Why is Driving so Important??

Why Is Driving So Important?

If this unprecedented event has shown us anything it’s that getting mobile safely and quickly at any given point in time is critical.

With public transport being forced to drastically reduce services to quite rightly protect people, being able to drive is a skill that you should have in your locker regardless of circumstances. These are challenging times indeed and those public servants that brave this outbreak should be commended.  However, public transport can be unreliable, through bad weather and poor driving conditions, industrial strikes or bank holidays and by driving you reduce the risk of encountering these issues.  You’re more flexible, and there’s no need to worry about the potential imminent rail or bus strike that will delay your morning commute.  

Driving can bring about new opportunities, especially in the job market.  You are not restricted to bus routes, instead you can explore and push new boundaries within your work that would perhaps not have been attainable had you not been able to drive.  

When I decided to write this piece, I wanted to ask those that we need most at this time; the incredible staff working for the NHS.  I asked the question, ‘In this crisis, how has being able to drive benefitted you?’.

The answers have been interesting and insightful.  I have had the pleasure of teaching pupils who work in A&E, high dependency units, cancer units and one who is now living her dream as a paramedic.  All these former pupils have said, especially in this time we are living, that due to reduced public transport services and where they live, they would unequivocally struggle to get to work.  They perhaps wouldn’t be able to work in the departments that they work in, had they not been able to drive, as they are sometimes needed at a moments notice.  When they were students on their placements, due to some of the locations they had to attend, access was challenging, and being able to drive changed things for them as they could get to their placements a little less stressed and a little more rested.

But what else does driving do for you? With the challenges facing front line workers now, particularly the emotional and work pressures that they face, driving allows you to be in your own safe solitary environment. As much as public transport provides a valuable service, driving allows you to have your own quiet, calm and reflective area that you can use to unwind and get home quicker than perhaps alternative forms can get you there. Some of the comments from NHS workers stated that, ‘driving allowed me not to sit on a depressing bus worrying if the virus was circulating’ or ‘driving cuts about40mins off my journey time making work more bearable and less of a thought to get and to from’ and the most straight to the point answer, ‘I love driving, kind of my escape’.

All these answers and more, highlighted how important driving has instantly become to a lot of people. Even though we live in a digital age where communication is better than before, the ability to work from home has become the norm and the world is moving at a faster pace, we still need to travelfor business and pleasure, we still need to go to important places of work and now more than ever we need our emergency services and delivery drivers. None of these important areas of work would be possible unless you can drive.

So maybe this year is the year that you learn your important Skill for Life.

Be safe, be smart, stay indoors and protect our NHS and our other important emergency services.

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