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Your eyes are the key to distracted driving, not your brain

Just been reading this article on ArsTechnica: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/07/look-where-youre-going-is-the-key-to-distracted-driving/

Quote:

The key to avoiding distracted driving is simple, according to new research from MIT: just keep your eyes on the road and look where you're going. That might sound horribly obvious, given "look where you're going" is one of the earliest lessons we learn as we become mobile. But this new study reinforcing that lesson was focused on a slightly more complicated question: is the problem with distracted driving one of trying to concentrate on two separate tasks at the same time, or could it be a matter of where your eyes are pointing?

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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hawkinspeter replied to Boatsie | 4 years ago
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Boatsie wrote:

Phone distraction.... https://scooph.com/2019/07/04/pedestrians-who-are-caught-walking-while-l...

I'm not a fan of that proposed law as it seems the wrong way round. Fining pedstrians for using a phone whilst crossing a road just doesn't seem worthwhile when peds are responsible for only a tiny percentage of collisions. Also, that kind of law is perfect for selective enforcement - don't bother fining any non-bogan whites, but try to catch out all the aborigines (aborigines where also dis-proportionally caught out by the mandatory helmet law).

As much as I love Australia (the country), their politics are distressingly right-wing and they seem to copy the U.S. with putting the car driver above all others. (I'm absolutely not an expert on Ozzie politics however and I've only been around Queensland and Tasmania).

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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Lol.

Years ago as a school child on way to bus stop. My sister and I kept telling our older lady, " watch out for the cyclist, there's a cyclist beside us, watch out for the cyclist. "
We must have distracted her, she knocked him off and ran over the bicycle. It was so funny because he wasn't hurt, yet as a nowhere near as aggressive being as a built cyclist that was ride warm it was slightly easier to hold that beautiful feeling of wanting to laugh..
He knocked on the drivers door basically then conversation started.. " ohh, are you ok, would you like a lift, etc. "
But 5 years later was winner.. I wasn't there, hearsay.. Some dude reversing out slammed my school friend on his bike.. Not sure whether he was injured.. Dude took off, straight up to LBS and bought him a brand spanking racer..
Lol.
Old days.. Bmx or racer. I can't remember MTB existing or maybe the heavy initial units were around?
Distractions.. Lol

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BehindTheBikesheds | 4 years ago
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Sorry but I simply do not agree with the MIT reasoning here, without the mindset and attitude to focus on the task at hand and how to deal with various scenarios in the correct manner (i.e. obeying the law and not threatening harm to another) using your eyes then becomes massively secondary and pretty much meaningless.

Look but don't see is a very pertinent phrase, basically the eyes were looking but the brain didn't engage, whether because of distraction in thought or because the moton simply doesn't give any thought to the hazard they present in the first instance so is distracted by other things elsewhere as they do not acknowledge you or a certain thing because their brain is not trained/conditioned and/or they simply dismiss such as something not to bother about which is massively worse.

You use your brain to look and see, you use your brain to digest what has been taken in and if your brain is not trained or of a certain reasoning with regards to the hazards presented then it doesn't matter how much you look or for how long.

Taking your time to look and look again (and possibly a third or even fourth time if need be), this gives your brain a chance to actually digest the information and you the chance to make the correct decision.

The key to not being distracted whilst driving is an attitude/mindset, being able to focus on what you are doing and by extension the machine you are supposedly in control of is doing and as import, what others are doing/not doing. Instead of listening to the radio, constantly turning around to look at the kids/other shit going on at that isn't something you need to be looking at nor thinking about, looking about where you can stop to grab a meal/drink, wandering mind over trivial/inane stuff such that you lose concentration (are distracted) not to mention the modern day distractions such as social media and mobile phones, massive screens in motors have an awful lot to answer. How these huge things are allowed is incredible, utterly fucking insane!

 

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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A better looking schuck then me though bro..
My brains gone haywire with all these distractions..
Yet another +1 bike tomorrow if all goes well making usability 3 wide tyres bikes, 3 skinny smooth road only bikes. Nothing flash, just another 25 year old gum tree special at a price nearer nothing but to me, 9-10 kg is lightweight, if she is smooth then all is well. That'll do my exercise habits the next many many years. If one breaks (again) then retarded me can fix it whenever while keeping riding. If mates bike breaks (again), he can keep riding. At a cost less than a new set of wheels, they're perfect to do 50km in 2 hours.
Not only car drivers are distracted, normal smart folks like schmucks like you and me can grab bargains like a smooth light modern road bike from gum tree at what? $100 up? There's a Giant from upgrade at $90..
Too ride or too drive. Difference is difference. Commutes longer in summer because bikes are slow.. I think it's been up to an extra 3hours on top of drive time yet during winter it's normally within 5 minutes of drive time, sometimes near same but stinking of sweat.
Clock here is simple.. Hand rotates at angular speed of.. Guess what.. A common clock.. It's that simple aye.. I have a look.. Poynters might be pointing right. No problems. 3 hours later, Poynters point down. Yay.

Happy riding brother

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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https://blog.doublehelix.csiro.au/southern-cross-clock/

It's easier than this. BTW (I might be wrong too) but the pointer stars mentioned in the article are the Poynter Brothers.. Noting y.
Easier is to reckonise the Poynter brothers as the hand of a clock. Southern Cross is basically near south.
(Otherwise it'd be distracting to ride with paper, pen, etc.. Two fingers. Blah blah blah)
It's one huge giant free clock that shows us a 4the dimension coordination system. Eg time.
Riding rocks.. Gotta keep pedalling. Scientists predict our star sleeps near age 2030 year. Earth will cool. Mini ice age again. May as well enjoy gaining strength.
Bless you guys. I know you love cycling too

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hawkinspeter replied to Boatsie | 4 years ago
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Boatsie wrote:

https://blog.doublehelix.csiro.au/southern-cross-clock/ It's easier than this. BTW (I might be wrong too) but the pointer stars mentioned in the article are the Poynter Brothers.. Noting y. Easier is to reckonise the Poynter brothers as the hand of a clock. Southern Cross is basically near south. (Otherwise it'd be distracting to ride with paper, pen, etc.. Two fingers. Blah blah blah) It's one huge giant free clock that shows us a 4the dimension coordination system. Eg time. Riding rocks.. Gotta keep pedalling. Scientists predict our star sleeps near age 2030 year. Earth will cool. Mini ice age again. May as well enjoy gaining strength. Bless you guys. I know you love cycling too

If only the flat-earthers were right, I'd be able to make use of the Southern Cross, but instead, here I am using a watch like some kind of schmuck.

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kil0ran | 4 years ago
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It's pretty easy spotting the downward looking drivers - just look for eyelids. A friend of mine worked on eye-tracking research years ago, when it was being used for stuff like laying out retail stores and tracking which packaging designs got attention. I think this is perhaps the most practical approach to handling distracted driving - automatic warning or slowing the car if your eyes aren't on the road. 

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ConcordeCX replied to kil0ran | 4 years ago
2 likes

kil0ran wrote:

It's pretty easy spotting the downward looking drivers - just look for eyelids. A friend of mine worked on eye-tracking research years ago, when it was being used for stuff like laying out retail stores and tracking which packaging designs got attention. I think this is perhaps the most practical approach to handling distracted driving - automatic warning or slowing the car if your eyes aren't on the road. 

 

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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Because riding without distractions also rocks.
Summer nights, no watch, nor phone. Stripped down to racing weight. A massive common clock that looks like a normal clock showing a time and knowing when to cease melting the kms away such to make home, rest and slave the following day.
It's that simple

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Boatsie | 4 years ago
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I love it..
If in southern hemisphere riding at night time, look up at the big clock. Southern Cross centre, Poynter Brothers (2 brightest stars in the southern hemisphere (excluding the little star; sun) are a massive clock that is so huge it's easy to see therefore reducing distraction with a quicker glance.. Might take time  1 to calibrate the clock with understanding of the big hand angle yet it's a very reliable clock.

Edit. Just a note. Anything brighter than a Poynter Brother is a planet or nowadays more likely a satellite. Yet that clock exists, must be huge; multiple lightyears in size, it's free and it's accurate.

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ktache | 4 years ago
2 likes

Well done for finding this.  Very relevant.

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