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Do you have tunnel phobia? This podcast is for you

caption: Members of the media walk toward the the tunnel's northbound on-ramp, left, on Thursday, November 15, 2018, inside the State Route 99 tunnel in Seattle.
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Members of the media walk toward the the tunnel's northbound on-ramp, left, on Thursday, November 15, 2018, inside the State Route 99 tunnel in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

Are you scared of driving through a tunnel?

Sara Norris has noticed a peculiar driving habit: People seem to slow down as they are entering tunnels.

She's right! It's a real thing. On this episode of SoundQs, we look at the why that is.

One reason: fear. Studies suggest around 10-15 percent of the population experiences anxiety in tunnels and a smaller percentage, around 1-3 percent, experience something much more severe: traffic phobias.

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button above or on your favorite podcast app. SoundQs is a weekly podcast where KUOW reporters tackle questions submitted by our listeners.

Have a question about the Seattle region for us to answer? Drop it here (If you don't see the form, hit refresh):

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