Episode #2 - Visual Search

Coach Chris & Miss Misty chat about springtime in Alaska and, what is breakup? The conversation then focuses on the importance of Visual Search. Mostly about proper visual search skills needed to see ahead of your vehicle while driving.

Transcript

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Well, we'd like to welcome everybody out there to, learn to drive better. Episode number two. my name is coach Chris and I miss Misty, And, how are things going today? Miss Misty. They're going pretty good. They're going pretty good. Pretty good. We're down here in Oklahoma. So like I said, if you listen, episode one, we do spend a lot of our time in the lower 48, so well, not a lot of time we spend some time down here, so we do have some experience driving in other conditions. but yeah, we're down here in Oklahoma right now and, it's. Been raining out, at least today. Perfect day for a podcast. Yeah, perfect day for it. It's why we decided to do it because it was raining out. We figured, if we can't go for a drive, we can't be outside. We can sit in here and we can talk about those things. in Alaska, we're in breakup season. So let's, talk a little bit about the difference between Alaska and the lower 48 during the springtime. What are things that, that you've seen that are different? drastically different between the two regions. Breakup. Yeah. I don't, I don't think they get breakup down here. Not in Oklahoma. It doesn't seem like, well, no, they don't, they only get snow. Like Three days. Yeah, they don't, they don't deal with the snow that we do. They get like snow three times a year at the most. So, if you're unfamiliar with the term breakup, in Alaska, we get a lot of snow. I think this year we got well over 50 inches of snow. I think in Anchorage they almost beat the record. Yeah, it was a pretty, pretty significant snowfall year for us. And with all that snowfall, it doesn't come and go throughout the winter. Once it's here, it's here. It stays on the ground until we get temperatures that are going to start getting rid of it, which is starting to happen right now. Probably the last three weeks we've started seeing some significant weather changes and we say significant, we're talking average temperatures in the teens and twenties for a high and a low. and now we're starting to see temperatures up into the forties during the daytime and even some evenings where we're seeing temperatures that. are above freezing, right above 32 in the evenings. So that means we get what we call the 24 hour melt. That means our snow is melting 24 hours a day. But with 40 degrees, that snow doesn't go away in a couple of days. It takes weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. And during that time period, we have had some snowfalls. We just keep getting it. Yeah. So we, we've been communicating back, to, family Alaska and they get a couple of days of melt and then they get some snow and then they get a couple of days of melt and they get some snow. So they're getting frustrated here, wishing that the, the melting would happen faster than, Then the, this, the return snow, but we get, breakup. So we get a lot of a lot of water this time of year. and there's, what are some dangers that we have with, with water on the, on the roadway? Oh, you're asking me? Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, we can hydroplane if there's too much of it. And that does happen a lot of slush instead of just water. It's slushy when it starts melting on the roads. it can freeze overnight. And then we have another case of black ice if it gets too cold, right? And I think the slushy condition is pretty unique because we have a condition where the vehicle wants to pull left and right as you enter those areas of slush. and, and the ice is a really, is a really, Good example of a, of a danger that we have to deal with, especially in early morning. you, you finish your day and it's nice and warm. So in your mind, when you wake up the next day, you're not expecting temperatures are going to be below freezing again. And I think something that, we were talking about earlier today is the sun. Yes, the sun, because of where it's at right now in Alaska. Okay. presents a huge problem, especially in the afternoons when you're driving with water on the road and some of the snow that still sit there. We have a lot of clearer Yeah So this the sun generally is not very high this time of year. Right now I just looked where our sunrise is happening in about 7 a. m And the sun's going down at about 9 15 and we're adding 78 minutes a day right now. So we'll get to that time period where we have, 24 hours of daylight, which is very unique that we don't see in down here in the lower 48. today sunrise was at seven and sunset will be at seven. so 7 to 7, 12 hours here in Oklahoma, and we're already up to 14 hours in Alaska. So we're seeing that. But what happens is that sun is, is skimming the horizon. it doesn't come up in the east and go down in the west, like it would traditionally in the lower 48. it skims the horizon. And because of that, we get that low sun. At peak times during the day, between, nine and five when people are traveling most of the day and it ricochets off or reflects off of the water and directly into your face. And it can be a completely blinding situation. Yes. It's almost magnified. I always think it's worse than trying to look into the sun directly. and there's really no way to. get away from it. You can flip your visor down, right? And because it's so low, the visor doesn't really help, especially for short people. Yeah. Well, it doesn't help if the, if where the sun is reflecting is coming off the ground in front of you, which kind of leads us into what our segments going to be talking today about with a visual search. So this is a condition that drastically affects our visual search and our ability to see dangers, ahead of us, right? But visual search isn't just looking at the roadway and for dangers ahead of us. Where else are we going to be looking for those things? Everywhere. On the sides, behind us, in our mirrors, everywhere, yeah. Yeah, and above and below the roadway too, right? So, today's segment is going to be about visual search. I spend the majority of my time in the classroom teaching students the theory of driving. And Miss Misty, I spend most of my time in the vehicle after he's taught them the theory. See if they're applying the theory, right? So my goal is to get them as much information as I can to prepare them to get in that vehicle. So they're not going in raw, like most of us did when we were learning how to drive. I know when I first got in a vehicle, it was, it was, I didn't have a whole bunch of like knowledge, detailed knowledge. Of what I should be doing. And I start off every segment talking about the skills that they come with. Most students come to me and the skills that they've been working on. If they've been in a vehicle or these, they've been working on accelerating and braking. So they've been working on some pedal control and they've been looking to work on steering. The skill of turning that vehicle, changing lanes, making lefts and rights, going from one roadway to the other. And I have to remind them that those are great skills to have, but that's only about 50 percent of your driving. That's only half the skills that you need to be able to operate on roadways And the other 50 percent that they don't even realize they need to be working on and it is a super important skill Is visual search? Because if you're not looking ahead or to the sides or behind you or above or below your vehicle You can't navigate the hazards that are out there. You don't know what the dangers are so So it's a wake up call of this is a skill that most of us haven't thought about. They haven't realized that this is an important skill to have while they're behind the wheel. And I tell them that right now, it's 50 percent of your driving skill. So if we can increase your skill of visual search, we can increase your ability to accelerate, brake, and turn better. And then all their skills go up. Okay, so, and generally when we talk about, visual search, the first thing we talk about is searching ahead. It's the easiest to do. It's the easiest to monitor, right? and what we find is that drivers don't look far enough ahead down the road. They're not, focused on, they're focused on the immediate roadway ahead of them. sometimes not even, not much further out than their bumper. What are things that you see in the vehicle that tell you immediately that you have a via or that you have a student that. And guys, we're, we're trying to be very organic with this podcast. We're not going to be editing a lot and taking out a lot of our mistakes. So we're just winging it here. This isn't, Hey, we got bloopers and we're going to be taking them out. So if we stumble on our words or we, we get lost in our thought, you're, you're going to be a witness to it. This is, we're going to keep this as organic as possible. that way it, it, it cuts down on time on editing. We can get these podcasts out to you right away. So what are things that you see from students in the vehicle that let you know whether or not they have, adequate visual searching skills or they need to work on it? A lot of times they will start weaving on the road. They can't, their lane alignment gets crazy when they're focusing either on their dash. Or if they're not looking far enough ahead and they're just looking at like the hood of the car or the lines on the road, I start getting all over the place. Yeah. And that's something that that's a red flag for us. If we have a vehicle and we're in there with them and we're, we're weaving a lot, it's kind of like learning to ride a bicycle for the first time we stare at the front tire. And when we're driving down the roadway with that bicycle, when that tire starts to go towards the middle of the road, we adjust, we start going towards the curb. We adjust, we start going to the middle of the road. We adjust. And what happens is we weave and we have no idea what's happening in this. I know the first time I ever rode a bike, I ran into the back of a car. Wow, Yep. I, I, I clearly remember first ride around, I was so excited about being able to ride the bike, but because I had no visual searching skills, I immediately ran into back of a parked car. I had no idea it was there until it was too late. And we have a lot of brand new drivers that get into the vehicle with us, and that's exactly the skills that they're demonstrating. So lucky for us, we can see this happening and we can start making adjustments on it and go, Hey. And, and it's funny because I remember I was with this young lady years ago and she would be driving excellent. And all of a sudden we'd start swerving and I go, get your eyes out the road. And she, it would, the vehicle would stop swerving and we'd be okay for a little bit. And then we'd start doing it again. I'd say, all right, get your eyes out the road. And she started laughing and I go, what are you laughing about? And she goes, every time I start staring at the road in front of me, You immediately are catching me. Are you looking at me? And I'm like, no, I am just watching what's happening with the vehicle. And I can tell based on the behavior of the vehicle, what you're doing. And she just thought it was funny because every time immediately when she did it, I was catching her without even having to look at where she was actually looking. So. We, we teach three zones, three visual zones to the front. We have a red zone, which is immediately in front of us. That's a, that's looking no more than five seconds out in front of you. And that's where most drivers, when they first learned how to drive, that's where they're looking right in front of their vehicle, up to five seconds. And that's about it. Most drivers out there on the roadway, even experienced ones are looking in or what we call the yellow zone, which is anywhere from five seconds to 30 seconds down the road. And if you think about it, 30 seconds means you're looking at an object that you are not going to be able to reach if it's standing still for 30 seconds. And that's where most drivers are looking. And we find that this isn't nearly good enough. We need to be looking at the horizon. We need to be looking at a minimum of 30 seconds and a maximum to as far as that road extends. And we're going to talk about why that's important, to help us avoid hazards and be prepared for possible hazards out there in the roadway. So, but it all starts with. where you're looking. Are you looking far enough down the road? And we have a little acronym that we use to help our drivers remind themselves on their visual cues. And it's what we call the alert system, A L E double R T. And it's an acronym for always scan the horizon. That reminds you where are my eyes looking at? Am I looking far enough down the road? Looking for proper space and visibility. And we're going to be talking about in another podcast is making sure I have enough distance between me and the vehicle in front because then I have time to react for that potentially dangerous situation. Eyes are on the move. And that is. Directly attributed to not staring, not getting complacent and only looking at one area. So. Our eyes are constantly looking for the hazards that are out there. And then the two R's, which is if your visual search is good, you're going to realize that there's a hazard and you'll be able to react properly to the hazard and the last one is the T, which is take control and be safe. Don't you teach this every week? I do teach this every week, but We're totally going to be editing that. We're going to be editing this whole thing. You spilled your T. No, the T was for take Control and be safe. Well, not anymore. Alright, well, I don't have anything to wipe that up. So that's the acronym we use to remind students of where they're searching. To make sure that they're using their eyes and they're not getting complacent. So we have our three zones. We need to make sure, like I said, most of us are using the yellow zone. And I think most people when they hear 30 seconds, it's like, well, that's adequate, but we need to be looking further. A lot can happen in those zones. Yes. And, and I always go through this demonstration in class where I asked them a simple math question. Okay. A simple math question. I asked them what it is. And after I asked them, I tell them they have five seconds to answer it. and I tell this all ahead of time and I say, all right, I'm going to give you five seconds to answer it. And I want you to answer this question. I give them a simple math question. As soon as I do it, I start yelling at them at the top of my lungs. And every time they tried to talk, I scream at them. Right. And they're in such shock and awe of what's happening. They can't answer a simple question like what's eight times eight, right? They can't answer that question in a five second time period. And I said, okay, okay. What's going to happen on the road? You're driving down the road and within five seconds, someone swerves into your lane and now you're in that stressful situation. You got to react to it. How do you react? And you're telling me that you're going to react properly, but you couldn't tell me what eight times eight is Okay. I had to think about what eight times eight is, and you're not yelling at me. Okay. You get my point. Yes, I do. Okay. So, You don't think clearly in stressful situations, even with simple, mathematics or a simple thing, like I would swerve to avoid that situation. So we don't want five seconds to answer that question. If I would have given that student 30 seconds, even though I was yelling at him, there would be that 10 seconds of, okay, this guy is really weird. He's screaming at me but I have 20 seconds still left over to think clearly about answering this question for him. And that's the basis of making sure that we're looking far enough down the road is that you have all the time you need to react to a potentially dangerous situation. So let's talk about examples of things that can happen in front of us that are important to have time to react to. Things that I've seen well, in the neighborhoods that we start driving in, we have a lot of pedestrians. We have a lot of older folks that walk their dogs. And we have a lot of kids that are riding bicycles and not all of them are experts at the skill yet. And we have a lot of parents that are walking their kids, not on the, not necessarily on the bike, but also in strollers, bikes, dogs. It's a combo. It's a family outing for the afternoons and we have to be aware of what we're doing. What's presenting itself. Yeah, especially in neighborhoods. We have pedestrians are the, children, pets vehicles backing out of driveways. Yes. Lots of those. Yep. So, and, and a lot of times in neighborhoods, they don't have sidewalks off of the roadway, so they're walking and sharing the roadway with us or we have sidewalks only on one side, so we. And they're not always on the sidewalk. Right, or we have parked cars on the road too, so while they're trying to walk on the edge of the road, they have to walk around these vehicles, which put them in potentially dangerous situations. So, yes, that's an excellent example. I would say other examples of unknowns are animals. In Alaska, we have moose. We have moose that will linger near the roadway. Or we'll just come flying out of the woods and come running across the road. I know in the lower 48, there's all sorts of critters that do that. Elk and deer and antelope and other big, big critters like that. In Alaska, really the moose. Is is the primary one porcupines? Yeah, but we're not I mean porcupines are like small animals, right? So if we can swerve to avoid them we swerve if we can't I mean it may do some damage to the vehicle. It may kill the the animal which is not our goal at all but if it comes between being safe and You know the consequences of hitting a small animal. I think the small animal is an acceptable uh loss, right? I know, I know that I've had strikes with, with pets, that come running out the road. It's not something that I'm proud of. I'm not something, something that has ever been intentional, but, I also have to look at the fact that I have passengers in the vehicle. I have other motorists on the roadway of pedestrians on the roadway, so I can't get too crazy with that situation. That's something that we talk about in class. And that leads me into the worst situation that we're looking at in a visual search situation, which would be the head on collision, right? So, we have a situation where we have a vehicle approaching us in the other lane, and they are not correctly handling themselves. They're swerving in the roadway. They're not keeping proper lane alignment. They're passing in a no passing zone. And there could be a bunch of different reasons. Variables on why that's happening. I mean, it could be some sort of distracted driving situation or an impaired driver or medical, medical emergency. Yes. So we don't know what's going on in the vehicle, but we know what's happening outside the vehicle. And again, how much time do you want? To be able to make an informed decision based on what you're seeing. Do you want that five seconds or do you want more? As much as possible. We want as much as possible. So we need to be looking at the horizon so we can maximize that ability to make that decision. And then also to be able to execute said decision, right? Whether it's going into a ditch or it's slowing down and stopping or getting off the roadway entirely, right? So, Yes. So head on collisions. Those are the most deadliest of them all. And one of the scenarios that we teach in class is a scenario where they're exposed to three different situations. They're exposed to in one scenario, they have a child that's running from the right towards the roadway. They have an animal, a dog, in the roadway, and they have a vehicle coming in the other lane. And they're asked, what should you do in this situation? Swerve to the left, swerve to the right, or stay straight? And 99 percent of students in class will decide to go straight. And the consequences of going straight would be to have a collision with the dog, with that small animal. And they know that it's not acceptable to hit a pedestrian. And we know the consequences there. And we don't want to get into a head on collision because we know the consequences there. So we know that. hitting a small animal is not ever anybody's goal, but in that scenario where I know I'm going to hit something, what is acceptable? So, and like I said, this is worst case scenario because we have to hit something, but this isn't something that's going to present themselves. It's a rarity. But I try to get them aware of what's acceptable on the roadway and what's not. All right, so I think we've covered the importance of looking ahead but looking ahead is not the only place that we need to be looking. Where else should we be looking? We should be looking in our mirrors to see what things are happening behind us and we should be glancing out on our side mirrors as well. And when I say glancing, I mean like a quick glance. We need to be aware of what's happening around us, but we don't need to focus on it because that also starts problems as well. Yeah, because if, I mean, the majority of the dangers that we're concerned about are in front of us, We do need to be aware of 365 degrees around our vehicle, but not to the point where it consumes us, right? So we can't be driving forward looking backwards. Yes. But we need to know what's happening behind us. We do, and a lot of that happens with newer drivers where they get consumed with people behind them tailgating, and they feel like they have to speed up. Because they're trying to get out of the way, and that just causes more problems. Yeah. And it's a stressing point, Yes. And when you have that stressing point, you tend to focus on it more, right? Instead of less. Now, it's a danger, and we do need to focus on it. And we will have a segment that talks about tailgating. Preventing it from happening to us, like we're the tailgater. But I think this is a segment of visual search that we could just go on and on and on about, but I think we really just wanted to touch on the importance of looking further ahead. Yes. As far as you can, as far as you can. And I know with new drivers, that's something that they, they have to work on. And I know as far as experienced drivers, we need to work on it. We need to, we all need to work on it. Sometimes we get very complacent on what we're doing in the vehicle. And I think that has a lot to do with preparedness. Being mentally prepared to get in the vehicle. Right. Being prepared to get in the vehicle and. The things that I need to do to make sure that I'm going to be safe, right? So sometimes life, there's a lot of distractions and you're on a phone or, you're thinking about something that you have to do at work when you get in that vehicle and you're not thinking about the important things that you need to do to operate that vehicle. So we need to take a moment and make sure that we are mentally prepared to get in that vehicle. We're not mentally distracted or physically distracted. And when we get in that vehicle. We're looking far enough down the road. We're 365 degrees aware of what's happening around our vehicle and understanding the farther we look out. The more time we have to make informed decisions. Yes. Right. So I think that wraps up this segment with visual search. It's not to say that we covered it thoroughly or that there isn't more to talk about on it, but I think we can come back and touch on this subject. Later on, I think the, the importance of this segment was. How far out we're looking. I think that was the key of what we wanted to talk about was the importance of looking further down the road than you are right now. And the importance of that, which is having more time to make informed decisions on what happens in front of you. So, if we have some input on any of these podcasts, we remind our listeners, to give us some feedback at. 88 mailbag at gmail. com. Okay. And make sure that you go there and you give us an input, whether we want to hear back from you. We want to hear back from our listeners to find out if. We're covering the subjects thoroughly enough. If you want more details on it, you want another segment on it and in a different direction, if you have some input on things that you do to make sure that you're safe on the road or examples of. Things that have happened to you while you've been on the road that have put you in these situations and things that you've learned about. I always say the biggest learning tool on the road is experience. I would say practice. Yes. So that does go along with experience. Yes. But sometimes that experience isn't always a part of it. Positive event. No, sometimes we learn the most from the negative experiences that have happened to us, right? So I always tell students there's difference between experience and knowledge. And what we're trying to do, Miss Misty and I is to give you knowledge, knowledge of what we know about driving. And the experiences that we've had in the education that we've been able to expand on for ourselves and to pass it along to you guys. So, yeah, take that knowledge and, and use that way. You don't have to learn from experience. Cause like I said, That experience that you're learning from is majority of it's going to be in a negative manner and you don't need to do that. And we don't want you to do that. No. So, make sure you reach out to us, ADA dot mailbag at gmail. com and I'll give us your comments and stay tuned for our next episode in a week or so. And for now, this is coach Chris signing off again. This is miss Misty signing off. Thank you.