Looking is very easy, seeing right is hard work

Behind the wheel of a car, you need to be alert, observant, constantly on the look-out, predicting, assessing and responding to all sorts of changes and movement in a constant stream of eye-body co-ordination. But if your focus locks onto the wrong target, the consequences can be disastrous. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Duck first, assess later. If it is a little further away, we look towards the source and don’t take our eyes off it while we decide what it is and what to do. And as our eyes move, our whole body responds in readiness.
  • The phenomenon of eye-body reflex is so universal that everybody does it, always, and it will invariably work to your benefit…as long as you’re looking at the right thing.
  • Behind the wheel of a car, you need to be alert, observant, constantly on the look-out, predicting, assessing and responding to all sorts of changes and movement in a constant stream of eye-body co-ordination. But if your focus locks onto the wrong target, the consequences can be disastrous.

WHEN CAVEMAN WANDERED through the pre-historic world he had to keep his wits about him and his eyes peeled, watchful for any sign of danger.

Or he was likely to get beaten or eaten. In the absence of training, and often with no time to think, he depended on a natural reflex to focus his eyes and attention on whatever around him was changing, moving, interesting …and therefore an opportunity or a danger.

The world has changed but those instincts have not. We still react instantly to a flash of light, a sudden movement, a noise. If it’s very close (a few inches) we flinch in self-defence. 

Duck first, assess later. If it is a little further away, we look towards the source and don’t take our eyes off it while we decide what it is and what to do. And as our eyes move, our whole body responds in readiness.

This eye-body response is so strong and so automatic that a good rider on a schooled horse can steer the animal simply by looking in the direction he wants it to go. As he turns his head, almost imperceptibly he will move his hands, shift his weight, and the horse will sense the signal.

The phenomenon of eye-body reflex is so universal that everybody does it, always, and it will invariably work to your benefit…as long as you’re looking at the right thing.

TARGET FIXATION

That’s why if you look at an exact spot on a dart board you are more likely to hit it.  If you visualise a golf shot, even in your mind’s “eye”, your body is more likely to deliver the necessary movements. “Target fixation” works for you because you have chosen the right target.       

Footballers like Ronaldo, magicians, karate experts and pick-pocket tricksters all exploit this very basic human reflex of “target fixation” in a different way -  by making your eyes look at one thing while they do another. “Target fixation” has not worked for you, because they have made you look at the wrong target.

Behind the wheel of a car, you need to be alert, observant, constantly on the look-out, predicting, assessing and responding to all sorts of changes and movement in a constant stream of eye-body co-ordination. But if your focus locks onto the wrong target, the consequences can be disastrous.

Inappropriate “lock-on” can (and often does) happen to many drivers in any conditions, but it is most common when visibility is poor – at night, in heavy rain, in thick fog.

In those circumstances, the natural tendency is to focus on what you can see best – because it is reassuringly clear and “easier” to focus on than the general blurr around and beyond. Peering into distant mist is hard work for both the brain and the eye muscles; looking at the tail lights of the car in front (or even at the leading edge of your own bonnet) is much easier.

You need to be aware of that tendency in order to train yourself to resist it.  Yes, you will see the clearer things;  your mind will register what and where they are and your peripheral vision will continue to monitor them. 

So don’t fix on them;  use your central focus to scan and probe both sides and further head.  You’ll be aware of other significant information sooner and react more smoothly and more accurately.

You will be a better driver.