Want to improve your driving? Start with your eyes

Previously, this author was lamenting the lack of fundamental necessities like telescopic adjustment in modern cars. However, to reiterate a point that becomes increasingly irrelavant in today's automotive world, a car – any car – is only ever going to be as good as its driver. 

That is to say, everyone and anyone can improve as a driver on the road (have you seen how Malaysians drive?). Speaking of fundamentals, many drivers – despite having driven for years – forget the one thing that will immediately help them become better drivers. 

What are we talking about? Your eyes. Yes, where you look will ultimately determine how early/late your reactions are, and also how smooth you are on the road. Sounds simple, right? Well, it's hardly rocket science. Here's how you can maximise your vision when driving, whatever the roads might be. 

Look and scan as far as possible

Look where you wanna go. A seemingly 'duh' statement isn't it? The truth is, many drivers only look at the car/traffic right in front of them, and that's the problem. By the time something untoward unfolds in front of you, it's most probably too late.

Instead, drivers should learn to expand their line of vision further. How much further? Far as your eyes can see. This is expecially useful when driving in open, expansive highways where there are long sweeping corners for your eyes to look and scan ahead. The further you look, the smoother your driving inputs are, as your hands and feet will instinctively react to your line of vision. 

In saying that, looking far ahead can also be applied to city/urban driving, to anticipate and give yourself more time to react to traffic conditions. If you see stationary traffic ahead of time, you can already give yourself – and those behind you – ample time to react and slow down, instead of braking at the last minute and causing others to do the same. 

This is because in city/urban driving, there will be more stop and go traffic situations. This being the case, traffic is much closer to each other, increasing the risk of collisions, despite the lower speeds. If you are observant enough, you'd notice that most pile-ups happen in these situations, and less frequently on highways (but they still happen). 

Also Read: After reading this, you will reassess your driving position

What about unsighted roads?

What about trunk roads, where there are full of blind, unsighted corners most of the time? This is where drivers need to meld line of vision with patience. More often than not, accidents tend to happen on such roads due to a lack of patience.

Again, your line of vision is to look as far ahead as possible, even if your vision is limited by the array of blind corners. The rule of thumb is just to assume that there's always a vehicle approaching on the other side of a blind corner. Yes, this can be infuriating, stuck behind a slow moving vehicle in front of you, blind corner after blind corner.

The key to getting better line of vision in such situations is to not tailgate. Drop back a car length or two, to give yourself a better view past the vehicle in front of you. Because there will be stretches you will have enough road to overtake, but you can't possibly sight a passing opportunity if you're right up the posterior of the vehicle in front.

It's also worth mentioning that regardless of highway or trunk roads, elevation changes are a given. Often times, you can't see past a crest as you...crest it. It's a good idea to back off and anticipate traffic build up, because we have seen it too many times, where pile ups happen after a crest because drivers didn't anticipate traffic to slow down or even stop there. 

Also Read: Advanced Driver Assistance Systems ADAS, more harm than good?

Visibility gets worse at night or in bad weather, what can I do?

For many, driving at night or bad weather can be rather daunting, and understandably so. So, what can you do when you wanna look far ahead, but weather conditions prevent you from doing so? 

Let's start with night driving. The first easy tip is to slow down to a comfortable pace so that you can react better to any potential hazards. In an unlit road with little traffic, you can even turn on your high beam to help see further ahead (obviously, don't do this when there's traffic opposite you). 

For roads that are lit, you can even use the street lamps to your advantage, you can tell the curvature and flow of the road ahead by the positioning of said street lamps. Furthermore, newer roads also have reflective lane and divider markings that help make the road ahead more visible. All you have to do is, scan as far as your eye can see. 

With regards to driving in heavy rain or poor weather, the line of vision remains the same. That's to say, look as far ahead as you can. The problem is that, how far you can look ahead now is compromised by falling rain or a thick layer of fog. 

Unlike night driving, other vehicles are harder to spot, not to mention your own as well. The key here is to make yourself visible to others by turning on your lights (fog lights if it's really foggy or heavy rain). Those reflective markings on lit roads now become more useful than ever as well to help you gauge your position on the road as well as other vehicles. 

Speaking of turning on your lights, please DO NOT USE YOUR HAZARD LIGHTS no matter how bad the rain gets. Hazard lights are only for situations where your car has broken down and is unable to move. Furthermore, never rely on any ADAS technology in bad weather conditions as the systems have limited funtionality in times like these. 

Also Read: There is no law on hazard light use, so who’s right and who’s wrong anyway?

WapCar's Opinion

One can buy a car with the highest safety rating, loaded with the latest Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) but that doesn't do justice to the car if the driver is not maximising his/her abilities behind the wheel.

Again, we're not saying that you have to be a flawless, perfect driver (that's where ADAS can sometimes make up for human error). However, it takes deliberate practice and willingness to be a better, safer driver on the road. As we've detailed it out here, good driving habits start with good line of vision.