The Philippines’ traffic congestion has gotten a world-renowned negative connotation such as being declared as the country with the worst traffic situation according to the 2015 Global Driver Satisfaction Index (GDSI).
According to Felino A. Palafox, a founder of the Philippine chapter of The International Real Estate Federation, Filipinos spend an average of 1,000 hours per year on the road due to traffic.
That’s a lot of time in your hands and here are things to remember on your next drive home through traffic.
Save on Fuel
Switching the engine off can save your fuel but only if traffic is totally not moving for at least a minute or more. Modern cars switch your engine off automatically when you’re stationary – they are built with special starter motors and batteries. So if your car does not have this feature yet, switching your engine off and on, this causes excess wear on your car and requires some fuel if you restart it.
Watch Out for Accidents
Though unnecessary speed causes major road accidents, inch-by-inch movement of cars causes vehicular mishaps, too. Most of the seemingly slow time during heavy traffic, especially if you’re driving a manual transmission car, low-speed of cars needs more caution because slight moves and shifts cause impacts which can cause a collision to vehicles at all your directions. Keep an eye on all directions and as much as possible, keep distant to your fellow drivers, especially if you don’t have a car insurance policy.
Don’t Give In to Stress
Learning to keep a cool head in the midst of modern day’s stress is as vital as a healthy diet. In general, stress is bad for everyone’s health. As much as possible, keep calm about the situation and divert your focus to other things such as listening to your favorite playlist or reciting your personal prayers. Just make sure you are still being mindful and aware of your surroundings as you are still on the road.
Maximize Your Time
For sure, you don’t want to lose precious hours of your life staring at your non-steering steering wheel stressing out yourself because of the usual heavy traffic. Do not text and drive but you can try to accept and make non-stressful phone calls. This could be the opportunity to call your mother back, congratulate a friend or catch up with your colleagues.
Prepare Yourself Mentally
Instead of being grumpy about your immobility, use this time to clear your head and prepare yourself for the day ahead. If you’re going home, it’s your time to remove work-related stress.
Fixing the traffic jam in the Philippines has a long way to go and should be considered a fact of life; there is no point in getting overly stressed and frustrated about it. What you can do is adjust how you react to this situation.
