When I am driving, I will look around constantly. I know every good driver does this and the handbook makes mention of two second glances but I don’t do it this way. I will probably glance at everything in those two seconds. My eyes stay on something long enough to take a mental picture, then move to the next object. When I return to the same spot, I compare the two mental photos and figure out what is going on. I call it my “ping” approach as I don’t watch anything long enough to see it move but I determine its movement by comparing mental pictures.
I almost always notice things before anyone else in the car I am in. I am aware of where the hole in traffic is (without looking) if I have to veer out of the way of something.
I have always known I do this when driving but, after talking with other drivers, it does not seem to be all that common.
Do others do this or is it like me finding out last year that not everyone has a photographic memory? :eek:
I constantly “sweep” my mirrors, my front and sides, not staring and only focusing on something that merits a longer look (such as “that idiot is about to cut me off” or “my isn’t that hot looking woman”). This may also be due to the fact that I grew up in a rural area and spent time hunting, fishing, hiking, etc. and was taught to “look everywhere all the time”.
I absolutely do the “ping” thing. I am contantly scanning. There really isn’t a pattern. I learned this from my grandfather, who hasn’t had an accident in 60 years of driving.
Do you find it helps you avoid situations that others get into when you’re a passenger? (such as having to brake hard when someone slows suddenly in front of you)
I am often braking before the car in front of me is because I can see something in front of them. I make a point not to say anything regarding driving as a passenger as I would just mention all the stuff the driver missed noticing.
I guess the thread title as a little condescending the other way. It’s not like people stare when they drive, it’s just the relative difference in the amount of time their eyes focus on an object as opposed to sameone who “pings”.
My “ping” style has burned me once. It was a new moon and I was pinging around, one second nothing, next second a deer on the driver’s side coming out from behind my headlights. I killed Bambi but I keep thinking that had I taken a longer glance, I would have seen the movement.
Of course, I have also been saved on other occassions.
I don’t look at the road at all, instead, I gaze lovingly at my wife who sits in the passenger seat as we chat amiably; I learned this trick at the movies.
Nah. ‘Ping’ for me I try very hard to be acutely aware of what is going on all around me.
I only look 2 ways generally, forward on the road, and backwards thru the RearView Mirror. I’ve been rear ended 3 times while stopped at a light, a stop sign, and a Burger King Drive thru so now I’m really paranoid about what’s behind me.
I always make a point of knowing what’s around me, even when I don’t have any intention of switching lanes or turning or whatever, because you’ll never know when you need to make a split second evasive maneuver and it’s useful to know you won’t be turning into things.
Like everyone else so far I look around constantly and do a lifesaver glance over the shoulder when pulling out. I recon a glance in a mirror would take 1/2 second, more than that would be staring as per the OP. A longer glance might be required to see if there is a Police car back there.
But most (85-90%) of my attention is ahead and I’m constantly trying to anticipate what’s coming up. Most of my mileage is on motorways and if anything dangerous is going to happen it will probably come from in front.
BTW cruising speed on motorways here - not the legal speed just the speed most folks actually drive at - is 80-85 mph, what is the norm in your locale? Let us know people.
I dont call it “ping”. What I do is keep a running commentary in my head. I scan from left to right noting every car in relation to the lane markings. If a vehicle starts to alter their position I immediatly determine if it’ll affect me and slow down/speed up/change lanes. I also note how each driver has been driving. I focus on slower/less attentive drivers and use caution when I approach them.
I also keep mental track of vehicles behind and to the left/right of me. I keep those spaces clear to allow me to perform an emergency avoidance if I have to.
So do you maintain this ping style regardless of the driving conditions? If there’s no other traffic around, shouldn’t you try to focus your sweeps in the general direction of your motion? It seems to me this would burn you fairly often if you drove a lot of rural roads.
Born and raised country. I actually am more concerned with what could be coming out of the ditches than the potholes on the road. Vehicles react to potholes predictably so no worries.
I don’t really ping or stare but somewhere inbetween. When I drive, which isn’t often, I tend to look straight ahead but at the same time keeping aware of anything that could jump out in front of me. I do check my mirrors but probably not quite often enough.
I smashed up a bunch of cars when I was much younger, and finally had the revelation that I had not been maintaining an adequate awareness of my surroundings. As soon as I began really concentrating on my driving, I quit having wrecks - and the traffic ticket situation improved as well. Besides knowing what’s going on around me, I drive largely by the book; I use my turn signals, I come to a complete stop at stop signs, I stop at the stop line at red lights, etc.
I am aware of the lack of attention with which some people approach driving. In a recent thread I mentioned how the city has invested millions of dollars in fancy electronic signage, signs and paint to advise people that the street I live on is now a reversible lane thoroughfare. Several months into the change, a significant proportion of drivers remain oblivious.
I see people backing up without looking behind them, coming to a stop at a light full of cars while trying to read a sign off to the side, changing lanes without a glance and…, arrgh, don’t get me started on the phone drivers. They think they can, but they really can’t.
On city freeways, 60 m.p.h. is the limit, and traffic will move at 70. On the highway, 70 is the limit and traffic moves at 80-90. 90 will get you pulled over, but I really think you have to have something else glaringly apparent for a Texas State Trooper to pull you over at 80, as I pass 'em at that speed often. In West Texas cruising speeds creep up to 100.
I guess my question then is whether you really spend roughly the same amount of time looking behind and directly to the sides as you do looking forward.
In rush hour traffic my eyes are constantly in motion, checking and rechecking those around me, but even then I spend the majority of the time looking forward. On a rural road or when traffic is light, especially at night, the pinging doesn’t seem as necessary. Eyes forward man. Potholes be damned, I’m more worried about coons, deer, rabbits, and the like.
I’m not specifically conscious of how I’m doing it, but I sort of “gestalt” the entire view out the windshield + main & side mirror and something in the back of my head seems to know if something is amiss and requires more focused attention.
That’s unless I’m going somewhere I haven’t been before and I’m looking for a street name to make a turn or something like that. I’d have to say I’m not as good a driver when that’s the case, I get too focused on the task at hand and am less likely to notice stuff going on in the rearview or 100 yards ahead in the oncoming lane.
I haven’t had a car for quite a while, but still drive sometimes, and usually notice I’m still using the same technique.
The first time I realized what I was doing was quite a few years ago when a BC driver (used to only urban or mountainous terrain) asked me what to do when he went to the Prairies on a visit. I told him about highway hypnosis, and suggested just about the same thing as Cervaise. The guy spent two weeks at least driving all over Saskatchewan with no problems. For that matter, I haven’t had an accident in 25 years or more.
