This phenomenon has been known by me
for years, but it only recently came to my attention again. An
18-wheel truck driver on Facebook mentioned that a young man drove
under his truck and was killed in the accident. I could deduce by
his Post that he felt that he was partially responsible and that he
felt sorrowful about the incident. Decent people do feel sorrowful
about the loss of a young man's life, even if they weren't involved.
As I was unable to contact the driver,
I made a request to my Facebook friends to help me find him. This
led to a discussion about staring while driving and I posted the
reason why I believed that it was not any action on his part that
caused the death of the young man.
I believe that the young man stared at
the underside of the truck which made him go into a trance that
caused him to drive under the truck, causing the accident that killed
him.
I witnessed the phenomenon first hand
many years ago as a passenger in the front seat of the car that one
of my sons was driving. (A new driver). While passing a trailer
truck the car started veering to the right, towards the underbelly of
the truck. I noticed that he was staring at the truck and not looking at the
road ahead; and appeared as in a trance. I immediately took the
wheel and spoke to him. This got his focus back and he indicated
that he didn't know what had just happened.
Another incident that I wrote about in
one of my police survival articles, is that of a young girl that
drove right into the side of a police car that was parked on the side
of the road. Unfortunately, the female police supervisor was
standing at the driver's door talking to the officer inside the car.
The young girls car peeled the officer off of the cruiser and killed
her. Did the young girl intentionally kill the officer? I don't
believe so. She went into a trance, causing her to veer towards the
cruiser. My article also details on where an officer should position
himself during a motor vehicle stop.
While discussing this phenomenon one of
the bloggers stated that one of the driving instructors told him that
one of the biggest causes of accidents involving young (new) drivers
is staring instead of looking around. And that one of the best ways
to kill yourself is to stare at the white broken lines while driving,
especially while driving in fog.
Driving instructors should teach this
to their young drivers. If they did, we'd have less young people
killing themselves. Looking around instead of staring does not mean
to be a swivel-head, but to merely be looking ahead, a bit to the
sides, seeing any obstacles ahead so to be able to react in time, and
not being fixated on any one object. If an object ahead appears to
pose a danger, then, of course, pay closer attention to it.
Looking – is a physical activity
through the eyes. It doesn't mean much.
Seeing - on the other hand, refers
to the perception of what the eyes are looking at in the brain.
It tells you whether the road ahead is normal or whether there
is danger.
Staring - Is being fixated on only
one object. Staring can lead you into a hypnotic trance that can lead you into a fatal accident.
– DON'T STARE. LOOK and SEE.
