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Post by bc2ca on Aug 27, 2014 16:20:51 GMT
Yes, I was meeting my DH for an appt and went right past the exit as the car wanted to keep going to DD's school It did take me a minute to figure out where I was & how I could get to where I was supposed to be. I'm always asking DH where he is going when we head out somewhere as I realize he is heading to his office instead of where we should be going. This happens all the time, so now I ask as we approach the highway so at least he gets on in the correct direction.
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Post by jemali on Aug 27, 2014 17:36:43 GMT
Not to that extreme. I will be driving to church, know that I am driving to church, but the car wants to go in the right lane instead of the left and drive somewhere else. I usually realize it right as I am turning and have to turn around. Once in a while I will be driving and think, I sure hope that light was green because I don't remember looking at it. But as far as I know anyway I haven't gone through a red light, I just look at the light without concentrating on it.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,896
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Aug 27, 2014 17:40:38 GMT
I've done it too and it freaks me out too.
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River
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,575
Location: Alabama
Jun 26, 2014 15:26:04 GMT
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Post by River on Aug 27, 2014 17:43:09 GMT
That's scary Meg!! I have done it occasionally but more along the lines of ending up where I wanted to be but without remembering anything about the journey....I don't think I've ever ended up somewhere unexpected. ^^^This! I've ended up at work (an hour away) on an off day when I was just going to town, 10 minutes away. My car seriously has it's own course set with me just along for the ride.
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calgal08
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,519
Jun 27, 2014 15:43:46 GMT
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Post by calgal08 on Aug 27, 2014 17:44:21 GMT
Constantly on auto-pilot and when I realize I'm doing it, it scares the crap out of me
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Post by keknj on Aug 27, 2014 17:55:46 GMT
I've done that, but usually it's just "coming to" a few miles down the road. I hate the feeling tho. Makes me scared that I could hurt someone.
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Post by papersilly on Aug 27, 2014 18:00:05 GMT
it happens mostly when I need to enter the freeway in the opposite direction as I do for work. my car goes into auto pilot and I get on the freeway headed for work instead of where I need to go.
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Post by ChicagoKTS on Aug 27, 2014 18:11:24 GMT
I have done it many times in the context of driving to the train station in the morning. All of a sudden I realize I am there and really don't remember much between leaving and arriving. It's only 4 miles so at least I didn't drive for any real length of time in a zoned out state. I reconized it was a result of sleep deprevation since I was having lots of problems sleeping and generally would finally fall deep asleep about an hour before I had to get up. I finally broke down and asked my doctor for something and she prescribed Ambien. Things are much better now that I get a better night's sleep. I haven't had the total zone out very much over the past few years.
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M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128
Jun 29, 2014 12:11:41 GMT
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Post by M in Carolina on Aug 27, 2014 23:20:54 GMT
The problem with autopilot is that it probably also means you have tunnel vision at the time and are not aware of what is around you. This will cause a lot of wrecks. I've read about this "auto pilot" phenomena, and studies have shown that the drivers' brain is aware of how to drive the car, etc, and be safe. The conscious brain just zaps out for a few seconds and it feels like an eternity. The "studies" say that sort of zone out doesn't affect reaction times. The reason it mostly happens in rural locations is that your brain won't go on auto pilot when you're in a lot of traffic and need all your focus on the cars around you. If you're exhausted or sleep, that's the kind of zoning out that leads to accidents. Or if you're on medications that can cause sleep driving, etc. like some sleep aids. I'm fascinated with how our brains work and heal. I quit driving after my stroke because I lost my sense of directions (before I was great at navigation and reading maps. I could figure out how to get around in a strange city even before I was old enough to drive). After my stroke, I would get lost and not be able to figure out how to get home. A GPS really helped. Now I only drive when my head is clear, and I don't like driving alone. Dh mostly drives for me, but there have been times I've had to take him to the hospital or go out a few miles to get groceries and prescriptions when dh is laid up. If I was having a lot of episodes of zoning out and finding myself in strange areas, I'd definitely talk to my doctor. My dh's sister had this and it's how she was diagnosed with narcolepsy.
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Post by anniefb on Aug 27, 2014 23:43:10 GMT
I do this all the time. I'm pretty sure it's very common, particularly if you've been driving for a while and are following familiar routes. I found this article which suggests if you have no memory of a route it's because you didn't need to use the frontal lobe of the brain. According to the article, the frontal lobe is activated whenever potential danger lurks and analyzes the best response to the situation. It helps in areas such as planning routes and controlling memorized body movement.
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Post by freecharlie on Aug 27, 2014 23:51:43 GMT
I've been driving and passed my turn because I was just driving my normal work route instead of where I was going or turned to go to work when bbbj I should be going straight.
I've never "come to" while driving. That scares me that people do
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Post by AussieMeg on Aug 28, 2014 3:02:16 GMT
The problem with autopilot is that it probably also means you have tunnel vision at the time and are not aware of what is around you. This will cause a lot of wrecks. I've read about this "auto pilot" phenomena, and studies have shown that the drivers' brain is aware of how to drive the car, etc, and be safe. The conscious brain just zaps out for a few seconds and it feels like an eternity. The "studies" say that sort of zone out doesn't affect reaction times. The reason it mostly happens in rural locations is that your brain won't go on auto pilot when you're in a lot of traffic and need all your focus on the cars around you. This is really interesting, as is the link by anniefb. Like others have mentioned, it happens infrequently, and usually only when I am travelling along a familiar route such as the other night, when I was driving home from work the same way I do 5 nights a week. I hope that what you posted is correct, and that it doesn't affect reaction times.
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Aug 28, 2014 4:15:01 GMT
I've done this a handful of times and it terrifies me each time. I've never gone past my exit, but I often "come to" and it feels like an eternity before I know where I am. It's usually a road sign that orients me. It always happens on drives that I do daily.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Post by scrapmaven on Aug 28, 2014 4:22:19 GMT
For some reason I'm picturing the scene from Vacation where Chevy Chase backs perfectly into the motel parking space after falling asleep on the road.
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Post by Crack-a-lackin on Aug 28, 2014 4:37:09 GMT
yep. that's exactly how it's so easy to leave a child in the car if you're not used to them being there. without you even realizing it, your brain takes over and you just skip that trip to daycare or the sitter and go to work and never remember.
I always find myself headed to work when we're aiming to go somewhere else.. it's like once I'm on that road my brain takes over and says oh, we're going to work. Exactly what I was thinking
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 11, 2024 0:28:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2014 5:22:10 GMT
Last summer I was driving home and apparently my SIL and her DH passed me, honked and waved. They tried to get my attention for a while yet, but I didn't even look at them, I had my hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead. None of us could believe that I hadn't heard or seen a thing.
It still freaks me out if I think about it.
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ComplicatedLady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,083
Location: Valley of the Sun
Jul 26, 2014 21:02:07 GMT
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Post by ComplicatedLady on Aug 28, 2014 5:38:28 GMT
Just a few weeks ago, I was driving home from work and for some odd reason, I turned onto a road that I never take way before my usual turn. I have no idea why I did it. It was a pain to turn around and get back on track.
I've also had several times where I'm driving and end up at my destination not remembering the journey. It's a weird feeling.
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Post by darkangel090260 on Aug 28, 2014 6:58:10 GMT
Ok this scares the crap out of me. No I do not do this . But know there is so many people on the road doing is kinda scary.
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Post by leftturnonly on Aug 28, 2014 7:11:44 GMT
.... and then wondered where you were or how you got there?
It has happened to me a few times. Last night I was driving home from work. I was deep in thought about something, and when I "came to" I had absolutely no idea where the bloody hell I was! Nothing looked familiar. I was in a rural looking area with bush on either side. I was wracking my brain trying to remember whether perhaps I went straight ahead after turning off the freeway instead of turning right? Or maybe I missed the turn where I have to go left and took the next one by mistake? It was getting dark and I thought I may as well keep driving for a few minutes until I came across a road sign that might give me a hint. Well, it turned out that I WAS on the right road after all, I think it looked unfamiliar because I freaked myself out when I first came to.
Another time I was driving from work to my hairdresser's salon. I was on autopilot and this time when I came to I was on the freeway. I was supposed to have gone straight ahead instead of turning onto the freeway. I thought to myself that I would get off at the next exit, but I had no idea how far along the freeway I had driven, and where I was exactly. Luckily I had only gone one exit along, but I was still a bit late for my appointment.
Now I'm wondering whether I have early onset Alzheimer's or I'm just a bit flakey when I'm deep in thought!!! If I had a dollar for every time this has happened to me.... And the thing of it is, is that I am absolutely aware of driving safely. I just go blank about where the hell I'm supposed to be going. I can drive the same short, local route every day for six months and suddenly have no clue how to get where I'm going. I was in marching band when I was a kid and the same thing would happen at times during performances. I consider it a little bit of a disconnect in my attention abilities - a form of attention disorder.
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Post by leftturnonly on Aug 28, 2014 7:29:03 GMT
That's scary Meg!! I have done it occasionally but more along the lines of ending up where I wanted to be but without remembering anything about the journey....I don't think I've ever ended up somewhere unexpected. Ditto. I've done that many a time. DH says my car drives itself sometimes. I have taken one of the children to their piano lesson and I should have been taking the other to Brownies. The annoying thing is that DD usually asks " Where are you going Mum" AFTER we arrive at the wrong destination. I've never had a total blank that I don't even know where I am though,thankfully. My kids learned pretty young that if they wanted to be sure to get to the right place, they needed to pay attention while I was driving. I was a member of a quilt guild, and one of the speakers was internationally known. She had a quilt that had house blocks in the center and a border with arrows, and she told us this was for all the times she had just sailed right on past her house when driving. I thought it was hilarious, and Oh so very true! So, I came home and told my dh about the quilt.... me: You know when you drive past our street and..... dh: Looking at me like I have 2 heads me: And you just miss it... dh: shaking his head now me: You've done that, right? dh: No. me: You're kidding, right? dh: No. me: EVERYBODY does that, right? dh: No. Yeah. I kept him entertained a good many years.
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