Sex Drive
New research suggests that drivers have more than traffic signals on their mind.
BY GABRIEL LEFRANCOIS

BigStockPhoto A new study suggets that drivers more often than not aren't thinking about the road.

What do you think about when you drive? Is it that damn SUV blocking your vision so you can’t actually see what’s causing the hold up in front of you? Are you that SUV? Could it be what’s for dinner? Or maybe it’s what you’ll be getting a little bit later because the kids are at grandmas house.

If it’s the latter, you’re not the only one. According to research by Sky Living for insurance company More Than, run by our English buddies across the pond, one in five drivers admit to concentrating behind the wheel less than 75 percent of the time, which based on population size would equate to 1.2 million Austin Power-toothed drivers thinking about other things besides the road.


"People believe they are not going to be involved in a crash and that if they are confronted with potential hazards, they believe they have the skills to avoid a crash," says Lisa Dorn, director of the Driving Research Group and an experienced manager with a long-standing history of research in driver behavior and training. "People drift off because they are not concerned about any consequences of lack of concentration or risk taking. They don't perceive risk and skill accurately—they possess self-serving biases."

In the society we live in today, it’s no surprise that people have other things on their mind while behind the wheel: work, family, money issues, which in this study ranked the highest. And even though Mrs. Dorn makes a compelling and informative argument about drivers not being able to "perceive risk and skill accurately," it’s almost refreshing to know that many people aren’t actually over working themselves with details, but rather looking forward to coming home and getting a little somethin’ somethin’. It’s just important that you’re more or less thinking of the your spouse and not the last movie you saw staring your favorite fantasy bed buddy. Just be careful, your only a half million cars away from home.

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