"Sorry I didn't see you!" Are we invisible to drivers?︱Cross Training Adventure

http://crosstrainingenduro.com Are car drivers actually trying to kill motorbike riders and cyclists? Are they selfish narcissists who believe 'might is right?' Are they just incompetent and shouldn't be in control of anything bigger than a remote control? No doubt all of these are true in some situations. Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. But research is showing why competent drivers sometimes actually don't see motorbike riders. This video is part of our ongoing motorbike safety series. It's known as SMIDSY in the United Kingdom and Australia. Sorry mate I didn't see you! The next issue? Research at the Texas Tech University has shown we tend to view distant objects as being further away than they really are. So drivers may see a motorcyclist but think they have time to pull out. It's called saccadic masking. When our eyes move rapidly our brain is only taking snapshots of the scenery but our brain makes it appear as a smooth transition. Check out our reviews of various adventure bikes and dual sport bikes. Unfortunately a driver scanning their environment quickly can actually not see a cyclist or motorbike rider in some situations. And of course often they don't. They often have trouble guaging the distance and speed involved with motorbikes. What can riders do about all of this?Ride as though you are invisible to drivers. And now a case study! Three years ago I was riding along this street under the speed limit. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? Check out our vids. If you can keep a safe grip on the handlebars, cover your horn button as well. If possible take a close look at every driver. Are they holding a phone in one hand? Constantly scan for your exit strategies if a car pulls out in front of you. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids. Always have your front and rear brake covered, ready to hit the brakes. There's a good website called 'Science of being seen' that examines all the research to date and has some tentative conclusions about increasing our visibility. Check it out. Are they talking to a passenger? Are they trying to eat a burrito with one hand and drinking beer with the other hand? Ride in the wheel track closest to the centre line to increase your visibility. If you have never practiced emergency braking, find a quiet road and start practicing. Keep your speed down. This increases your chance of being seen despite saccadic masking. What about making yourself more visible? High visibility clothing? White helmets? Driving lights? Reflective tape on your motorbike? All of this might help, although it definitely won't solve the issues of saccadic masking and perceptual problems with distance and speed completely. A driver wanting to pull out seemed to be looking straight at me and then pulled out. I was immediately on the horn and brakes but he didn't seem to react and kept slowly pulling out. Near misses? Lets hear your stories. And more importantly, what are your tips for avoiding drivers behaving badly? I narrowly missed the back of his car and hit the gutter. You can still see the scratch marks in the concrete. The main thing is get out and ride while you can with dual sport riding or Adventure riding in Australia, Canada, Vietnam, Romania and beyond! So check out Cross Training Adventure. I hit the log fence, somesaulted in mid-air then slid down to the bottom of this embankment. My thigh immediately swelled up like a balloon so I thought I had fractured my femur and was internally bleeding. A passing cyclist called an ambulance. The driver? Nowhere to be seen. Thankfully the x-rays at the local hospital showed it was just severe bruising and I was using crutches for one week. Was there any way to prevent this happening? Not really, unless I had slowed down to a jogging pace! But riding like that I would be holding up traffic. Sigh. What about you? Ever crashed into a car pulling out? What else? Cross Training Adventure actively avoids sponsorship. We like doing seriously critical reviews. Or don't subscribe to our Cross Training Adventure riding channel.

CREATIVE COMMONS VIDEOS
Thanks to these Youtubers for use of their videos.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4R-TSKnY8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr_vSJVuZtg
https://youtu.be/b4R-TSKnY8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyQnmTem6mA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwMpZgDMD14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMK2ZupkFE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RmAlGBoAeA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMWy55xm3k8

FURTHER READING
https://scienceofbeingseen.org/home/
“Current Directions in Psychological Science” Pat DeLucia, Texas Tech University https://journals.sagepub.com/stoken/rbtfl/.ctVkmpViDABo/full
#crosstrainingadventure #adventureriding #adventurebikes #dualsportriding
#SMIDSY

Видео "Sorry I didn't see you!" Are we invisible to drivers?︱Cross Training Adventure канала Cross Training Adventure