Don’t be too quick to wish away those dull motorway journeys – disconnecting from our always-on lifestyle can be healthy, says FW’s editor-at-large Alex Grant.

FW’s editor-at-large Alex Grant

Call it professional curiosity, but I’m fascinated by the speed at which news spreads in today’s social media age. With camera phones and 4G everywhere, stories often go viral before local newspapers could possibly arrive on scene, but the push to be first has a dark side.

During a recent doom-scrolling session, my thumb paused on a chaotic image set against a familiar backdrop; the back end of a dump truck, detached from its chassis and wedged at a 45° angle against one of the M4 smart motorway gantries near Bristol. Noteworthy because I’d driven that stretch the previously, but also because the image – which had been widely circulated on local news websites – was shot from the outside lane and had a rear-view mirror in the top left of the frame. It had been taken while driving.

The timing was interesting. It’s almost exactly a year since the Department for Transport closed a loophole that had enabled drivers to avoid penalties for hand-held phone use if they weren’t making a call. Avon and Somerset Roads Policing tweeted saying eight drivers had been booked for filming the battered dump truck and reminding others not to do so.

However, the thirst for interaction is a dangerous thing. Documenting the sun rising over the dashboard binnacle during an early morning drive, snapping a rare car on the motorway or grabbing a selfie in traffic seem to be socially acceptable despite the risks. Drivers’ willingness to share illegally photographed images and have them republished (with a byline) by local newsrooms suggests the message isn’t getting through.

It’s an interesting litmus test for a society that’s ever-more connected. An autonomous vehicle engineer told me a decade ago that tomorrow’s kids will regard driving as a distraction from social media, rather than the other way around. I’m sure he’s right, but fighting an urge to check TikTok on the M4 feels like the thin end of the wedge. After all, not all connectivity is recreational.

Our smartphones have blurred the boundaries between work and social life – and increasingly automated vehicles have the potential to further that trend. Mercedes-Benz has already got approval to offer hands-off, eyes-off highway assistance in Nevada, for example, which means boring journeys can be productive at last. Precious time to fire off a few e-mails, catch up on breaking news, or even dial into a Zoom meeting – and yes, that’s already in the pipeline for future models.

Perhaps I’m out of touch, but I’m not sure I’m behind this vision for the future. E-mails and social media have found ways to interrupt our home lives, break through the darkness of cinemas and theatres and pierce the hum of conversation on public transport. The driver’s seat, and the rarity of its enforced downtime, has become the final retreat for the notification weary. Surely we owe ourselves that break?

This isn’t the perspective of a social media hermit – far from it, I’m a frequent Twitter scroller and I don’t go long between inbox catch-ups – but I also value my downtime. For all the traffic jams and lane-hogging, driving focuses my eyes and mind on my surroundings, but also leaves enough capacity to mentally de-tangle. With a good playlist, or the latest episode of The Motoring Podcast, I’m quite happy to let my notifications pile up silently in the glovebox.

I’ll miss that if, or when, it goes. Lockdowns and remote working mean we’re doom-scrolling more and travelling less. And I think we’re in danger of losing one of the last areas where you’re expected to switch off. Embrace it while it lasts, or you could end up being the star of your own viral news story.