Zoning out while driving

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Zoning out is one of several reasons why I no longer drive.
Many times riding my bicycle I zone out.. I end up going past where I need, can't remember getting were I am ... Kind of scarry.

I do know I stop at every stop sing and red light, yeild to pedestrians and all. Auto poilt...

Zoning out or just getting in to such deep thinking both have the same result.

I have parallel thoughts, so that helps explain how my auto pilot works.

I think for me this also has something to do with sensory overload. Here there are a million people on the street driving like mad cows, not obeying any traffic rules, it's a big mess, loud, stinky, noisy, flickering lights everywhere. So every time I'm on the street riding my bicycle I sort of shut down. My mind goes somewhere else and I'm just zoning out. I listen to music all the time which helps me to focus but it doesn't really keep me from zoning out.
Yet still I notice pretty much everything around me, I notice every car and pedestrian, my reflexes are extremely fast.. I'm not really there but the autopilot in my head works extremely well.

I cannot drive and I don't want to drive a car because I think the way I ride my bike is ok because it's easier to control... I guess me driving a car would be plain danger.

I did to the point where I finally had an accident. My driver's liscense was revoked and since then it's been tough getting around without driving. Other than the zoning, I had trouble with constant distractions and the overwhelming activity around me. It was just too much for me.

Yes, this happens to me a lot. Driving under the speed limit bores me extensively and I zone out. I usually have a loud music on in the car because that helps. And like somebody mentioned, if something comes up, I get shocked back into reality and have done what was required before I could even gather my senses. I was going on a trip with my sister and three friends two years ago. I was on my way picking one of them up, but ended up driving all over the city before my sister told the others to shut up and turned the music up. After that we quickly ended up at the right destination.

It also helps me to drive fast, it keeps my brain alert. Although, I have had a few car-crashes in my time. I used to drive extremely fast all the time, now I just drive a little too fast. All of my car-crashes were when I was under the speed limit. So, I guess for me, driving fast is a lot safer than driving legally.

I drive fast, but I'm very good at it.

The only problem is the fact that it's illegal and if the cops catch me, it wouldn't turn out so great. Although, since my brain is almost always very alert when I drive fast, that doesn't happen very often because I manage to notice the cops and slow down while they're around. I've only been ticketed five times, last time being last summer, and the one before that was two years before that.

Although, the guys in my motorcycle club tell me I'm very cautious. I never exceed my limit, and if I have any suspicion that I can't do something, I wont.

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Last edited by i_wanna_blue on 01 Mar 2012, 1:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

This sounds familiar. I seem to have a tendency to zone out when I drive - I had assumed it was a side effect of certain medications, as some do specify that they may cause drowsiness when driving. But now I think about it, I don't feel drowsy when I drive - it is more of a zoning out feeling.

I limit myself to local journeys only, and only ever use familiar routes.

"Zoning out" can have a variety of meanings, I guess... I sometimes get onto a thought process whereby I suddenly am wherever I was going, and I find it surprising that I'm already there because it seems like I didn't notice the travel. But it's not the kind of zoning out where I'm not paying attention. I'm still paying 100% attention to safe driving & correct navigation; I'm just dismissing each moment from my memory as it passes.

Charles

I don't want to sound like an ass..but if you just had an accident, why would your license be revoked because of that? I think you left out a few details, but its ok if you dont want to share it here or to me.

Yes, that is the same for me. To be honest I think a lot of NTs do the same thing.

Yeah, I zone out while driving, which is why I gave up trying to drive years ago. I just can't seem to focus on it. Was never in an accident, but I really don't trust my own ability in that area :/

Probably so...

Also I should add that I have had one accident that was my fault; I was a newer driver (age 18 or so), and I was going too fast in the rain and hit a hole in the pavement, and the car spun and crashed into a wall. Not hurt, and nobody else involved, so I got off lucky. I think it was a typical "teen driver must have" accident to learn a lesson, and it never happened again and it's been over 25 years and I drive a LOT. As with any other driver in a city, I've been bumped from behind a few times, and backed into a parked car once, and those things are statistically unavoidable, so we must be prepared to be responsible when they happen, and acting carefully and responsibly at all times, should relieve us of any undue guilt feelings when we do make a mistake.

Charles

I can zone out when driving, I think the best thing to do when you are driving is to constantly keep a commentary going in your head and not fixate on certain things, that will help you to stay aware. Try to stay in the moment instead of pondering elsewhere, you really need to constantly process when you are driving as the situation is always changing.

I have this too, some sort of autopilot mode especially on long car journeys BUT .... not when I'm on the bike.... probably because more concentration is needed and when I'm to unsettled I don't ride.

Yeah, I go on Autopilot for just about everything too dude.

I read about this study today so decided to google it:
http://mjpmotoring.co.uk/blog/motorists ... 11-minutes

It seems that it's a pretty common pheneomenon. And people think I'm weird for not learning to drive.

Yes, this happens to me quite a bit, especially because I have two or three regular driving paths that I take, depending if I'm going to work, going to my boyfriend's or going into 'town'. If I happen to be going somewhere different that requires a similar driving path, I'll usually drive right by where I need to turn and continue on as if I'm going to where the path usually takes me. So, if I'm going to my grandparent's, sometimes I'll end up halfway to work, and not realize how I got there, and have to turn around because I missed the turn I needed.

However, if I'm going somewhere I've never been, I'm anything but zoned out. I'm squeezing the steering wheel and leaning over it, hyper-aware of my surroundings. Driving to somewhere I've never been is a task that causes me a lot of anxiety. As soon as I'm familiar with how to get somewhere, though, it's auto pilot the whole way.