When driving in a state of emotional arousal, does your ability to concentrate decrease?

In the video, the driver is gesturing, looking around and clearly getting upset instead of looking at the road. Strong emotions - anger, stress, euphoria, an argument on the phone - take away the attention needed for driving. In such a state, your ability to concentrate decreases. The answer is: yes.

Emotional arousal works in a similar way to tiredness: your thoughts go round the matter that upset you, not what is happening in front of the bonnet. You react later, you more often drive too fast and too close, and you get into conflict with other drivers more easily. If you feel that your emotions are taking over, stop for a moment, calm your breathing and only then drive on - a few minutes' break costs less than a collision.