Rewiring the brain: How mindfulness creates safer bus drivers

I would’ve eventually lost my job in a hostile situation before taking part in this course. It could’ve resulted in a fight. I just calmed myself down. I remembered my training. I now do meditation with my wife.

Driving a bus full of passengers is a huge responsibility with many safety risks. To help drivers in their work, CIRAS, Abellio and the University of Southampton teamed up to deliver an eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training course for bus drivers.

MBSR has an advantage over conventional behavioural-based safety initiatives. It is predominantly focused on self-awareness, rather than mere compliance. Ultimately, if you want to create positive habits and change behaviours, you need to start with attitudes, and MBSR provides the mental toolkit for practical intervention.

The course covered coming off auto-pilot, directing one’s attention, remaining alert and increasing self-awareness. Though this course was specifically designed for bus drivers, it could also be extended to other transport sectors, such as light rail, where the need for drivers to remain alert is just as important.

The drivers taking part all practised mindfulness meditations daily. Drivers were taught how to pay attention to their bodies, sitting meditation, mindful movement, and a three-minute breathing exercise to help them deal with challenging situations. Through persistent practice, the course cultivated acceptance, calmness, resilience and empathy.

So what was it like trying to fit the practice around a busy bus driver’s shifts? One driver, who was actively practising, said:

Learning to make time to implement mindfulness into everyday life seemed like an arduous task. However, over the weeks it has become easier to make it a new habit.

It is clear the course was able to deliver significant health and safety benefits for the drivers who part took. Here are some examples:

Improved alertness:

? Paying better attention to the road. One driver said: “I’ve noticed that when I go on auto-pilot, I can pull myself back out of it.”

? Scanning the bus stop on the approach for any hazards or dangerous objects.

? Being alert to the time passengers need to get off the bus, particularly if they are elderly or vulnerable.

Calmer driving:

? Several drivers have reported no longer being bothered by other road users cutting them up. They were able to ‘let go’.

? One driver reported that he was now driving in a calmer, safer manner. A passenger commented: “I really like your driving!”

? Another driver reported he was using the horn (out of anger and frustration) far less than he had prior to starting the course.

Measured responses to challenging situations:

? A police car drove dangerously in front of a bus and the driver had to brake hard to avoid an accident. He was shaken up and pulled over angry and upset. Using the three-minute breathing exercise to calm his mind, he was able to return to driving. “I would never have been able to do that before the course,” he said. The police car driver returned to the scene to offer an apology, admitting he had lost his concentration.

? One driver was spoken to rather insultingly, but was able to use the three-minute breathing exercise to de-stress. She was then able to continue her driving in a calmer state, feeling re-energised.

? A passenger began screaming at the driver, accusing him of missing her stop. The passenger had actually made a mistake, as it was the stop for another route. The driver was able to explain once she calmed down, leading to an apology from the passenger. The driver said he would have previously reacted angrily and had been prone to getting into arguments. Increased self-awareness gave him new options to diffuse such situations.

Beyond the workplace:

? There are recognised health benefits to doing MBSR. One driver said he had stopped taking strong painkillers for severe migraines. He has found the body scan more effective at relieving his pain and there are none of the side effects.

? One driver commented that his family had been pleasantly surprised by his calmer driving. He was no longer rushing around.

? Another said the course was giving her the skills to effectively manage stress levels, such as when caught up in traffic on the way to work.

Comments from participants:

The training is helping change attitudes.

It has helped me a lot. I would recommend the training. 

I’ve got more patience now. It’s amazing!

I was stressed and angry a lot of the time and existing in a haze.

Now I’m able to remain more neutral.

Ten seconds after a stressful incident occurs, I’ve forgotten it.

I’ve become more aware of other people’s reactions too.

I would’ve eventually lost my job in a hostile situation before taking part in this course. It could’ve resulted in a fight. I just calmed myself down. I remembered my training. I now do meditation with my wife.

Training results

The Abellio drivers proved an important point: that if you work hard at something, you are bound to succeed. They practised six days a week for eight weeks in total and were enthusiastic about the changes they noticed. The clinical evidence does in fact show that our brains change physically if we practice mindfulness for a period of time – this is something that few other training courses can say. Mindfulness helps with regulating our emotions and dealing more effectively with stress.

When they were asked about the impact of the training, 100 per cent said they were now driving more safely. But the training also had a strong effect on other areas too, such as their levels of concentration and customer service (95 per cent said it had improved in these areas).

A video case study of the work with Abello’s drivers can be viewed at:https://www.ciras.org.uk/articles/2019/mindfulness-for-safety-critical-roles/

If you would like any further information about this project, please feel free to contact me.