Why Does Time Slow Down During Car Accidents?

The sensation of time slowing down during intense situations is a commonly reported phenomenon, but what's actually going on?

Hosted by: Stefan Chin

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[SuperCookieGaming_]

that feeling when time slows down as you drop your glass of water and knowing that you can do nothing

[Master_Therion]

True, time feels slower when your life is in danger. Just yesterday, at work, I was in boring meeting that felt so slow I wanted to kill myself.

[jayw]

I was held up at gun point by a hitchhiker and hit a cow in the road that caused my car to flip twice and end up about 200 feet from where I hit the cow. Both times I became extremely aware of everything around me in no time at all.

Everything became clear and I was able to focus on what I needed to do to come out alive both times (and with my truck when the douchebag tried to carjack me ;) ).

It definitely didn't slow time down. Both times happened so fast I still can't believe I was able to think at all. But I was more focused and somehow more aware of my surroundings than usual. Survival instinct kicked in. That elimination of unnecessary information and the instantaneous decision making probably feels like slowing down time to most people.

[cup_check_official]

So we can enjoy each and every detail of the action

[lingling]

"Time dilation - a slowing of time during really intense situations." Then, some people wonder how I practice 40 hours a day.

[ianmacfarlane]

I've got my doubts about the second theory - that it's actually a distorted memory.
If you watch road racing, specifically the Ìsle of Man TT (on board cameras) you'll see that it's almost too fast to process.
However the riders themselves all talk about it as if they can (in effect) slow things down to such a point that they can not only take all their visual cues, but they can also go through all the necessary motions, like gear changes, braking & acceleration, taking off disposable visors, read information boards, and look for braking markers - all while riding at up to 200 mph.
Watch an on-board lap by Peter Hickman, Michael Dunlop, John McGuiness, James Hillier, Dean Harrison, Bruce Anstey, Michael Rutter - all available on YouTube, and all at speeds averaging 130mph +.
It should be impossible to ride a motorbike at those speeds, in that environment, unless you can process information very quickly - in effect, slowing things down.

[dhawthorne]

I can remember two distinct times this happened. The first was when I was in 10th grade. I was at the pool doing deep laps and came up for air right as someone unexpectedly dove in above me. I stopped mid ascent, went completely relaxed and drifted there just under the surface looking up at the sky for what seemed like a few minutes.
The second was in martial arts class my senior year of high school. We were doing flying kicks but for some reason the instructor decided to use a kicking shield instead of a weighted bag. We were all knocking him around and I guess he got sick of it because he took a step forward on one of my turns, pushing back and sending me high enough to graze the drop ceiling. It felt like at least a minute that ceiling tiles were flying past my face before I snapped back to real time and managed to roll out of it.
Surprisingly, when my car was totaled by a freight liner on the freeway, I didn't experience it at all. I did managed to react somewhat autonomously and both me and the car were in functioning condition a few months later. Just no time dilation, or at least no perceptible difference.

[neokhan]

This happened to me in 2002 during a car accident. My car started to roll, and everything slowed way down. I was able to recognize that the car was rolling and lower my head (I seemed to be moving at normal speed, it was the car and everything else that slowed down) to avoid the roof impacting me during the roll, well before the roof hit the ground during the first roll. After the accident, it seemed like it happened both fast as hell and really slowly at the same time somehow. Very strange sensation.

[MrsSaxophonegirl]

I definitely noticed this after I was in an accident. I don’t remember actually hitting the car (rear ending at 45mph), but I remember waking up a few seconds later with my ears ringing, coughing because of smoke, and time was really slow. It was exactly like the movies where someone was asking if I was ok and I couldn’t focus or hear them. Crazy stuff.

[GhengisJohn]

And here I thought it was because I had just activated my Stand.

[czluver]

I'm of the "brain processing speed increasing" camp. Experienced time dilation during a motorcycle accident roughly 20 years ago. I was aware of it real-time so wasn't a memory as I was changing my course of action based on what was going on as it was happening. And accidents happen pretty darn fast.

[blackoak]

Having experienced being " in the zone", I can say that it is not an after-the-fact experience. I was cognizant of the effect while experiencing it, and observe, plan and act much faster than I am typically capable of

[omoghosty]

*Sees title*
Me and my jojo brain: *_THIS MUST BE THE WORK OF AN ENEMY STAND!!!_*

[Personnenenparle]

Their test is stupid.. the retina have its limits and wont change even if the brain try to read it faster... its like slowing down a 24fps video.. frames wont appear between each one, you will juste see the same frames for longer

[MrGlennJohnsen]

In my opinion we remember these "DANGER DANGER!" moments so vividly and think they happened slower so we can learn from the incident, if we come across a similar "DANGER DANGER!" moment later in life we'll hopefully know what saved us before and act as we did in that memory.

[AgentFulgoreBasedDepartment]

i’ve experienced time dialation twice, many years apart.

the first time it happened when i walking to my car once (during the time i still lived with my parents). i opened the garage door to go outside and ended up facing a tall, black (the color of it is relevant), aggressive dog from one of my parents neighbors (who never had it on its leash and let it roam on its own).

it was completely dark in the garage and the dog advanced inside, growling and staring at me. i could only see the glowing eyes and silhouette of its movement at first; but once i heard the growl and saw the dog, the pitch black darkness of the garage suddenly brightened (like someone cranked up the exposure on a photo), and everything turned gray.

i halted in my tracks, my body tensed up and everything slowed down. i grabbed a wooden mallet from my dad’s tool table on my left side (with my left hand) and tossed it from my left to my right in what seemed like a solid 3 Mississippi length seconds without moving my eyes from the dog.

then i raised the mallet in the air (holding it in a swing-down strike position), took a step with my dominant leg out (for better balance), leaned forward and yelled “GET THE FCK OUT!!! GET OUT!!! ILL FKN KILL YOU!!”

at first it just stopped advancing and stared at me, but i stomped my foot and yelled at it again (both feeling AND hearing my heartbeat thumping in my chest), and started walking forward in an aggressive leaning forward stance. the dog ended up backing out of the garage, off to the street then running away.

that was definitely the fight part of my brain lighting up because i didn’t think about any of it prior, it just happened and my body reacted according to the situation + my surroundings.

i realized later that the yelling was mainly an intimidation tactic, but i was fully prepared to fight to the death defending my life against the dog. it worked.

in the second incident, it was flight. my ex husband was extremely abusive, and on the night i told him i wanted a divorce he lost it. i was sitting at my old kitchen table, about 10 - 15 feet away from him standing behind the sink, the left side of my face angled to his face.

his face went blood red, he drew his arm back and threw the metal vape device i bought for him (on his birthday the summer before) at my face, full force. i lived in an 800 square foot apartment at the time.

i remember everything slowing down (similar to how it looks in the Matrix), seeing the vape hurling toward my face, the room got extremely bright, and only one thought popped into my head: “i cannot go blind.”

in the very few seconds of time this all actually occurred in, i pivoted almost 180 degees in the chair, jumped to my feet, and ran across the entire apartment (diagonally, by the way) to my bedroom - slamming the door behind me to barricade myself in the room.

i heard the glass part of the vape shattering against the wall as i flipped the lock into place.

now i don’t know about world records, but i’m pretty sure even Usain Bolt couldn’t run that fast in that little time (from a sitting position with no preparation). i’m also not a runner professionally or anything like that.

without a single shred of doubt, adrenaline saved both my eye and my life that night. it was fight or flight, and i didn’t think after that initial thought. i ran so fast i basically flew.

i can’t speak for anyone else but in my case it was 100% the first explanation this video provided. both in the moment and as a memory recall, it has stayed the same for me. the lizard part of the human brain combined with adrenaline will always flip the switch. self preservation is the human condition.

[KeithTKO]

I got hit by a car but time didn’t slow down. Maybe you have to be in the car?

[You_work_tomorrow]

When I was ten I fell from a tree, and I caught the last branch before I hit the ground, I broke my leg and sprained my arm but I survived and honestly I don’t think I would have even seen the branch if it wasn’t for everything being slowed down

[Yellowdigigod]

Quick answer (before watching):

Time is relative!

[PROJaiRU]

ok, let me explain to you guys, since you look like awesome people.

What happens is the thought flux on our head is always at full speed, like a really busy highway. You are distracted most of the time and any thought have freedom to come and go, so times seems to be really fast. BUT in life or death situations what really happens is that your brain excludes all the other non essential thoughts and that makes you feel like time is slowing down, but its not the case.

The case is, you are experiencing the real passage of time without tons of thoughts in your head. When you are at school in a boring lecture about history, you feel like time is reaaaaly slow, because you are tottaly aware of time and keeps looking to the clock. When you are enjoying a really good movie or good company, time seems to pass really fast because you are distracted by all awesome things that are happening and you are not" aware" of time itself

So, to conclude, if you are aware of time, looks like its slower than normal, when you are not aware of time, looks like is really fast.

On life death situations your brain stop all non essencial thoughts so you are really aware of the present moment because you NEED to focus on the present. The dangerous situation demands your full attention, it demmands your presence on the present time as focused as possible and because of that you become aware of time, because any decision you have to make you only have seconds to think, so time is the most important thing. Time and clarity to think, so your brain wipes out all other thoughts and really focus on time and the present momment. And THAT´S why you feel as time had slowed down.

The truth is, people more and more are experiencing time as going way too fast. The more information, the more anxiety, the more you feel you are not living your life, your dreams are not becoming true... and that´s why people suffer so much. But that is a topic for another day.

But good video !!