I get very fed up with “see and avoid does not work”. If you tell the PPL population see and avoid is a waste of time, the amount of effort spent on lookout will drop and “see and avoid” will stop working as we will have stopped trying to keep a good lookout. This is bad news for all except the IFR boys.
I sometimes fly with an ex member of the royal observer core. He is three times better at spotting other aircraft than I am, and I think I am quite good. A good lookout is something which requires effort, make no effort to keep a good lookout and you are a bad pilot.
Rod1