You have narrowly avoided a road traffic accident through emergency braking. Your hands and knees are shaking. What is the right course of action?

After an emergency braking situation that has left you feeling shaken, it is very important for your safety and the safety of others that you take a break as soon as possible to calm yourself. Continuing to drive while you are still nervous or distracted increases the risk of another incident. Later, it is also helpful to reflect on the situation and consider if you could have avoided it, so you can learn from what happened and improve your driving skills. Both of these steps—pausing to calm down, and learning from the event—are recommended in German traffic rules and help keep you and others safe on the road. It is not advisable to keep driving immediately after such a stressful event in hopes that you will calm down while still behind the wheel.