'Abuser posted about how a little 'ole lady did not see him, pulled out into the intersection, and Bam! he's down.

Broken bones, punctured lung.

I'm always on the look-out for more information on how I might avoid this situation.

Here's a really good article on the biological consequences of how we see.

Jack Baruth is a car guy, thru 'n thru. I really respect this guy, having followed his work over on another forum, TheTruthAboutCars.com (yup, I'm a car guy, too).

Anyway, this article proved helpful to me, and I'm developing new survival strategies from it. I hope it saves you pain, too.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/motorcycles/why-you-dont-see-motorcycles-on-the-road/

Good article. I'm going to stick with preoccupation as the primary cause. In a rush, playing with phones, computers, makeup, food, kids, passengers, etc. I'll give a little credence to not looking for motorcycles.

I'm not superhuman. When I'm driving (or riding), I'm driving or riding. I seem to see motorcycles, cars, dogs, animals, and etc. routinely. I do know one time I failed to see a motorcyclist. Fortunately, I checked twice and didn't pull out causing us both a very bad day.

Some interesting studies that might explain it

Military Aircraft Pilots did a study on visual target identification at speed for low flying. It was found that the human brain creates a 'dead spot' (termed a Saccadic Suppression) when the eye moves between focus points (Like a camera shutter opening and closing), which means the pilot actually sees NOTHING between focus points when moving from one focal point to another (even explosion flashes can be missed). Peripheral vision is different as it can detect movement, but not detail. This study meant they have to train pilots to scan short, mid range and long range in three attempts to get the full picture, every time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking

www.michaelbach.de/ot/lum_saccadicSuppression/index.html

http://michaelbach.de/ot/mot-mib/index.html

* Last updated by: paul37 on 3/3/2016 @ 1:23 AM *

Years ago, The Hurt Report (how ironic) did studies of accidents involving motorcycles and 4-wheeled vehicles (cagers). Dr. Harry Hurt discovered that in 95% of all these accidents, the driver of the cage claimed that they "didn't see" the motorcycle. Further studies revealed that in 99% of these "didn't see him" cases, the driver had zero personal motorcycle experience.

So if everyone had to personally get out there and dodge brain-dead 4-wheelers while riding a motorcycle, the incidence of car/motorcycle accidents would likely drop off greatly. The main reason they don't see you is, to them, you don't exist. Put the shoe on the other foot, and awareness would rise.

Studies show that when a bike is relatively motionless in relation to a car driver they effectively become invisible. That is why I ALWAYS ride at a speed a bit faster than surrounding traffic. I'm moving in and out of drivers blind spots and my relative motion makes me noticeable.

Mad

I always weave going thru intersections so the left turning cage in front of me might notice the moving head lights.

In SoCal every woman driving is also texting and a danger to all, many of the young men are texting and are a danger to all.

Motor patrol officers are getting nailed at intersections, so even a cop on a bike is not noticed.
Race to street tactics one... Look way out ahead. That intersection coming up is high tail it up to the back of the car ahead and be to the right of the back of it to escape this way... play the odds the car ahead is not collected by the left hander.
Race to street two... Go where they've been. So this is now the opposite tactical approach is to steer left where they just left that spot.
Street to Intersection three... Since you know the stats at an intersection, slow down, hands/feet on brakes, wait for the shittyit to do something. I'd say a yes or no to the bike's head shake. I'm not about to be anything but upright stable and braced for the left hander's every move.

Y'all don't think it's just cuz motorcycles are smaller?

... and at night drivers can use the distance between a cage's headlights to judge both its distance away and approaching speed ... whereas bikes with one headlight, well that's a lot harder to judge both distance and speed. And bikes with 2 headlights, well that may look like a car farther away than the bike actually is

Dr. Harry Hurt discovered that in 95% of all these accidents, the driver of the cage claimed that they "didn't see" the motorcycle. Further studies revealed that in 99% of these "didn't see him" cases, the driver had zero personal motorcycle experience.

Yep on this. The morning I didn't see the motorcycle coming towards me (the first look to the left) I literally "looked right through him". It was literally like he was invisible. If I would've went after checking the first time, I probably would've killed him. Considering it was big ass harley, he might have done some damage to me too.

It doesn't surprise me at all there's some correlation to non-riders. Like you said, to cagers, we just don't exist. Nothing but other cars exist.

Now, here's the thing. Do we literally not see, or are we not paying enough attention to driving that we don't see because lack of diligence. I used to play golf, I was pretty good, not great. One of the keys to golf is keeping your eye on the ball. I could tell sometimes, just for some reason, that just before impact something would happen and I'd take my eye off the ball. In that split second a lot of damage was done. As far as driving, and not seeing things, IMO it's quite possible people go through the routine of looking, physically turning their head, but they don't really look. This is why I say distraction.

I'll give a little credence to not looking for motorcycles.

They *are* looking... The ones who give a damn, and are not distracted (your main point, I got it).

They are looking, but they don't *see*. That's the article's point.

Me, I'm getting older and blind-er. I try not to ride at nite too much, because I don't *see* as good as I used to.

I get surprised by traffic, not routinely, but out of the ordinary. I'm like, "where did that car come from?!!", mebbe once every month, thereabouts.

I don't *see* them, until I'm surprised. Then, here comes the pact with myself: "Never gonna let that happen again, no sir, you betcha."

I strive to improve my game, and not blame others too much.

I liked Jack's suggestion. Try to improve your brain's ability to not fill in details for you:

"Make an effort to look around, even at things that don't seem important like the side of the road or, if you're an SUV driver, your rear-view mirror. The more you consciously look around while driving, the better and more varied the visual information your brain receives will be, which will lead to a much higher-quality mental picture.

In short, you'll learn how to see things that are invisible to you right now. "

This is a good tip, in my opinion. I can't do *anything* about some else caring to look, or ability to see.

I can try to improve mine, tho.

Saccadic Suppression

Thanks for this, Paul. I've never heard of this. I'm a bit surprised, astonished really, that with the workload military pilots have (I used to design and develop military and commercial digital (glass) aircraft flight display systems), that they have time to make three scans of any airspace, let alone hostile airspace.

Further studies revealed that in 99% of these "didn't see him" cases, the driver had zero personal motorcycle experience.

Danno, I get your point: If more cagers rode, there would be more attention paid to motorcyclists. I get it...

"The main reason they don't see you is, to them, you don't exist. Put the shoe on the other foot, and awareness would rise".

I would like them to wear it, but it's a size too small. They don't fit it, and I cant force them :)

Really, I still believe all I can change is my behavior (to get better at "the game"), and maybe, just maybe, your mind. Your behavior comes later :)

(I mean no dis-respect)

I always weave going thru intersections so the left turning cage in front of me might notice the moving head lights.

This is interesting. This works for you?

I've thought about this too. What would the rest of you think if you're behind the cager wheel (ahhh!), and a cyclist approaching from the other direction starts to weave as it approaches the intersection?

Drunk? Distracted? Crazy? (prolly fits Mad, or Rudy, yeah crazy that's it :)

I like this idea, tho. I'm thinking, how about just move across the lane, left to right, or right to left?

And bikes with 2 headlights, well that may look like a car farther away than the bike actually is...

This is something I've heard, and read, for many years.

We're smaller, and we're also shorter between the ears (OK, that's a joke, relax), so we appear "farther away" than *what their brains expect to see*.

Jack mentions something similar in the article, in the "speeding Gixxer" tale (looks left, then right, then left. Brain fills in details, edits/ ignores important new info. Bam!)

There are strategies, training that can help. We know what these are, some are mentioned here.

Practice them, right?

I know, we want to race at nite when the man cant see us, cant find us, cant *ticket* us send us to jail. I know...

Still, don't think you can defy odds forever.

I like Hub's suggestions. Be Ready, and that also means be at speeds that you can handle being ready.

The weaving is just a small movement and was not an original thought. Years ago in a MSF class the instructor suggested this as well as flashing the passing lights also.

(I mean no dis-respect)-mebg

None perceived. The lack of motorcycle perception among drivers is just a fact and their non-motorcycle experience greatly exacerbates that fact.

I ride as if every driver on the road is either blind, drunk or blind drunk. Situational awareness will save your life. Assuming you have a rightful place in traffic will end it.

Not sure what MSF teaches these days. They covered defensive riding better than I'd say all the tidbits you get here and there. I seem to recall (20+ years ago) they taught to never assume someone sees you. Also they had tips about lane positioning. One thing I have found is making eye contact with a driver. It's can just be in a split second and you get that recognition from someone potentially turning out.

I use weaving some, but it's more of a aim my headlight at them than just weaving. I'll literally aim my headlight right at the person.

One of the best tidbits I've read someone come up with is "ride like your invisible". Which basically means be 100% responsible for yourself and other drivers.

Weaving may make you conspicuous, but it also may bring unwanted attention from the law.

Weaving may make you conspicuous, but it also may bring unwanted attention from the law.

Yeah, I wondered about that, too. Mebbe they get it, mebbe they don't, and it may be a side bar conversation either way.