VISUAL INTERPRETATIONS
To be a safe driver you must constantly use your perceptual skills. You must use all your senses to evaluate and interpret the environment around you.
Your vision is your most important tool for driving. About 90% of what a driver identifies in a driving environment is through their sense of vision.
While standing stationary your field of vision is 180 degrees or more, but as your speed increases your field of vision decreases.
- At 20 mph your field of vision is reduced to approximately two thirds (2/3)
- At 40 mph your field of vision is reduced to approximately two fifths (2/5)
- At 60 mph your field of vision is reduced to approximately one fifth (1/5)
Move your eyes from side to side to detect possible dangers while driving.
Perception time is the time it takes for you to see and recognize a hazard. Lack of attention, or failure to perceive a hazard in time, is a major cause of traffic crashes. When you misinterpret visual clues, you will increase your perception time and reduce the amount of time you have to react to a situation. When you have less time to properly react to a situation, your chance of serious injury or death in a crash increases.
Safe drivers know how to use their eyes while driving. Don’t just rely on central vision when scanning the environment; use peripheral (side) vision as well.
HEARING
A good sense of hearing can be very beneficial to a safe driver. Your hearing can alert you to emergency vehicles, motorcycles, car horns, train signals or crossing signals.
You hearing can also alert you to problems occurring near you like screeching tires or crashes. You may hear a problem with your own vehicle before seeing the impact on your driving, a tire blowout, engine knocking, backfiring or failing for example.
Keep the radio at sensible volume; don’t wear ear plugs or headphones and try to keep children from being disruptive. Listen outside the vehicle for strange noises from the engine or for children playing or other sounds that alert you to potential hazards.
TOUCH
The sense of touch allows you to feel the conditions of the road while you hold the steering wheel. It can alert you to trouble like a flat tire, loss of traction or wheels out of alignment.
Feeling a vibration through the seats, steering wheel or even the seat belts can alert you a potential problem.
SMELL
The sense of smell is the strongest of the five senses humans have. Smell can often be the first sense to detect signs of trouble while driving. The smell of gas, steam or antifreeze leaking or boiling over, metal coming in contact with more metal, burning rubber or burning gas have distinct odors that should alert you to trouble.
REACTION ABILITIES
You must be able to react quickly to unforeseen hazards that may appear at any time while driving. Your driving performance will be affected if you take longer to recognize a hazard and react to the situation.
Your reaction time is the time from when you first identify a hazard to the time it takes you to react to the hazard. Under perfect conditions, the average driver will take about three fourths of a second to identify a hazard.
You need to:
- Identify the hazard.
- Decide what action is needed to avoid the hazard.
- Act on that action.
There are two types of reaction abilities:
- Simple – one hazard and one decision.
- Complex – multiple hazards and multiple decisions.
It is important to react quickly when behind the wheel of a vehicle.
JUDGING SPEED and DISTANCE
Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions (3D) and the distance of an object.
Driving safety requires that drivers of automobiles, buses and trucks be able to accurately and instantly judge distances – ahead, to the rear and to the sides.
When judging following distance, the best rule is one we have already discussed but it is worth reviewing, the Two Second Rule.
To apply the two second rule, start counting one thousand one-one thousand two after the vehicle in front of you has passed a fixed object (a mile marker, pothole, anything that won’t move). If you pass the same fixed object before you reach one thousand two, you are following too close.
During inclement weather add a minimum of two seconds and follow with a four second (or greater if necessary) gap. The four second rule.
Some other examples of when it would make sense to use a four second (or longer) rule are:
- When your vision of the road is blocked by a truck, curve or hill.
- When following a motorcycle.
- When being tailgated.
Remember it is a good idea to leave a cushion of space between all vehicles ahead, behind, and on each side.
Be sure to watch the video and then take the quiz.
Good luck!
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