Keep 'em moving. Back in the glory days of dogfighting, pilots in combat were told to "keep their heads on a swivel" to avoid getting caught unaware by the enemy. Traffic is often like combat, no? Keep your eyes moving (and use your mirrors to limit moving your whole head). Scan to the horizon and back to 4 seconds ahead of your car. Repeat. Scan down cross streets for red-light runners. Scan on-ramps for oncoming cars…and cops scanning you.
Avoid target fixation. Military aviators use the term "target fixation" to describe the situation when pilots become so focused on their goal that they lose sight of their surroundings. In extreme cases the pilot drives this plane into the ground. A similar situation often occurs for highway drivers in heavy traffic or novice racers on course. Highway drivers will focus on the car just ahead. Racers focus on the apex or the car just ahead.
Look around, under or through. How do you see ahead when you're in heavy traffic, riding behind an 18-wheeler or on a tree-lined road? Look around, under or through the obstacles and vehicles ahead of you. Race drivers in tight traffic learn to look through the windshield of the cars ahead: Do the same on the highway. If you're following a behemoth, try moving to the left to see around. Often, you can look under an 18-wheeler. (Never lollygag alongside an 18-wheeler: Not only are you limiting your own vision, you may be virtually invisible to the big rig driver.)Stay tuned..
Source: Autopartswarehouse.com, Car Guides
