THE DRIVER DRIVEN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 December 1928, Page 12

THE DRIVER DRIVEN.

BACK SEAT NERVOUSNESS When once a car owner has attained a certain degree of proficiency in driving, and has ceased to be unfamiliar with the controls, it is fairly certain that lie will invariably be ill at ease in any car not driven by himself. This, I think, is accepted as a fact among motorists of experience. Indeed, the most experienced are often most affected (says an English writer). In the case of the driver temporarily turned passenger the working of the brain becomes, too active to allow him tiie peace of mind usually enjoyed by the non-driving passenger. Each driving difficulty to be overcome, each situation involving acts of acceleration or braking, causes his subconscious faculties to race ahead, as it were, and formulate solutions and ideas just as though he were actually in control of the car. He cannot admire the scenery uninterrupted or take a dispassionate enjoyment in the running of the car He cannot ignore the problems continually arising. "What mortorist when driven by another has not experienced the sensation of pressing down the foot upon an imaginary pedal when necessity has arisen for sudden braking? It is not merely a question of lack of confidence in the driver on the part of the temporary passenger; still is it one of ordinary nervousness.