No, you pay as much attentions as you think you need to. It is when the attention you think you need to pay is less than you really ought to that things go wrong.
On roads I drive regularly, I know the pitfalls, the places where people make mistakes, and can not only take care to avoid them myself, but be prepared to react appropriately when others make them. I know the locations of all the junctions, crossings, speed limits and cameras so ?I don't need to spend effort trying to work them out.
NIP arrived. 988and Things No, the opposite is true. I no longer have to wory about direction signs. Complex junctions can be seen before being negotiated. I have my SatNav placed just to the...
On the other hand on roads I don't know, much more of my attention is taken up with "reading the road", leaving less for avoiding my own and other peoples errors. For example, not knowing which way you need to turn at the next junction may result in inappropriate lane selection, which may require someone else to take pity on you to correct. Things like working out which lane you need, which exit to take off a roundabout, looking out for unfamiliar hazards, speed cameras, traffic lights, junctions, pedestrian crossings etc all takes extra effort if you don't know where they are. Trying to navigate on unfamiliar roads is another distraction from the task of driving.
Martin
-- Created on the Iyonix PC - the world's fastest RISC OS computer.