When we know a journey almost by heart, we run the risk of falling into road hypnosis. It is also a phenomenon associated with monotony or with spending many hours behind the wheel. Be careful!
“Road hypnosis happens to me when I drive home from work after the night shift,” a nurse confesses on Twitter (what is more, he admits that sometimes he does not even know how he got home). Road hypnosis – also called “white line fever” – occurs when a person, while driving, cannot remember carrying out a particular manoeuvre, or even passing a particular place. It is when the brain somehow switches off at the wheel. The driver goes through a period of automatic behaviour that they are not aware of at the time.
It is, without a doubt, a dangerous phenomenon.
It is very common to experience this kind of temporary trance during long journeys on seemingly endless dual carriageways, or on remote roads at night. The monotony of the tarmac and the continuous line lead us to fix our gaze on a single point, which is what produces this kind of hypnotic state. A 1997 driving manual describes it as a “phenomenon that occurs when the driver of a vehicle travels from one place to another without being aware of the route, usually because they are thinking about something else”.
Since when has the phenomenon been studied?
Known as “highway hypnotism”, it was first mentioned in 1921. Eight years later, in 1929, Walter Miles wrote about the subject again in “Sleeping With The Eyes Open”, in which he suggested that we might be able to sleep with our eyes open. G. W. Williams coined the term “highway hypnosis” in 1963. It is explained as if there were two parallel levels of consciousness: one that drives and one that keeps the mind on other thoughts.
What should you do about road hypnosis?
When we feel particularly absorbed in our thoughts at the wheel, we must react very quickly, both for the sake of efficient driving and so as not to put any life at risk, our own or anyone else’s.
How? By starting to move our head, looking at different points on the road, and watching the traffic and the road. What is more:
- If there are signs of sleepiness and fatigue, you must rest (for at least 20 or 30 minutes).
- Before resting, park the vehicle in a safe place
- In general, it is advisable to take breaks either every two hours or every 200 kilometres.