Zoning out while driving

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I'm a new driver. I've had my license for two months and owned a car for six weeks. I'm twenty-five years old.

My skill level at driving is something above the level at which accidents are automatic, but still quite a distance below competent. I have had four near-accidents, enough to cause people to brake or swerve and hit their horns, over the past six weeks, three of them at busy intersections involving misjudgment of when to pull out, and one when I failed to see a white truck against snow when I checked for cars before changing lanes. I've also run one red light because I wasn't calculating my stopping distance properly and thought I would end up skidding into the intersection if I stopped.

So: New driver. Still incompetent. Haven't killed anyone yet, though, and don't tend to be very anxious. After all four near-accidents I was completely calm again within about thirty seconds. Given a choice, though, I will walk rather than drive. I don't see the point of using gas on a half-mile trip.

The problem I'm encountering now is that I'm starting to zone out while I'm driving, especially if I'm particularly stressed out. When I'm under stress--too little sleep, too much schoolwork, worrying about a test, not having eaten enough, etc.--I tend to shut down almost involuntarily. As far as I can tell, when I'm in a state like that, people would say I am "in my own little world"; what it is, really, is more like daydreaming. My best theory is that when I'm overloaded like that, my brain makes me relax whether I like it or not, by pulling away from my physical surroundings.

Needless to say, dissociating like that while driving a car can be dangerous. The incident with the white truck happened during exactly such a time, when I wasn't paying enough attention; and I was lucky that I habitually use my turn signal to change lanes because it gave him enough time to alert me that he was there so I could pull back into my lane instead of running him off the road. That day, I hadn't gotten enough sleep--six hours, approximately--and was just getting over the flu, and had been working hard to try to catch up with what I'd fallen behind with, and hadn't had enough down time the day before.

Second possibility: I have gotten used to driving enough that it is now no longer stimulating enough to hold my attention. This can combine with the stress idea to mean that I can force myself to pay attention to something uninteresting much more easily when I am not overloaded.

My counselor at school, when I asked her for advice, told me that it is normal to zone out while driving, and that most drivers dissociate so that often times they don't even remember their drive home.

Problem being: Apparently, when I do the same thing many drivers do, my performance goes down and I become a more dangerous driver than mere inexperience would make me.

Usually, when I drive and I pay attention, I notice everything; and the problem isn't not seeing things but judging which things are important. Zoned out, I notice next to nothing and am lucky to keep my car between the lines. I can't always force my attention to go where it should go, or I'd just tell myself to pay attention and solve the problem that way...

Has anyone got a solution to this?

The funny thing with me, is that my nerves actually make me a better driver, in that I'm so afraid of making a mistake that I suppose I am over cautious. I regard myself as a decent driver, I've never had any incidents while driving. I've been driving for about 3 and a bit years now.

I tend to zone out aswell while driving, but I soon regain my control, because I know being vigilant while driving is very important. I seem to zone out, daydream ,be lost in thought when I am most relaxed (due to meds). So maybe for you a cup of coffee or energy drink will help you to focus. But don't try to over focus this can prove to be just as bad. Be calm and trust yourself when driving. One thing I've learnt is let the car do the work, not you. The more experienced you become the easier this will be to achieve. Good luck.

I have had my licence six months and had two minor accidents (fender benders) one was reversing into a letter box and the other running into a car in tight space. There were contributing factors for both of them and no one was hurt, i didnt break the law and the damage was minor. I wouldnt take it as a personal thing I think that a lot of inexperienced drivers have minor accidents in thewir first months of driving there is a difference between inexperienced and bad. If yuou are doing the same thing after five years then I think there is something to worry about.

i also zone out while driving, (as it seems do a few others here). my major problem is multitasking, which sometimes looks like i'm zoning out (because i forget about one thing or another). i am also very anxious while driving and after 3-5 minutes will have very tense muscles in all my limbs. i think sometimes the intense anxiety leads to zoning out, too.

really though, the main thing that prevents me from driving is the sun... either i bear it and get even more anxious (have a good cry when i get to wherever i'm supposed to be), or stick one arm in the air to catch the shadow and use my other hand to drive (and be lucky if i don't crash into something.). that in itself is a distraction on the road - in addition to zoning!

i still drive when i have to.

Do you have non-verbal difficulties?

I have NVLD and I am a good driver, unless I am driving to a place I am unfamiliar with. So generally I am limited to driving to the same places I usually go and always driving the same routes.

Good job there.

Perhaps you're focusing too much and it's overwhelming you without you realizing it (you focus so much because you have to); when driving, there's so many things that you have to pay attention to, and all of which can play havoc with someone who has problems with executive dysfunction (O, and people with an ASD are far worse at doing more than one thing at a time compared to normal people, and driving on the public roads is many, many things). This "zoning out" feeling can be mental and physical exhaustion due to the extra effort it requires from you compared to normal people.

I don't know what could help this, other than carefully planning it all out before you go and avoiding times that are busy.

I occasionally have a similar problem. Normally I am fine driving but sometimes I have problems concentrating. I just keep thinking of other things & don't feel I have my mind on the task of driving as well as I should. I haven't had any accidents because of it but it does concern me. So if this occurs often I just return home & put it off until the next day. Fortunately I am normally in a position to be able to do this. However, there are some occasions when I have to make that trip. When this happens I use the technique of saying "FOCUS" over & over again, sometimes shouting at myself. It works for me. I find I am able to concentrate well on driving & don't let my thoughts drift elsewhere. I do get some funny looks from people at times & comments if there is anyone else in the car. Actually, I find nothing worse than having someone else in the car on days like that. They just want to talk about other things & make concentration difficult.

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