Do you walk into traffic?

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I picked the "am lost in thought..." option, which is closest to what actually happens; but really it's somewhere between that and "no", because it really happens very seldom.

When I'm in severe overload, right on the brink of meltdown and probably left with just single words to communicate with, I have some problems with awareness of the world around me. Not necessarily being unaware; it's just that I don't really have enough brain left to think about what all the things around me mean. At this point, it is possible for me to walk into traffic without thinking about the fact that I am walking onto a road; or just keep walking on the same path without noticing there's something in front of me. It feels a little like the world is "far away" or irrelevant.

Oddly enough, though, it's a very narrow range that actually puts me in danger of walking into traffic, because with only a very little more, I am overloaded enough that I am having a difficult time standing up because keeping my balance also takes some small amount of concentration, and am likely to just sit down wherever I happen to be until I can get my bearings again.

I have walked into things (and on occasion run into stationary objects on my bicycle) because I was too overloaded to think about where I was going, but not lately, not during the past year or so. When I had a car, I would always do a mental check before I left to make sure that I was able to drive safely; if there was any chance I couldn't, I would just stay home. (I ought to do that with my bike, too, come to think of it.)

So yeah, it's pretty much a problem I've learned to deal with--I just don't get anywhere near a road (or other dangerous place) when I know I'm getting near a state where it'll be unsafe for me. Any meltdown I can't stave off that way usually happens too fast for me to balance on the dangerous thin edge between "able to remember to avoid cars" and "able to walk into the road".

No. I do get lost in thought while walking, but I couldn't possibly walk from the sidewalk into the road without a conscious decision.

I rarely walk into traffic, but it happens occasionally.

Usually it happens because there is too much sensory information for me to take in at a time, with a lot of moving objects (cars, people, shopping carts, even rain or garbage flying in the wind), strong lights, lots of different sounds and smells etc. It has also happened while I was lost in my thoughts, but that has happened less often.

Parking lots are the worst for me, but fortunately cars usually drive slowly in them, so I think I'm usually not in a very serious danger.

I don't stray out into traffic, but I do barge into objects in the house or in familiar places without seeing them, since I have a 1-track mind, and can't always see something in my path if I'm in a deep thought. I guess my common sense interrupts my deep thoughts or distractions, when there is a commonly-recognized menace or danger (road, traffic, stairs, unsavory people standing ahead, etc) in my immediate path.

Case in point, I sometimes run a shopping cart into a support pillar in a store while assessing which item is the better deal on a shelf, or worse, walk right into somebody in public without noticing there was anyone/anything there.

Charles

No, I am a bit overly cautious about this to tell you the truth.

When crossing the street, I will wait to all cars have either stopped, or there are no cars within 500 feet of the crosswalk.

just spacing out. i got hit by a car once actually.

it isn't something i do often. i'm more likely to stand at an intersection where there is no traffic and forget to cross.