PAY ATTENTION: The Implications of Modern Dissociation in Driving

Motor vehicle accidents often fall under a unique level of blissful ignorance, wherein those who have yet to be impacted by them, either metaphorically or literally, think “it could never happen to me, I’m too careful.” And yet, much to their chagrin, it can happen, and it does happen. These accidents occur several times every day, and while I was lucky enough to escape my first (and hopefully last) without any lasting injuries, I am distinctly aware that many others have not had such fortunate resolutions to their experiences.

When teaching psychology students about the concept of dissociation, that is to say losing awareness and recollection of one’s actions while thinking about something, the example of driving from school back to one’s home is a frequently used and seemingly universal example. Many people will, while thinking about something on their way home from work or school, suddenly find themselves pulling into their driveway, despite not being particularly present mentally during the process of getting there. And yet, for me, I have never had such an experience while behind the wheel.

Not once have I driven home without cautiously surveying and assessing every lane shift, unprotected left turn, and highway merge. Never in my life have I felt that I was safe within the confines of the driver’s seat of a car. Now, this is in no way the side effect of an ongoing inexperience or lack of trustworthiness on the road as a driver (in fact, my family has stated they suspect the first ticket I receive will be for driving too slowly), but rather is a reflection of my perspective as the only person in my life who hasn’t been in a serious and terrifying car accident, or so it often seems.

My father endured a multitude of accidents when he was younger, some even being while he was riding a motorcycle. And in turn he has told me a multitude of times how lucky he is to not be permanently affected or worse due to his negligence on the road when he was younger. Far more recently, my mother and sister both found themselves attending regular appointments with a chiropractor following a collision with a tree on an ice-covered section of highway, and they both consider themselves extremely lucky for having experienced one of the best possible outcomes of losing control while on the highway.

And yet, despite everyone else in my family– and many of my close friends to boot– having had near death experiences on the road, I had held the same foolish notion most others hold that I needn’t worry about getting into a car accident, as long as I continued to drive the way I was taught to. This notion was shattered when, on the way to a dress rehearsal for a musical during my sophomore year, before I had even received my driving permit, let alone my license, my father and I were run off the road by someone attempting to move into another lane while we were in it.

Although I wasn’t the one driving, I was taught a very valuable lesson, one which drives the way I drive today: doing everything you’re supposed to do on the road doesn’t ensure your safety. Roads are an exercise in teamwork, cooperation, and above all, trust. Trust that other drivers will do what they’re supposed to do, trust that those who constructed those roads did so correctly, and trust that the manufacturers of your car assembled everything in such a way that, with regular upkeep and supervision, it will run as it’s intended to.

In the end though, trust only goes so far, because at times that trust may be violated. In those moments when teamwork and cooperation fail, the effectiveness of the road must be propped up by vigilance instead, for in conjunction with trust, vigilance ensures one’s safety. And yet, vigilance isn’t necessarily a requirement prior to its implementation, and as a result, a staggeringly large number of people today see no need to adhere to its custom.

It is in this area which I believe modern driver’s training programs are lacking. That is not to say that such programs are poorly structured or substantially lacking in material; on the contrary, I’ve found them to be quite informative. At the same time however, the importance of not only understanding the presented information, habits, and warnings, but also retaining that information years to come after procuring one’s license is an aspect of driver’s training which I solemnly believe to be paramount to ensuring the success and safety of future attendees of driving schools everywhere.