Accident Prone?

February 18, 2006 3:24 PM

Is there such a thing as "accident prone and am I currently experiencing it?

Earlier this week I got an expensive speeding ticket (am taking it to court). Afterwards I found myself being overly cautious, driving more slower than usual. The next day I had to go on a business trip and this cautiousness was even more pronounced driving the rental car. Yesterday I woke up with a strong premonition that I was going to have an accident with the rental car. This freaked me out and I became even more cautious. Then a time factor was added and I had to hurry to the airport to catch my plane. In quickly backing out of my parking spot I neglected to see a car parked in a non parking area, and of course the result was a big dent in the other car (no real damage to the rental). The combination of a speeding ticket and an insurance claim is worrisome. Since then I have been totally paranoid.

This whole process of a series of accidents mainly caused by a combination of hurry and overcautiousnees has happened in the past. I stopped it by driving only when it was essential and by riding a bike and taking public transportation. I now live in a rural area and this is not an option. Any suggestions for breaking the accident prone cycle?

posted by Xurando to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

I found that hurrying didn't actually get me anywhere faster (ie, timing my trips to work, I might shave a lousy minute off a 30 minute drive by driving in a hurry to the point that it's dangerous. It's really surprising how utterly ineffective it is to try to get somewhere quicker by car, unless the trip involves 3 hours of desert road.). Since then I just don't hurry when driving - it makes no difference to when I arrive and only creates unnecessary danger.

Hurrying while driving makes you feel like you're getting there faster, so there is a strong psychological drive to do it, but when you know better, it's easy to ignore that instinct.

I don't think over-cautiousness is a problem. I wish more drivers were excessively cautious.
posted by -harlequin- at 3:36 PM on February 18, 2006

Sounds like self-fulfilling prophecy to me. I applaud your cautious driving... but if you over-think and worry too much, it seems more bound to happen. That's been my experience, anyhow - and not just with driving.
posted by ArsncHeart at 3:48 PM on February 18, 2006

Overcautiousness might lead you to fixate on one thing instead of taking in the whole picture, like mental tunnel vision. If you're being really careful not to bump the cars beside you, you don't see the guy behind you; if you're watching your speed carefully you don't notice the guy about to pull out from a driveway, and so on.

That said, a speeding ticket and a fender-bender aren't much of a cycle; other than both having to do with a car, they don't even seem to have much to do with each other. And I bet you spend a lot of time in the car, so two things happening in the car isn't that remarkable.
posted by mendel at 3:57 PM on February 18, 2006

I don't see how over cautiousness can cause accidents. If you were really being over-cautious you would have seen the car parked in the non-parking spot. Duh.

To be a cautious driver, you need to focus not on following all the rules, but on having total situational awareness. You should assume that all other drivers on the road are drunk, eating, steering with their knees and talking on a cell phone. Don't rely on them doing their jobs right. If you're going to back up, make sure to look around and know exactly what's behind you.

I mean, you hit a parked car. Looking behind you as you back up doesn't even slow you down in any appreciable way.
posted by delmoi at 4:16 PM on February 18, 2006

I don't see how over cautiousness can cause accidents. If you were really being over-cautious you would have seen the car parked in the non-parking spot. Duh.

Your 'duh' is premature. Over-cautious drivers can be dangerous because they are essentially fixated on themselves and fail to take into account their effect on other drivers, often many at once. Or on preview, what mendel said. Over-cautious drivers drive slowly, they react slowly, they increase general stress on the road and they interrupt traffic flow. Total situational awareness comes from being confident and relaxed, having good hand-eye coordination, and practice. I'm not saying we shouldn't be cautious, but there's a limit. Some things just run more smoothly when you trust your instincts as well as your head. I guess that's just one view, though.
posted by BorgLove at 5:02 PM on February 18, 2006

Any decent skier or snowboarder knows that when you are skiing in trees, you focus on the gaps, not the trees... otherwise you hit the trees. Human beings have an uncanny ability to go where they're looking, even when driving a car. So if you fixate on what you're trying to avoid, you may end up hitting it.

(I know this isn't exactly what happened here but...)

When I'm driving at night in bad weather with oncoming traffic I find this helpful to remember...
posted by unSane at 7:46 PM on February 18, 2006

The term for what unSane is talking about is 'target fixation', just in case anybody wants to read more about it. It happens with motorsports, and often in panic situations driving.
posted by tumble at 10:31 AM on February 19, 2006

I believe that some people are particularly accident prone. I don't believe it's congenital, but as a result of the way that people do things, i.e. rushing, not paying attention, not thinking that they are fallable, being distracted, not thinking, etc.
posted by JamesMessick at 9:19 PM on February 19, 2006