Sorry Mate I Didn't See You!

How many times have you heard someone say that after an accident?
YOU MAY HAVE EVEN SAID IT YOURSELF!

Or maybe you've had to put your hand in the air to apologise to another road user for pulling out on them?

It's not actually the fact that you didn't look, although on occasion you may well have not looked.
But on the whole, driver's will have looked when they arrive at a junction, but because they have looked very quickly they have not taken in all the relevant information to make an informed decision to proceed or not.

We always recommend when arriving at a junction and getting prepared to move off, that we look to the left and right AT LEAST TWICE!

Saccadic masking, also known as saccadic suppression, is a visual perception phenomenon where the brain blocks visual processing during eye movements. This prevents the viewer from noticing the eye's motion or the gap in visual perception.
Saccadic Masking is something EVERY human being is capable of falling into a trap with.
The way our eyes and brain work means that the faster we move our heads from side to side the easier it is to miss information.

Stopping and pausing for a split second will help to alleviate this from happening.

If we pause for a split second, it gives our eyes and brain the chance to spot something that is moving.
It will also then allow us once we have seen that moving object to work out it's approach speed.
By firstly seeing the object we are able to know it's there, and secondly we can work out if it is safe with the speed that object is doing to then know whether it is safe or not to proceed.

If we don't supply our brain this information in the first place, the results could be devastating.

You can experience the effect of saccadic masking by standing in front of a mirror and looking from one eye to the next. You can also use your cellphone's front-facing camera as a mirror to see the end of the saccade movement.

The video below by ABD Road Safety gives an excellent presentation of what Saccadic Masking is and how we can avoid it happening.