Doctor reacts: driving while unconscious?!

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]POV, you realize in the middle of driving you haven't been paying attention and start wondering how you're still alive.

[00:00:08]Yeah, this has a name. It's called highway hypnosis. Your brain gets bored.

[00:00:11]The road doesn't change, so it switches into autopilot. You're technically awake, still [music] steering, but your consciousness has checked out. This is because your brain is relying on automaticity, which is your brain's ability to run learned tasks on autopilot without conscious thought.

[00:00:27]This is the same reason you can play an instrument or ride a bike without thinking about every little movement you make. Same [music] thing happens here.

[00:00:34]You'll stay in your lane. You'll follow traffic, but you're not fully present and your reaction time can drop up to 20%. That's why allowing highway hypnosis to take over can actually be so risky. [music] It contributes to about one in seven highway accidents. If you catch it happening, wake your brain up.

[00:00:50]Change the music, open a window, move around, anything to [music] break the pattern.