Look Ahead

The other day I was on my way to the ASNW meeting and I was following a red Cavalier on the Interstate. I noticed the driver was not really paying attention to what he or she was doing, but I figured it was Josh, so nothing new there.
As we drove past an off ramp, this person wandered off to the right when the fog line was gone, and then had to correct back to the left when we got back to the normal lanes.
I just went straight the whole time.
A sizable percentage of people do this, and, as is the case with a lot of other human behavior, this is a phenomenon I have been trying to understand for a while now.
Suddenly, it occurred to me. Some people drive without thinking about anything further up the road than the rear bumper of the car in front of them. It is the same sort of myopia that explains tailgating, pointless lane changes, a whole list of things.
Those of you who have been paying attention will have already figured out the inference to Autocross. I already wrote about how important it is to memorize the course, but this is another factor. When you are out there, you need to be looking 1 or 2 maneuvers ahead, not jumping from gate to gate like a bloodhound chasing a convict.
My failing memory recalls a statement from somewhere, “if you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter which road you take”.
But if you want to be the fastest driver in your class, you need to know where you are going.