What is highway hypnosis?

highway hypnosis is a term used to describe a driving phenomenon in which a person is so focussed on the monotony of driving that he or she loses focus and enters an almost trance-like state. It's also referred to as "road hypnosis," "highway trance," or "white line fever." Essentially, highway hypnosis occurs when the mind is captivated by the seemingly endless straight line of the highway while simultaneously drifting away from conscious thought.

Highway hypnosis can be triggered by repetitive movements and drab visuals such as the continuous sameness of driving on long stretches of highways or country roads for extended periods of time without variation in scenery or change in direction. In such instances, there is nothing to shake a driver out of complacency as his/her vision becomes fixed on the far point ahead of them with no real change in vision from one second to the next. During normal driving (on familiar routes), people can become so accustomed to specific roadway features that their minds wander from thought to thought and often forget the route altogether. This occurs with increasing frequency when drivers are two-thirds or more into their drive times. After an extended period of time, it's nearly inevitable for some level of distraction and relaxation to set in. When this happens, minds wander even farther away from conscious thoughts as focus shifts onto some inner projection rather than outer reality.

Numerous studies have explored highway hypnosis on both professional truckers and average drivers alike, each dedicated one after another discovering similar results: people often become too relaxed while they drive because they get lost in thought and their attention wanders off the task at hand, creating dangerous road conditions potentially leading to fatal accidents. Modern technology often plays a role here in passively distracting drivers just enough to create near-dangerous conditions on otherwise safe roads - particularly those surrounded by plenty of nothingness more than busy scenes with plenty of stimulus vying for attention.