Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the new research confirming race car drivers blink less than the average person

How often do you blink?

On average, most people blink around 15 to 20 times each minute. 

Blinking clears away particles from the eyes as well as lubricates the eyeballs. As our eye need a smooth surface for light to property focus on, a dry eye can result in blurry vision.

While you might not notice it in day to day life, every time you blink, everything goes dark for about one fifth of a second. 

This is not the case for race car drivers, who can be driving at speeds of 354 kilometres per hour. This equates to 20 metres of lost vision during one blink. If they were to blink normally, a driver could lose almost 600 metres of visual race information per minute.

New research published in the journal iScience wanted to know if race car drivers blinked like the rest of us- and were surprised to find that they don’t!  

In the study, the researchers put eye trackers on the helmets of three drivers who went through three Formula race circuits – the drivers completed a total of 304 laps. 

The study found that the drivers all blinked at the same spots on the course during each lap – mostly on the straight section of the track, which is considered relatively safer than other parts of the track. 

The drivers didn’t blink when they were changing speed or direction, nor did they blink when they were going around curves.

This is the first major study looking at blinking during sports, and shows how our body and brain copes to keep us as safe as possible without us even realising it. 

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