Drive with less stress and fatigue.

There are a number of ways you can reduce driving related stress and fatigue

Over the last few years I've gotten fed up with the insanity of highway driving. Everyone driving faster than you is a nutcase. Everyone in front of you is driving too slowly. Constantly you have to change lanes. You go around, behind, and through all kinds of obstructions and weaving, texting idiots. 

Doesn't this suck?

If you think so, then let this sink in: you are making this driving experience happen. I'm not telling you that you are a bad driver. Well, I hope you aren't. What I'm telling you is that, like many things in life, driving is as complicated as you make it. 

Here are some things that you can do make driving less stressful :

Leave earlier

First, leave earlier. This, more than any other single factor will reduce driving related stress. Give yourself more time to get were you are going. This is definitely the hardest change to make, as it is a time management skill that you will have to improve. Being late to everything all of the time is stressful enough. Driving when you are late to something can be extremely stressful and can lead to terrible decision making.

Stop driving in the left lane

You do not need to drive in the left lane. In any multi-lane driving, there is a constant struggle for left lane positioning. Someone will cut you off just to get behind the long line of cars you following at a safe distance. The problem is not necessarily that people are driving to fast. The real problem is that everyone drives at a different speed. Because of this, there is a great deal to do. You will always have to respond to what everyone else is doing. You check mirrors to make sure you can change lanes, you plot a course through staggered lines of traffic, and you constantly monitor and adjust your speed to respond to other drivers. That's a lot of work!

So here's an idea. Don't do it! Don't do any of it!

Drive five under the posted speed limit

Instead of driving five to ten MPH over the speed limit like you always do (yes, I'm psychic) you are going to leave early and drive five MPH under the speed limit. No, not at all times: just keep reading. Obviously when there is heavy traffic, you will want to move with the rest of traffic and stay well clear of on and off ramp lanes to avoid the issues caused by merging cars. This advice does not apply to smaller and single lane roads where driving slower will affect others. 

For most normal highway driving conditions on big roads, though, you can go five under without disrupting traffic.

QUIZ TIME: If you are driving five under, where do you go?

Travel in the right lane except to pass and avoid merging traffic

If you said the right lane, you are correct! Slower moving traffic keeps right. Welcome, my friend, to the luxurious and relaxing world of the right lane.

Cruise control actually makes sense to use now. Try using it if you haven't before.
 You're welcome.

By traveling five MPH under the posted speed limit and hanging out in the right lane you have cut out much of the frustration of highway driving. Now, instead of fighting over the middle and/or left lanes, almost everyone is passing you. Furthermore, at five under, you are coming up on fewer cars and trucks that you will have to change lanes to pass. 

Driving like this, your primary responsibility is dealing with merging traffic at on ramps. If cars are merging onto the highway just slow down, speed up, or get over a lane until you are past the merging lane section. Pretty easy huh?

Chances are that you are now also getting significantly better fuel economy (MPG). Above a certain speed, your vehicle will have to work much harder to overcome the resistance of the air it is pushing through. Driving slower means that your car doesn't have to work as hard, and will bring up your MPG closer to the the numbers that were on the sticker when you bought the car. Over time you will also see a decrease in the rate of wear on your brakes, since you will use them much less frequently at five under the posted limit.

Most importantly you are out of that pointless, constant fight for lane position and can just cruise down the highway with much less stress.