Scanning and Looking 1

“Where am I NOT looking?”
By David & Dori Dirig; CA-1F

No matter what rider-training course you attend, the technique of scanning for hazards and dangers will be mentioned. So many times, we hear accident accounts in terms of “I never saw it coming;” “The vehicle/debris/pedestrian/animal came out of nowhere;” or “Traffic ahead of me was suddenly stopped.” You can’t react to a hazard if you don’t at least see it coming. Motorcycle Safety Foundation describes their method as SIPDE (Scan-Identify-Predict-Decide-Execute) or SPA (Seek-Plan-Act). The bottom line is to develop a scanning strategy so that you are prepared for developing situations. The process of scanning involves interrogating your environment for hazards, eye movement, avoiding target fixation, and reacting to this information. For now, let’s talk about scanning strategies and eye movement. While avoiding staring at any single point (target fixation) is critical, just moving your eyes around doesn’t help if you don’t have a strategy.

I don’t have a handy acronym; I just try to look everywhere at once. Of course, that’s impossible. As a compromise, I continually ask myself where I am NOT looking. My goal when I am riding is to be especially sensitive to hidden dangers that can come from any angle and to avoid any perceptual blind spots. Anyone can scan ahead the proscribed 4 second and 12 second intervals for hazards. While doing this though, “Where am I not looking?” If I am scanning left and right, near and far ahead of me, I make sure to also watch my mirrors for a glimpse of what’s behind me. If you are scanning the road ahead, your eyes can easily switch out and down a little to catch your mirrors during your visual passes.

Most of my daily commute consists of multi-lane interstates in San Diego, so just scanning my lane is not enough. I also need to worry about other lanes to my left and right as well as entrance/exit ramps. While I am watching my lane ahead (and scanning the mirrors as well), “Where am I not looking?” Debris in other lanes can easily be thrown into my lane or cause another vehicle to dodge into my lane. Fast traffic merging on and off the freeway can come from two or more lanes to either side and ‘suddenly’ appear ahead or behind me trying to get to the next exit. In a perfect world, signs will warn of up-coming construction or lane reductions, but this is not a perfect world. How easily can a single sign get knocked/blown down, setting up a ‘surprise’ lane merge? If I am worrying only about my lane, then hazards can come from where I’m not looking. My rapid eye movement and scanning technique extends beyond my lane to potential hazards across multiple lanes. Keep the eyes moving and keep asking yourself, “Where I am not looking?”

Rural and urban areas present different sets of hazards with driveways, sidewalks, and vehicles parked at the curb. Being aware of potential hazards and keeping your eyes moving is critical in this ‘target-rich’ environment. The hazards can come at you from all sides and involve vehicles, pedestrians, and animals. Being aware of one potential hazard should not prevent you from watching for others. Avoid target-fixation at all costs! As an example, I was coming home from work one day through a hospital zone where an ambulance was on-coming preparing to turn left with its emergency lights on. As I focused on this primary hazard ahead to my left (i.e. staring at it), a young mother and daughter (also watching the ambulance) stepped off the curb in front of me crossing from my right. “Where was I not looking?” I managed to stop and not run over the family, but it wouldn’t have required maximum braking if I had kept my eyes moving. It was where I wasn’t looking that the real primary hazard emerged.

Every traffic light also requires scanning all directions, whether the light is green or red. If you are stopping, you worry about traffic stopped in front of you, but you also need to watch traffic behind you. With a green light, what is the traffic from left and right doing? Is there an on-coming left turn arrow that someone may disregard and cross in front of you? What about your right? Is there a driver hurrying to turn right on red and pull out in front of you? “Where are you not looking?” Whether the light is red or green, you have multiple threat axes that need to be addressed before your entrance as well as during your passage through the intersection.

This rapid eye movement and scanning strategy is a technique that requires practice and constant refinement. It can and should be practiced anywhere and anytime. Whether you are riding or driving, simply ask yourself, “Where am I not looking?” You can only look in one direction at any given moment, so this question has multiple options as to where your eyes should scan next. If you are scanning left, look right. If scanning ahead, check your mirrors. The trick is to keep your eyes moving, don’t focus on any one threat axis, and remain vigilant for potential threats. I practice this everyday coming home through my neighborhood. Every driveway is a potential threat. Every four-way stop, a potential threat from 360 degrees around you. Keep your eyes moving, keep scanning and practicing, and be ready for anything that could happen. If something that you didn’t see or didn’t expect startles you, this tells you that your scanning technique/strategy needs some fine-tuning. For more information on this issue as well as other safety topics, consult the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Experienced RiderCourse classroom session and booklet.

Ride Safe & COAST (Concentrate On A Safe Trip)