ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that limitations in attentional processes may be a major factor in many accidents. There are two main determinants of where attention is directed to: exogenous and endogenous factors. Attention can be stimulus-driven, in the sense that it can be captured automatically and involuntarily by environmental stimuli. Normally, attention is captured by abrupt changes of stimulation, or transients. Bottom-up, exogenous cues such as sudden movements, or the rapid appearance of a new object, prompts more extensive processing. This often occurs involuntarily, a process termed attentional capture. It is worth considering in detail the issue of what makes motorcyclists inconspicuous, not just because it is an important question in its own right, but because, it tells us something about driving and attention in general. The weight of evidence suggests that many accidents attributed to sensory perceptual failures might be better characterized as being due to attentional problems.
