It’s a Sign… Let’s Stop and Listen.

Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon known as a tendency to see a specific pattern or image where none exists. The most common example of this is seeing faces, whether it’s in the clouds, a random mud splatter, or the moon. As a kid, I would often look for faces on the road as cars passed by in what I imagined as a greeting. With domed, square, sleek, or long and narrow headlights, I pictured the car’s two lights as its eyes and the emblem on its grill as its nose, creating unique expressions and personalities for each vehicle.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this habit hasn’t altogether disappeared now that I’m behind the wheel myself, but it has helped me evaluate my driving. The first thing it did for me was confirm I wasn’t being as attentive as I should’ve been. Additionally, it forced me to think about the psychology behind driving. Finally, it encouraged me to be more aware of practicing safe driving habits.

While driving, we often fail to consider how our attention levels subconsciously change. This is one thing I think basic driver’s education does not emphasize enough. In order to accomplish true self-awareness regarding our driving, I think we need to employ large changes in mindset, supplemented with the practice of a habit of attentiveness. Driver’s education currently plays a pretty large role in influencing the habits of beginning drivers, but I actually think it’s seasoned drivers who might need a little review. Getting comfortable on the road can quickly lead to an overestimate of our abilities, leading us to let our guard down. A Guardian article written by Chris Chambers on the topic of driving habits agrees, “We believe we are safer than we really are…Over time we learn how to predict the actions of other drivers, which can lead to the illusion that we control them.”

Furthermore, when we do come close to having an accident, we quickly dismiss the incident and return to our semi-reckless attitudes. This attitude is partly due to another psychological phenomenon: the fundamental attribution error. As described by Chambers, “fundamental attribution error causes us to attribute another driver’s mistakes to their ability, whereas we are able to excuse our own errors by attributing them as situational”. For example, we may think someone weaving between lanes and speeding is “crazy”, but when we ourselves speed, we argue “it’s a one time incident” or “I just couldn’t afford to be late”.

Personally, I have experienced several situations where I witnessed irresponsible driving. Still, in a car full of six of my friends, nobody commented as the driver sped up to 20 mph over the limit. I suppose everyone in the car had been in similar situations and didn’t feel like it was necessary to say anything or perhaps were even worried they’d come off as rude, but this is a dangerous mindset. Not speaking out only enables a culture where dangerous driving habits are accepted as inevitable.

As I was able to see in my own life, many perceive speeding as inconsequential, despite statistics very obviously stating otherwise. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claims that “in 2020 there were 53,890 drivers involved in 35,766 fatal crashes…Nineteen percent of the drivers involved were speeding at the time.” Similarly, drivers continue to run stop and yield signs even after knowing it could cost them their life. Data published in 2023 by the US Department of Transportation shows a total of 7,089 fatalities in 2020 involving an unsignalized intersection.

Given the current attitude many drivers have seemed to embrace, I believe the best step we can take to become better and safer drivers is to stop dismissing the little things. A report by the NHTSA states that “human behavior is clearly shaped by the external forces collectively known as Culture… All forms of human behavior, including driving style, are similarly influenced by external forces that define what is appropriate and what is not.” Current accessibility of automobiles and the regularity in which the average person drives has made us perceive driving as ‘simple’, leading us to subconsciously pay less attention and be more willing to bend the rules, whether it’s by speeding or running a stop sign.

There are currently many propositions for increasing road safety, whether it be the addition of driver-assisting technology to cars or infrastructure and design changes to our roads, but these methods are both expensive and difficult to implement. Instead, rather than focusing on the car or the road, I think the simplest solution is to make sure drivers are consistently practicing good habits even when it supposedly does not matter, because that just might save a life when it does matter. Designing driver’s education to have a longer lasting impact and providing drivers with a psychological perspective may also encourage them to practice safety on the roads.

It may be our hands on the wheel and our feet on the pedals, but it’s our brain that ultimately controls our driving patterns. The best thing we can do, then, is train our brains– give it a pattern to remember. As inconsequential as running a stop might seem, let’s do our best to recognize the signs and listen.

 

 

Works Cited

Chambers, Chris. “Bad Driving: What Are We Thinking? New laws to curb dangerous driving highlight the fascinating psychology of the road.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, Aug 2013.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts: 2020 Data.” NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Jun 2020.

Federal Highway Administration. “About Intersection Safety.” FHWA Highway Safety Programs. US Department of Transportation, Feb 2023.