Do you know that you’re just an “okay” driver? Can you acknowledge the fact that – even though you’ve been driving for years – you still sometimes make a few boneheaded mistakes?
If you’re willing to admit to that, you’re a step ahead of most drivers in this country. According to a study by AAA, the vast majority of drivers – a whopping 73% – believe that they’re “above average” in skill, even though 90% of wrecks are due to nothing more complicated than human error.
What’s the psychology behind it?
What makes so many people believe that they’re “better than average” even though that’s a statistical impossibility? It usually comes down to things like:
- Ego protection: People need to preserve their self-esteem, and nobody wants to believe they’re just average – let alone “below average,” especially when it comes to an important skill like driving.
- Selective memory: Drivers may tend to focus on the times when they successfully avoided an accident that someone else almost caused – while forgetting the times they were distracted and laughing off the times they called a red light “pink” and blew through it anyhow.
- The Dunning-Kruger Effect: This is a psychological bias that essentially says that the less skilled a person is at something, the less aware they are of their own shortcomings. Among drivers, this may mean that some folks simply are oblivious to the fact that they have terrible reaction times, poor judgment and critical thinking skills.
The overconfidence of certain drivers puts everybody at risk, so it’s good to be humble when you’re behind the wheel. It makes you more cautious, and that makes you safer. If you do end up in a crash, make sure you seek the appropriate legal guidance.