Wait - Was That My Exit?

How did this happen? How did I miss my exit? I've taken this exit a million times. Okay, maybe not a million, but many hundreds of times. How did I just skip right by it? I didn't even see it. One second I was going past Route 7 on Route 66 and the next thing I knew I was at Nutley Street (Route 243). I completely - I mean, completely - missed the exit for the Beltway.

Have you ever realized as you're driving along - all of a sudden - that you haven't been paying attention at all? I know I've been driving for 30 years, but I don't take it lightly. I wear my seat belt. I check my mirrors. I think I'm a good driver.

But there are times, usually on a highway, when I just wake as if from a daze. I feel like I haven't even been looking at the road. Like my eyes have been closed for a while. I know they haven't, because when I "wake up", it's not really like waking up. It's more like just suddenly starting to pay attention again.

Sometimes it's because the car in front of me does something unexpected. When that happens, my adrenaline shoots up too because then I realize that I really haven't been paying attention and that I SHOULD be paying attention. Cars are 2,000 lbs of danger rushing at 60 or 70 mph. Not good to not be paying attention.

Other times, like today, I come out of the stupor and realize that I am not where I thought I was. No other car involved. Just me.

It happened to me driving out to Rockville the other day. In that case, I was on automatic pilot. I had planned to take the Route 28 exit and cut across to Shady Grove Road, rather than getting off at Shady Grove Road. But I worked off of Shady Grove Road for 3 years, and that's just what my brain knows how to do. So before I realized it, I was past the Route 28 exit. I remember seeing the Falls Road exit and then - somehow - I just missed the Route 28 exit. Or rather by the time I saw it, I was still on the main road, and not on the access road, and it was too late to get off. So I got off at Shady Grove Road - no harm, no foul.

But I have started wondering how and why this happens. I drive a stick shift, so it doesn't usually happen if I'm driving at slower speeds and so have to pay attention to shifting. But even then, occasionally, if I'm going somewhere I go a lot, I've noticed this same phenomenon. But when I'm on the highway is when I notice it most often. Which is really not good, since as I said, at that point, I'm usually going quite fast.

I wonder if other drivers experience this feeling too. Am I the only one? Does anyone else ever say to themselves - perhaps a little panicked - "Wait, was that my exit?"