Photo by by Tumisu from Pixabay
Welcome to the June blog for LK’s Auto repair! We hope you are enjoying the first beats of summer, as the world begins to recover from the pandemic. After The Summer That Wasn’t in 2020, it’s nice to see the world opening up again.
Traditionally, the number of automobile accidents climbs as the summer hits. As many people take to the roads for vacations, some neglect to do the proper checks on their tires and engines, and wind up putting themselves and others at great risk. Accidents can be very traumatic to a driver, especially a young driver. Even if you are unharmed in a car that is totally destroyed, there may be lingering psychological trauma from such a devastating turn of events. And if it isn’t managed in an appropriate way for your own psychological needs, it can linger and disrupt your life for years to come.
Here are eight recommended steps for easing back into driving again as a survivor of crash trauma:
Be the passenger first. Get used to being in a car again by letting someone else drive you initially. The pressure to drive immediately after you
Don’t suppress emotions. If you want to cry, let yourself cry. If you want to laugh, laugh. Don’t let anyone’s expectations define your honest reactions.
Give yourself permission to grieve for what you lost. Even if no one was hurt, or the accident was not your fault, there’s still a sense of losing what you had before the accident-- especially if you might never see your car again. Take the time you need to feel the loss and accept it.
Go and sit behind the wheel as soon as you feel you can. The longer you make the return to the driver’s seat, the more upsetting and dramatic the reunion will be. Take the sting out of it by sitting in the driver’s seat and going over the mental checklist of things to do before you leave the driveway,
Make your first trips short ones in your own neighborhood. Get your confidence back by sticking to the roads you know well.
Consider getting therapy. It isn’t silly to want to talk to a professional who can help you process your feelings after a bad accident. It’s keen insight into your own needs.
Take a Defensive Driving course. You may not need one, as the accident may not have been your fault. But it can help you raise your awareness of issues on the road you might be overlooking. It will certainly arm you to get back in the driver’s seat.
Be kind to your own process, and demand that of others. Trauma is trauma. It doesn’t run on anyone else’s clock but yours. Work through it as you need to, in order to heal and restore your driving abilities.
We hope that if you or if someone you love is recovering from an accident, this guide might help them ease back into driving at the pace they can manage. Accidents seldom have grace; our humanity and the kindness we show ourselves and others is the only grace to come of it. If you need car repairs or just a check-up, please come to LK’s Auto Repair! You can locate us at 5921 St Hwy 303 NE #100 Bremerton, WA 98311. Click this link to schedule service. We are here for your needs!