A rear seat driver is a vocal and hypercritical passenger who spends the trip criticizing the driver’s skills and issuing warnings. They may lack confidence in the driver or feel a loss of control. The driver should establish control and assign a harmless duty to defuse the situation.
In an ideal world, a driver would enjoy the privilege of not having to drive by committee, or defend their decision-making process to other passengers in the car. However, in the real world, many drivers have had the misfortune of dealing with a very vocal and hypercritical passenger known as a rear seat driver. A rear-seat driver spends much of the trip in an unofficial and unwarranted co-driver role, shouting instructions to the driver or issuing superfluous warnings about potential or imagined road hazards.
A rear seat driver is often a skilled or experienced driver who feels unfairly relegated to the thankless role of passenger. To make up for this slight perception, a backseat driver will take it upon himself to criticize the real driver’s skills while he or she is actually driving. This behavior is not only annoying to other occupants, but can be downright dangerous if the driver becomes distracted or overly emotional.
One of the reasons a person can become a vocal backseat driver is a lack of confidence. He or she may feel that the designated driver is too young, inexperienced, unfocused, or inexperienced for the driving task at hand. A nervous parent can become a backseat driver whenever a teenage son or daughter is behind the wheel, for example. A husband may feel compelled to issue warnings and criticisms every time her less-experienced spouse drives into town.
Another reason some people become rear seat drivers is a perceived loss of control. There are certain drivers who simply cannot hand over control of a vehicle to an unknown or unproven entity. Perhaps a driver has had a bad passenger experience in the past, or else he has always been the family’s designated driver and is not comfortable putting his life in the hands of others. This anxiety about another driver’s abilities often manifests itself in an extreme case of “backseat driver” syndrome.
Sometimes a potentially dangerous situation for the rear seat driver can be defused if the driver forcefully establishes the fact that they are in full control of the vehicle. Some experienced drivers or passengers may also assign a useful but harmless duty to a perpetual backseat driver, such as navigator or ride game leader. By giving the driver in the back seat something tangible to do, the real driver can focus on the road ahead. An uncontrolled rear seat driver can do more harm than good by unnecessarily distracting the driver.
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