A study just completed of more than 500,000 Britons who were between 37 and 73 years old found that those who spent hours daily driving had a lower average intelligence than those who did not drive. These people also exhibited a faster cognitive decline than those who did little to no driving. These findings are similar to those who watch television for more than three hours a day.
Researchers have found that sedentary behavior, such as sitting behind the wheel for hours at a time, can steadily reduce intelligence.
If driving does not actively engage your mind,
You are doing it wrong!
Of course doing it right without the assistance of a Valentine One electronic warning device exposes good, active, alert drivers to punitive actions of the one-size-fits-all, lowest-common-denominator rules created and enforced by the typically less inspired, less cognitive among us.
I have been driving and reading about driving con brio (with liveliness, spirit, vigor; vivaciously) since I was a little kid. That includes a lot of track time and a couple of course records at Laguna Seca and Sears Point raceways.
That is over 56 years of driving everything from downhill coasters to 18-wheelers, including Café racer motorcycles, sports cars, tractors and trucks without ever even denting a fender. Paying attention to EVERYTHING, being aware, alert and skilled has dodged numerous opportunities to crunch vehicles, bodies, and a few fatalities that offered themselves to me.
I include a couple sample videos here of what Driving Con Brio looks like. Always well within the performance capabilities of the vehicle, I do know exactly where that envelope is from cement mixer trucks to real racers.
I also know where on that spectrum the driver is be that ME at any given mood, time, place, or those around me who I am also paying close attention to. I make sure the inattentive and unskilled making their mistakes do not involve me… at least so far, so good.
I am quite sure that my approach to driving is mental stimulus and growth-producing rather than the mind-numbing sedentary activity of the newly-released British study that inspired my response.
