Lessons from Canada's Worst Driver #2

Canada's Worst Driver is a television show in which bad drivers attend "Driver Rehabilitation" to learn how to become better drivers. Inspired by lessons from the show, we've created a 5-part article series about 5 lessons the rest of us can learn about how to drive better.

In this article, the second lesson we can learn from Canada's Worst Driver is to look where you want to go. Now, as you read this you might think that this is possibly the most obvious advice ever written, but you'd be surprised at what's really going on out there on the roads.

Drivers should look where they are going but very frequently, they do not. On the TV show Canada's Worst Driver, we see collision after collision after collision because drivers aren't looking where they want to go.

Here are three typical scenarios that every driver (possibly even you) encounters every time they get behind the wheel.

1. When driving down a normal street with a clear view and easy, predictable traffic, we can become a little lazy. Our eyes will fixate on a point just in front of our car (perhaps 10 or 15 feet in front of the car). Instead of diligently looking around at everything, we zone out and turn into zombies who are focused without really focusing. Instead of looking where we want to go (straight ahead) we are lulled into thinking that we are looking straight ahead but instead we're just unfocused.
2. Or, let's say that you are focused – not in that zombie state – and you are trying to drive diligently. Instead of focusing on the road ahead (and occasionally your mirrors) and using your peripheral vision to take in additional information, you end up looking intently at the radio or the speedometer or the climate controls or your coffee cup. You miss the road ahead. And, if you're not careful, your gaze can linger on these items for an unsafe amount of time.
3. Or here's the most insidious of all of the scenarios. If you are surprised by something – an animal or a child or an oblivious postal worker – you look AT them because they are a visual break in the landscape pattern. But you should see them and immediately look at where you want to turn to avoid them. When watching Canada's Worst Driver, you see this as a skill that drivers don't have until they practice. And once they master it, they can accomplish some complicated evasive driving maneuvers that would make most normal drivers quake with fear.

So, when you're driving, look intently at the road ahead. Rely on your peripheral vision to take in other details that you need. And when you're surprised by something unexpected, learn to spot the danger and immediately look at where you want to drive.

Collision can happen – maybe someone hit you because they weren't looking where they wanted to go. When that happens, bring your car to your local Boyd Autobody shop for a safe, professional repair.