Death to Veerers!

I'm convinced that there is a strange phenomenon which causes people to veer their vehicle toward what they focus on. I tried doing some research on this subject on the web (there is actually a book called "The Psychology of Driving"!), but didn't have much luck.

I was walking along a main road in my area this morning--I don't usually do this, as the cars are whizzing by between 40 and 60 MPH, but it was a beautiful morning and I wanted to take a longer walk, so there I was. There is plenty of shoulder on this road and, in fact, most of the road where I was walking is clearly marked with a bike path, which is where I was walking.

I have noticed that, every time I walk on a road where there is no physical (i.e., median strip, etc.) separation between me and the cars, there will always be some drivers who will be driving along just fine between the lines of the road and then, as soon as they see and start to focus on me, they start veering over the line and coming toward me.

This is when I start giving the driver my "would ya please stay in your own effing lane!" death stare. This morning, I shook my head ruefully at two of the drivers who did not correct quickly once they started veering. One lady was on the cell phone and when she saw me shaking my head, she immediately course-corrected.

So okay, I get distracted drivers--cell phones, makeup application, radio knob fumbling, etc. But are the rest of them just psycho sadists who think it's fun to make like they're going to smush little Sheri into roadkill? Or is there really some psychological draw that makes people drive toward me when they really have no intention of doing so? Hmm.

Years ago, a friend admitted to me that, when he drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (quite a formidable bridge for some), he sometimes had a strange desire to drive off the bridge! Yoikes. So if there is a psychological desire to drive off a bridge (likely because the driver is focusing on not coming too close to the jersey walls that line the bridge), then perhaps there is a psychological reason for people veering out of their lane and coming straight at me--perhaps, in their brain, they are saying "Don't hit her, don't hit her." and that causes them to almost hit me?

Whoa. That's some heavy brain flotsam. So do you know the answer? Is there a psychological reason for people veering toward me while I'm walking? If so, share the wealth! Otherwise, I will continue going through life thinking they're all just nuts or out to kill harmless retirees.