Look Far Ahead

Most new drivers look at the back of the vehicle in front. It feels sensible, since that is the thing nearest to you. But by the time something happens to that vehicle, you are reacting, not anticipating.

A widely used working target in driver training is to look 12 to 15 seconds ahead: to the place you will reach in 12 to 15 seconds' time. You can find it the same way you count the following gap in Following Distance in Practice. Pick a landmark far ahead and count until you reach it.

Here is what that means in metres. At 80 km/h you cover about 22 metres every second:

otice the last column. Your look-ahead distance is several times your stopping distance. That is the point. Stopping distance is what you need when something happens suddenly. Looking far ahead is how you arrange for fewer things to happen suddenly. At 80 km/h, seeing 300 metres ahead gives you around 13 seconds to notice, think and ease off, long before hard braking is needed.

The handbook sets an even longer lead where grip is poor. On slippery surfaces, it says to focus your attention as far ahead as possible, at least 20 to 30 seconds. At 80 km/h that is roughly 450 to 670 metres: as far as the road lets you see.

Two cautions. Often you can't see 12 seconds ahead: in town, in traffic, round a bend, over a crest. When the view is short, that isn't a reason to look closer. It is a reason to slow down, the same rule that Fog, Dust and Reduced Visibility ended on. And looking far doesn't mean ignoring what is near. The scan still comes back to the middle distance and the sides, every few seconds.