Completely afree BEagle. The more safety aids you give someone, in any form of transport, the less they feel they have to be scared about.
I have had a few close encounters and on every occasion, the pilot was not looking out of the window. three were that close that I could clearly see they were looking down, one was further away but I could see the pilot looking out of his left window when I was on his right.
Makes good use of your eyes needs training. It also needs constant use. The pilot who looks at the GPS, then at the map then at the temps, then a quick scan across the horizon, then at the GPS... will rarely spot any other traffic.
We should fly with a constant scanning look out, occasionally taking our eyes inside to check only the things that must to be checked. We should also realise that during the time that we are looking inside and the first 10-20 seconds of resuming our lookout, is the time when we are most at danger.
If it was taught that 'eyes inside' was the most dangerous part of any cross country, I am sure avoidance would be better.