As festive season is here, many of you will be planning for getaways and road trips. These road trips usually involve long desolate stretch of highway and with signboards stating how much distance is still left.
Usually, these drives begin with enthusiasm and excitement and after a while long hours of driving leads to exhaustion. However, have you noticed that while you are driving on what seems like a never-ending road and suddenly the next thing you know have arrived at your destination. It feels like you snapped out of it mid-drive and realized you were farther along than you thought.
This experience of displacement and lost sense of time is a phenomenon known as “highway hypnosis” also referred to as white line fever. During this phenomenon, you go into a trance-like state while driving. According to experts, the monotony of the road slows down your brain, makes you alert and puts your brain in auto-pilot mode.
What happens when you get white line fever?
Usually people don’t realise when highway hypnosis or white line fever takes over. Some warning signs you might notice include:
- sleepiness
- loss of concentration or mental fogginess
- wandering thoughts
- a dull or dazed feeling
- slow reaction time
- heavy eyelids or frequent blinking
If you suddenly realise that you have passed a toll exit, or you can’t remember anything about the last several miles, you’ve probably experienced highway hypnosis. If you have a co-passenger with you in the car, then they will notice that you have a blank expression or glassy-eyed stare.
What is the cause of white line fever?
Highway hypnosis can happen to anyone, especially on the most familiar, mundane routes to and from frequently visited places like work, school, daycare and the grocery store. Cleveland Clinic maintains that highway hypnosis is a lot like time blindness, or the idea that time flies when you’re having fun. The condition is caused by a combination of hyperfocused automatic attention and procedural memory.
How serious is this condition?
Traffic police officials maintain that one of the leading causes for so many road accidents is highway hypnosis. In highway hypnosis, the driver experiences automaticity. However, drowsiness and fatigue can worsen this condition leading to accident. Drowsy driving or being fatigued behind the wheel is always dangerous, while highway hypnosis isn’t dangerous unless you’re also drowsy or tired when it’s happening.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 6,000 fatal car accidents each year involve a drowsy driver.
How to tackle white line fever?
If you start experiencing warning signs of highway hypnosis, try these tips to increase your alertness:
- Take a break
- Have some caffeine
- Talk or sing
- Make some environmental changes like rolling down the window or putting on loud music
Can you prevent white line fever?
The following strategy can prevent white line fever or highway hypnosis to some extent:
- Try a new road
- Eat lightly
- Try different music
- Get enough sleep