MANUSCRIPT SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION Gaze-direction and steering effects while driving

Instructions given to novices learning certain tasks of applied navigation often suggest that gaze-direction (“line of sight”) should preview the path the operator desires to take (e.g., Bondurant & Blakemore, 1998; Motorcycle Safety Foundation, 1992; Morris, 1990), presumably because looking behavior can ultimately affect steering control through hand, arm, or leg movements that could lead to undesired path deviations. Here, we control participants ’ gaze-direction while driving an automobile in virtual reality, and find that gaze-eccentricity has a large, systematic effect on steering and lane-position. Moreover, even when head-position and postural effects of the driver are controlled, there remains a significant bias to drive in the direction of fixation, indicating the existence of a perceptual, and not merely motor, phenomenon. 2. BACKGROUND The issue of steering, especially as it relates to driving an automobile, has been a topic of interest recently as the use of in-vehicle navigation systems and cellular telephones while driving is being re-evaluated in light of safety issues involving these devices. Of primary concern is the allocation of attentional and perceptual resources associated with the coupling of requirements normally associated with the drivin