You experience an incident at work that has left you feeling angry. When you get to your car, you should:
- Play the radio loudly so you won’t think about it.
- Drive fast on the interstate to let off steam.
- Take a few minutes to cool off before you begin your drive home. ✓
- Stop at your favorite bar and have a few drinks before driving home.
Answer: C. Take a few minutes to cool off before you begin your drive home.
Take a few minutes to cool off before you begin your drive home.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says your emotions affect how safely you drive. If you are angry, worried, crying, excited, or depressed, your mind is on whatever upset you instead of the road, and your emotional state can change how you react or overreact to what happens around you. Because of that, it tells you to take time to calm down and get focused before you drive. Sitting for a few minutes before starting home fits that advice directly.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Play the radio loudly so you won’t think about it. — Turning the radio up loud does nothing about the anger itself, and the handbook's point is that your mind stays on what upset you rather than on driving.
- B. Drive fast on the interstate to let off steam. — Speeding to blow off steam keeps you in the same emotional state the handbook warns about, and driving that way while angry is exactly the overreaction it describes.
- D. Stop at your favorite bar and have a few drinks before driving home. — Stopping for drinks puts alcohol into a driver, and the handbook treats impaired driving as something to prevent, not something to do before a trip home.
Remember it
Calm first, drive second: give your feelings a few minutes to settle before you put the car in gear.