There are certain skills out there that, once learned, are very hard to forget. Like riding a bike, driving often falls into this category, as keeping our foot on the pedal and steering the wheel often require very little active decision-making. However, the road is an incredibly unpredictable place, with other drivers and natural hazards requiring us to always be active when behind the wheel. That’s why highway hypnosis is responsible for so many motor vehicle accidents across the country, as drivers rely on muscle memory to drive and forget about the road ahead.
Keep reading to learn more about what makes highway hypnosis one of the most common forms of dangerous driving and how to prevent it.
What Is Highway Hypnosis?
Highway hypnosis happens when the driver operates the vehicle without being fully present or alert. This is typically described as a trance-like state where the driver’s mind is occupied by other things and driving takes the back seat in terms of priorities. If you’ve ever been on a road trip where you forgot about the passing of time for a long stretch of time and had trouble remembering what you drove past, you may have experienced highway hypnosis.
Why Highway Hypnosis Is Dangerous
Highway hypnosis is also known as driving without attention mode (DWAM), which, as implied by its name, involves a level of recklessness by the driver. Driving without paying your full attention to the road can lead to a delay in response to externalities, like a car swerving into your lane, a deer crossing the road, or a pothole coming up ahead. This can put you and those around you in danger as you may not be able to respond quickly enough when driving under highway hypnosis.
How Many Car Accidents Are Caused by Highway Hypnosis?
Estimating the number of car accidents caused by highway hypnosis is tricky, as drivers often don’t even realize they’re experiencing highway hypnosis. However, the National Highway Transportation Safety Authority (NHTSA) estimates that 91,000 accidents per year are a direct result of drowsy driving, a condition that often overlaps with highway hypnosis. While falling asleep behind the wheel is different from experiencing highway hypnosis, driving while sleepy can certainly make it easier to become absent-minded and forget to pay attention to the road ahead.
In fact, driving while experiencing highway hypnosis is remarkably similar to driving while asleep, according to ABC News. When we drive in a state of highway hypnosis, our brain experiences reduced activity, which is very similar to the low level of brain activity while we sleep. Parts of our brain stop communicating with each other as frequently, causing our responses to external stimuli to be much slower. Think of how long it takes you to get out of bed in the morning after you wake up, and consider if that would be a fast enough response to a hazard on the road. If the answer is no, then you should do your best to avoid highway hypnosis.
What Causes Highway Hypnosis?
In broad terms, highway hypnosis happens because of automaticity, which is the action of performing things without thinking about them. Although that is the very same thing that makes driving so easy, it can also make it a very dangerous activity. This means that the more repetitive and uncomplicated driving becomes, the more likely your brain is to take a break and fall into highway hypnosis mode.
An accident analysis and prevention study found that highway hypnosis is much more likely to happen in highway settings than in residential or city streets, hence its name. Inner-city streets are much more diverse in scenery and road signals, with frequent traffic lights, stop signs, and intersections as well as a variety of different businesses and buildings to keep you focused on the road. However, highways can get very repetitive, involving miles of straight roadway with nothing but foliage on the side. This repetition can cause the brain to stop its analysis of visual cues and instead predict what the next stretch of the road will look like. You lose focus and fall into highway hypnosis.
Identifying Highway Hypnosis
As a responsible driver, you should be aware of some of the precursors of highway hypnosis so you can stop it in its tracks before it fully kicks in. These are some of the common signs that you might be experiencing highway hypnosis:
- You start feeling drowsy or sleepy when behind the wheel
- You stop paying attention to the scenery in front of you
- The white lines on the road start to blend into each other or blur
- You start blinking more than usual
- You find it difficult to focus or think about complicated topics
If you notice any of these symptoms, the best thing to do is pull over as soon as it’s safe to do so and take a break from driving.
Ways To Prevent Highway Hypnosis
The best way to prevent highway hypnosis is to avoid driving on long and repetitive stretches of highway. However, avoiding them isn’t always possible, so here are some things you can do on your drive to avoid falling into this trance-like state behind the wheel:
- Take a break. Taking a short break every 90 minutes of driving can help prevent your body from falling into autopilot mode and entering highway hypnosis.
- Get plenty of sleep. Being sleepy while driving is one of the biggest causes of highway hypnosis, so getting a good night’s sleep before your road trip is essential.
- Take some caffeine. Having a cup of coffee or black tea can help you stay alert through the end of your drive.
- Stay active. Taking a short walk or doing some light stretches each time you stop for a drink or a bathroom break can help your body stay alert.
- Sing or listen to upbeat music. Singing along to your favorite upbeat tunes can help your brain stay active and avoid highway hypnosis.
- Avoid eating too much. While having a large meal at the roadside diner can sound like a great road trip activity, eating a big meal before hitting the road can make you sleepy as your body tries to digest all the food.
Most importantly, remember to pull over as soon as it’s safe to do so if you feel the pull of highway hypnosis. You will avoid a possible motor vehicle accident by doing so.
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