Physical Exercise (not just good for the body)

Slow reaction time, distraction, and poor judgement are responsible for many car crashes. Just as it’s important to stay physically fit, it is equally important to stay in good mental shape.

3. Keep A Regular Sleep Routine

We can’t emphasize this enough: DROWSY DRIVING IS DISTRACTED DRIVING. Make sure your sleep routine isn’t affecting your morning commute, and adjust your schedule so you can get the recommended 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep every night.