Couple interesting videos on why cars don't see us

[Miguel!]

Invisibility training

 

Awareness Test

 

Miguel

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

A couple of points of interest from your first video.  First, he mentions car drivers' brains ignoring us because our small size subconsciously leads them to regard us as "not a threat/irrelevant/unworthy of conscious attention".  This is consistent with a couple of observations:

 

- The Hurt Report found that large-displacement bikes are underrepresented in crash statistics.  One potential reason for this is that large-displacement bikes appear larger in the driver's field of view than small bikes, and are therefore more likely to get shunted into drivers' conscious list of "things I need to notice".   Here's a Ninja 250 next to a R1200RT:

 

 

When a driver's conscious attention is being allocated by a stingy instinctive gatekeeper, the bigger bike is more likely to be perceived as something that merits conscious attention.  It seems closer, heavier, more imposing.

 

The other factor I've seen that's consistent with the subconscious "small = not-a-threat = ignore" decision process is the high rate of collisions between cars and people riding those ubiquitous e-scooters.  Rider ineptitude is one factor, but man, if you want to present the smallest possible visual profile to other drivers, here ya go:

 

 

 

Back to the two bikes I pictured.  Notice that they are both exhibiting conspicuity-enhancing features.  The RT has full-time marker lamps, and it also has extra running lights below the turn signals and Motolights on the forks (although the Motolights do not appear to be on).  The Ninja is painted bright green, a color that's likely to stand out against a sea of pavement and concrete.

 

The guy in the video advocates displaying/wearing red, as that gets associated subconsciously with sexual attraction and/or danger, making that stingy instinctive mental gatekeeper in the driver's mind put us on his "hey, pay some attention to this" list.  Me, I'm not so sure about that.  For example, not much red on this little bastard, but when I see one, it instantly gets (and fully deserves) my conscious attention as a threat:

 

 

In fact, he kind of counters his "wear red" advice later on in the video when he advocates hi-viz yellow rain gear, instead of red rain gear.  If hi-viz gear helps in the rain, why wouldn't it help in fair weather as well?  ISTM that anything you can do that helps you avoid blending into the everyday background scenery is going to enhance your conspicuity and get you put on the "conscious attention" list.  So:

 

• running lights
• full-time marker lamps 
• bright, unnatural colors for your gear and/or your bike (hi-viz yellow or orange are two great choices)
• a bigger bike
• slaloming as you approach stopped cars that might turn across your path (avoids what he calls "beam blindness," i.e. the tendency for you to disappear behind a driver's windshield pillars)

 

"Beam blindness" is a legit concern.  There are more and more roundabouts being installed in place of four-way stop intersections because they have a reduced rate of dangerous high speed t-bone collisions and higher throughput.  I like the higher throughput, but when I'm approaching one in my car, I find that my windshield pillar is always in a terrible spot; I have to really move my head around to get a clear view of what's coming at me in the circle.  You can easily extrapolate this to other traffic situations as well, and expect that there are a lot of drivers out there who don't bother to move their head around when assessing what's off to their far left or far right.

 

Bottom line?  Do what you can to be seen, and don't trust that the other guy sees you until he starts exhibiting actual signs that he does see you.  

[RandyShields]

Quote:  The other factor I've seen that's consistent with the subconscious "small = not-a-threat = ignore" decision process is the high rate of collisions between cars and people riding those ubiquitous e-scooters.  Rider ineptitude is one factor, but man, if you want to present the smallest possible visual profile to other drivers, here ya go. . . . 

 

And just in the news today . . . .

 

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2019/07/15/532226.htm

[Pappy35]

Wow. What a great lesson I just learned: need to watch out for moonwalking bears!

 

Haha. No seriously, those were both pretty good. I actually had to watch the 2nd video twice because even though he told us what to look for I didn't see it. Pretty amazing how our vision works (or doesn't).

[RPG]

Good information, but how do we get motorist's to watch it?

 

I've seen the "weave" work for me as mentioned in the SMIDSY video's, where I've had people start to turn in front of me and then suddenly brake as I'm suddenly noticed. 

 

 

 

[Bill_Walker]

Same video as RPG posted above, I think, but see Sorry, mate! I didn't see you! in the Ride Well subforum for subsequent discussion.

 

I use the SMIDSY maneuver on both my motorcycle and my bicycle when I see cars approaching from cross streets and driveways, and I've had far fewer incidents of right-of-way violation since I began doing so.  I also have auxiliary lighting on both MCs and on my bicycle.

[RTinNC]

The invisible motorcycle concept is another reason I believe yellow or amber driving lights help motorcycles stand out better than white lights. 

 

Good videos!   Thanks for sharing 

[James Barrett]

I tried this in upper New York State.  A trooper stopped me and wanted to cite me for (1) Careless driving and (2) Improper operation of a vehicle.  I explained what I was doing and he let me go with a warning.

 

As an aside, my motor officer friends do not believe that hi-viz jackets are viable.  They ride as if they are invisible so that makes hi-viz jackets invisible, too.

Edited January 28, 2020 by James Barrett
add'n

[RPG]

More in-depth information on how the brain works in this manner can be found in the book, "The Invisible Gorilla".