Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) posted on its Facebook page earlier this week, urging drivers to assess their moods before getting behind the wheel.

With that in mind, Portage Online sought after the opinions of a few familiar voices about the topic.

MPI media relations coordinator Brian Smiley says that MPI knows that a person's frame of mind can have a significant impact on their driving abilities in regards to over-aggressive driving, distracted driving, and fatigued driving,

"We're living in a very stressful time right now, and mental health can have an effect on driving, and we want to remind drivers out there to just to take a deep breath sometimes and perhaps evaluate their mental health while they're behind the wheel."

Canadian Mental Health Association Board Chair for the Central region Kyle Berg notes that it's no surprise that people's driving abilities would be influenced by their moods.

"There's some data out there that says that people with depression are far more likely to experience car accidents, and there's a number of reasons for that. Primarily, it's that you're distracted; your mind is somewhere else."

Berg urges those who aren't in the best of moods to change their headspace before getting behind the wheel.

"If you are feeling depressed, you are probably in your head a little bit too much, and that doesn't always work out the best. It would be useful to have a bit of a calming routine that you do when you enter your vehicle."