A different type of thread for Crash Analysis: Lane Splitting
- Thread starter Enchanter
- Start date
I may be an outlier here, but I don't scan while splitting. In fact I don't scan at all for the most part.
As an alternative to scanning I maintain a wide field of view. When splitting, I keep the space I want to ride into in my center vision, focusing a few car lengths ahead. My attention is spread to the limits of my peripheral vision. This allows me to see any changes in the space ahead immediately, whereas with scanning, one can be caught out by something happening to the left when scanning to the right.
Also, when the eyes move, we are blind. An article on saccadic masking a few years ago called my attention to the visual limitation we all have, where the brain disregards visual input while the eyes are in motion to reduce motion blur. The usual experiment to illustrate is to look at your right eye in the mirror, then look at your left eye. You will not see your eyes move. While your eyes are swiveling, your brain is holding onto the last static image it had before your eyes moved. While your eyes are moving, you are not taking in new visual information. We mostly think we are but we will have brief tenths of seconds where we are not. When walking or running this doesn't matter much. At higher speeds, it can matter a lot.
I've found that I get two benefits from maintaining a steady gaze and wide view:
- I have uninterrupted visual flow because I am not experiencing saccadic masking
- My attention does not get stuck on any one vehicle as sometimes happened when I scanned.
The end result is I have more time to respond because I see changes in the space ahead sooner than I used to.
Interesting. I wonder if I am doing the same thing but am just conditioned to react to movement, or anomalies (gaps, speeding shadows, speeding vehicles, noise) in my peripheral. I will have to spend some time breaking this down to see where I am based on your description to see if I am actively scanning as you say. Thanks :thumbup