Too many drivers, especially really young and really old drivers sort of just stare forward as they drive trying to take it all in and concentrate on what is in front of them. This is great, you need to concentrate on what is in front of you, but not at the expense of everything else going on around you.
This is where the head on a swivel idea comes in. If you are a good driver, I ‘m guessing that you do this without even realizing it. Good drivers continually check their mirrors, check their blind spots, look down cross streets and alleys, pay attention to pedestrians, cyclists and everything else all at once. There is no way that you can be a really good driver and not have your head on a swivel. You really need to know what is going on around your vehicle at all times. The next time that you are driving down the road, ask yourself if your head is on a swivel.
Sure, we have specific rules like; when changing lanes first check your mirrors, then apply your turn signal, then check your blind spot, then move over. This works great and must be done every time, but what this is really saying is that we need to know what is going on around our vehicle. If you are riding passenger in a vehicle that is making lane changes or turning without checking mirrors and blind spots, you should be cringing with every move. It is only by chance that you are not running into cars or worse yet, people.
New drivers must be taught to keep their head on a swivel. They must check their mirrors every 6-8 seconds, they must glance down cross streets prior to entering the intersection, they must know where the surrounding vehicle and pedestrians are in relation to their vehicle at all times. To not know this information at all times is to be entirely unprepared for any emergency situation that may occur. When an emergency situation occurs, you must know your options in a split second. You may not have time for mirror blinker blind spot, you may have just enough time for a reaction and if you don’t know what or who is around your vehicle, that reaction may just have dire consequences.
Having said all of this, we can’t go to the other extreme either. We can’t be so focused on what is to the sides and behind our car that we forget about what is in front. The head on the swivel idea means that you still have your eyes on the road ahead of you for the most part, you just take little split seconds to notice your surroundings while still keeping most of your attention on the road ahead. If you are busy looking down a cross street or checking a sidewalk blind spot when you are turning a corner, you may just end up missing what is right in front of you. You must check all around your vehicle, because someone or something might be there, but you can’t divert so much of your attention away that you miss the truck stopped in front of you.
This is a tough balance for a new driver. It takes many hours behind the wheel to understand and master just how much of your attention each of these areas deserves. And the tricky part is that the amount of attention they deserve changes depending on where you are and how you are driving.
Eyes ahead, but keep it on a swivel!
Doug Hurth