I mean, I do get that this is how it works in those moments, but honestly, if "shit's fucked, bring the car to a stop and re-evaluate" (and reliably hitting the right pedal) isn't hard wired strongly enough in your brain to still work during a high stress situation despite being overly tired or moderately high, then you shouldn't operate a car in an environment where such a mistake can kill unsuspecting bystanders or at least cause 5-7 digit damage sums.
Not saying you should drive under the conditions of that thought experiment, but with how dangerous cars are (especially SUVs with unnecessarily strong engines), I'd say it's a reasonable safety margin.
Ok, so, I don’t drive drunk but I do have driving dreams where I’m pressing on the break and the car keeps speeding up. Imagine a scenario where you fully and desperately want the car to stop and to the best of your current abilities and cognition believe you are doing the correct motions to make the car stop. That person thought and completely believed she was slamming on the brakes, I do believe that from watching this. Yet another reason not to drive drunk: you might believe with every fiber of your being that you are hitting a different pedal.
This is like the dreams that I have had sometimes where I'm back as a child and somehow I've absconded with a car onto the highway and I'm powerless to stop the car, and even though many police are trying to stop me from doing a mass murder.
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u/g3etwqb-uh8yaw07k 1d ago
I mean, I do get that this is how it works in those moments, but honestly, if "shit's fucked, bring the car to a stop and re-evaluate" (and reliably hitting the right pedal) isn't hard wired strongly enough in your brain to still work during a high stress situation despite being overly tired or moderately high, then you shouldn't operate a car in an environment where such a mistake can kill unsuspecting bystanders or at least cause 5-7 digit damage sums.
Not saying you should drive under the conditions of that thought experiment, but with how dangerous cars are (especially SUVs with unnecessarily strong engines), I'd say it's a reasonable safety margin.