Sometimes when I get in the car to drive home, I don’t remember it. I didn’t even notice the first time it happened, but when it continued, eventually I started to wonder why. I thought it was concerning, and because of that I didn’t tell anyone about it. This continued all through my years in college and in many other points of my driving career, but it changed when I saw this meme:
When I saw this, I thought, “Wait, other people do this?” which then prompted me to check the comments. It turns out, there are TONS of people that completely zone out on the road and then “reawaken” at their destination. It’s super weird. After discovering that other people share this phenomenon, I googled “I don’t remember my drive” and found some interesting results.
Apparently, this is a fairly common driving condition called either Highway Hypnosis or White Line Fever. According to the HealthLine article, this is quite common with tired drivers though there are other contributing factors. It could be a monotonous commute, a lack of brain stimulation, sleep deprivation, or a mix of all that forces the mind into cruise control as well.
The rest of the article discusses ways to prevent Highway Hypnosis, all of which are wildly unhelpful (sorry HealthLine). They recommend having caffeine, eating lightly, and making new playlists. As a coffee addicted college student I have no problem with any of those things. Aside from that though, they recommend getting enough sleep. It’s as simple as that. I sleep well, but it’s likely that I don’t sleep enough, or that when I do my brain is still doing things and not shutting the fuck up like I want it to. That’s something I’ll try to work on.
Ultimately, even though I’ve survived my time under the highway’s spell, it leaves me at a lesser state of attentiveness which could certainly have catastrophic consequences. We can add this to the massive pile of things to think about when we take our explosive 1 ton coffins out for a spin. The next time you find yourself drifting into this mindless void while on the road, I hope you think of this column. And if you by chance do, open the window. Let the cool air rush onto your face and body and rejuvenate your driving capabilities. Drive safe out there friends.
