The five vision habits for safe driving
Safety is everyone’s concern, especially when traveling from one place to another. With all the cases of madness on the road today, one needs to arm oneself with all possible tools to ensure a safe arrival at the desired destination. Having been involved in the trucking industry all my life and having driven close to 4 million miles without an accident, I’d like to share some of the training I received that allowed me to accomplish this feat.
Early in my career, I was introduced to the Smith System for Safe Driving, the core of which teaches the Five Vision Habits for Safe Driving. The following article provides a brief description of each. If followed rigorously, one can be reasonably sure of never having an accident.
FIVE SAFE DRIVING HABITS
1. Aim high in the direction
2. Get the big picture
3. Keep your eyes moving
4. Let yourself out
5. Make sure they see you
1. Aim high in direction
This doesn’t mean keeping your hands on top of the wheel! In short, he explains that one should not look directly in front of one’s vehicle, but look as far down the road as possible to discover important traffic information to make the right decisions.
Look as far away from the road as possible, looking at where your vehicle will be in 12-15 seconds.
Know your field of vision:
Peripheral vision (marginal vision) 98% or 177 degrees of our vision
Central vision (central vision) 2% or 3 degrees of our vision
2. Get the big picture
This doesn’t mean we should buy a big-screen TV, it means maintaining the proper following distance (at least one car length for every 10 MPH), so you can comfortably determine the true hazards around your vehicle. Don’t follow others.
Be aware of all objects and obstacles (dogs, cats, deer, stairs in the road, etc.) Scan other vehicles to be aware of things that might come your way. The road goes nowhere, once you know the direction of the road and any potential hazards such as potholes, watch for things that could move in your line of travel. After determining that something is not moving on your line of travel, ignore it.
In a town or city, scan 1-2 city blocks ahead of your vehicle
In the field, scan ½ mile ahead of your vehicle on highways, expressways, and rural roads
Scan from sidewalk to sidewalk in the city
Fence row to fence row in the countryside
Be aware of all areas and things around your vehicle
Return only when necessary
When backing up, double check to make sure no one or anything is behind your vehicle, get out of the car and physically check if necessary. When you walk to your car, be sure to look behind it. Return only after activating your 4-way flashing lights and sounding your horn to alert anyone who might cross your line of travel.
3. Keep your eyes moving
– Scan, don’t look. She constantly moves her eyes while driving, active eyes keep up with changing traffic conditions.
– Check all mirrors every 5-8 seconds
– To avoid road hypnosis, scan the area in front of you every 2 seconds
– Never look at an object for more than 2 seconds, not even at Brad Pitt or Angeline Jolene!
– Eliminate eye retention patterns.
– Adjust speed to existing conditions, speed up or slow down when necessary
Driving comes first, eating, changing the radio, air conditioning, talking on the cell phone, etc. are all secondary and should only be done, if at all, when there is no traffic around you.
If you get tired, turn up the volume on the radio, turn up the air conditioning, sing to yourself, or better yet, stop and take a break.
4. Leave yourself a way out:
To be prepared. Surround your vehicle with space in front and at least to one side to escape the conflict.
Always keep in mind an escape route in case something unforeseen arises. Always drive as if you had no brakes, have an escape route if necessary.
Leave a car-length of space between you and the car in front of you at stop signs and intersections (check your mirrors to make sure the person behind you has stopped, if not space, or change lanes if possible).
If the person in front of you stops suddenly, stop as soon as possible, but if you have time, check your mirror to make sure the person behind you can stop before hitting you, if not use your cushion of space to give him as much room as may be possible. Anytime you hit someone from behind, it is automatically their fault, the driver must be in control of their vehicle at all times.
use turn signals
Stay at least 2 seconds behind the car in front of you (the length of 1 car for every 10 MPH).
3 seconds in bad weather
Slow down in heavy rain, your vehicle will hydroplan if you go too fast. Every vehicle is different, vehicles with wider tires and/or little or no tread will hydroplan faster than vehicles with narrower tires.
Check the movement of other drivers and vehicles, watch the movement of drivers’ heads, also check the wheels, remember, the wheels of a vehicle will be the first thing to start moving.
5. Make sure they see you:
Communicate in traffic with your horn, lights, and signals to make eye contact with motorists and pedestrians. Be reasonably sure of other people’s intentions.
– make eye contact
– Honk (twice)
– Turn headlights on/off
– Tap the brakes multiple times in a row
– Use turn signals.
As you can see, driving is a full time job. It can also be safe, many, many professional drivers drive for 20 or 30 years and never have an accident, if they can do it, you can!
Safety is NOT an accident!
