Things You Don't Expect to See in Dayton, Ohio

In my last few posts, I’ve been noting the widespread reach of the “looked but did not see” syndrome described by Tom Vanderbilt in his book Traffic. Last week I experienced a perfect illustration of the syndrome in action.

As I was walking along a street in downtown Dayton, Ohio, I approached a midblock pedestrian crosswalk, primed for my daily “enorme” size cup of coffee waiting for me on the other side. Dayton has several of these midblock crosswalks, each of which is regulated by a traffic light. Having become more aware of the “looked but did not see” syndrome, I now always check to make sure cars stop at the red light before I proceed across.

Sure enough, last Wednesday as I got ready to cross with the green, an SUV blew through the crosswalk (I saw him coming, mom!), completely oblivious to the red light and to the indignant pedestrian yelling and shaking his fist. (If my own bias filters had been in place, I’d also report that he was chattering away on a cell phone – it would somehow fit, but having been fully in “The Now!” as he roared by me, I can’t say that I saw that.)

Not to give the guy a break, but … having read Traffic, I can understand how a driver would expect to see a stoplight only at an intersection, not stuck in the middle of a city block. Clearly, as Tom Vanderbilt put it, the fellow in the SUV was “looking through” the light (and me) because it didn’t fit his “mental picture” of what he thought he should be seeing.

OK, so to make sure he sees me next time, I think I’ll put on a bear costume and go moonwalking backwards through the crosswalk. (Hmm, on second thought, he probably wouldn’t see that, either.)