From the online traffic school course I’m slogging through tonight:
“Common psychological occurrences in freeway driving are velocitation and highway hypnosis. Velocitation occurs when you unconsciously go too fast on the freeway. Highway hypnosis occurs when the road literally hypnotizes you. To prevent these problems, drive only when you are mentally alert and rested. Make frequent stops if you go on a long trip. ”
I never heard the word “velocitation” – seems like it’s a govt-recognized condition. Hmm… wonder if one could use it to get out of a ticket. “I have a velocitation disorder, officer.”
I need info on velocition. Me and my group were working on the project but my parents stole me away. Now I’m gonna get an F on it, cus I gotta stay up all night doing it alone. what is my parents problem?
Velocitation is caused by long periods of high speed travel. The eyes become fatigued in the horizontal plane to images streaming through the windscreen. Velocitation can be noticed when entering built-up areas after long periods of country driving. The speed drop from 100 km/hr to 60 km/hr makes the driver think the car is going much slower (maybe walking pace). The eyes can no longer judge horizontal velocity correctly and as such cannot judge safe following distances. The only remedy is to stop the images streaming through the windscreen, to do this stop and park for several minutes to allow the eyes to rest.