Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You…
If you ride a motorcycle, the chances are you have heard these words after someone in a vehicle has pulled out in front of you. If you are lucky, you have anticipated the danger and avoided a collision.
How the hell can they not see me, my headlight is on, I’m wearing a hi-viz jacket, my exhaust is loud… they must be blind!
Truth is, they are indeed blind. We are all blind in certain circumstances, particularly when we are behind the wheel, let me explain.
SACCADIC MASKING
Your eyes work by taking a series of still images, as your eye is focusing, some of the images are blurred, until the object comes into focus. Your brain then deletes the blurred images and splices the clear images together. This process is called Saccadic Masking, where the brain blocks visual overlaps between the frames, to give the illusion of a seamless video. That’s why we don’t see in a series of jerky movements, but rather as a continuous stream.
The average person sees at a frame-rate of 60 frames per second, which is a phenomenal amount of information to process. To put that into context, a modern 4K camera will process images at 30 frames per second, so the human brain is dealing with twice as much visual information as the best modern camera available.
WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE THE CAR?
I want you to picture the scene: It’s getting dark and starting to rain, the kids are arguing in the back seat, the driver is trying to get home and thinking about what to make for dinner, the junction is busy, vehicles coming from all directions, LED headlights are blinding, the car in front hesitates “you could have been away!”, maybe they are also having a conversation on hands-free while telling the kids to be quiet.
As they edge closer to the junction, trying to spot a gap to get going, they constantly scan up and down the road. Wipers going, quick sharp glances right and left, the kids shouting, radio blaring, they spot the gap and pull out…
INSIDE THE DRIVERS BRAIN
The driver is clearly under pressure and Saccadic Masking goes into overdrive. The driver is stressed and the body feels like it is under threat, therefore the brain will switch to survival mode, focusing sharply on anything it perceives to be a threat, and this is the key.
The bus or lorry veering towards you, is certainly a threat. The car flying up on the outside of traffic is a threat and the brain will note it, but in high stress environments, an innocuous motorcycle tootling along minding its own business, is not perceived as a threat and the brain can delete ‘non threatening’ images from the video stream, the driver pulls out and they literally do not see the motorcycle as the non-threatening image of the motorcyle has been deleted by the brain.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Now that we understand the driver may actually be blind to us motorcyclists, what can we do to spark their interest and get them to register our presence?
Really we need their brain to register us among the mass of headlights whizzing past in both directions.
There is no right or wrong answer, but something as simple as changing your line as you approach a junction may be enough to spark interest.
I’m not suggesting you wave all over the road, but a couple of smooth calculated positional changes may spark something out of the ordinary and register in their brain.
One of the worst things you can do is ride up close to the car in front, the likelihood is the car will totally obscure you from vision, so hang back a little, making sure there is a clear line of sight between you and the vehicle pulling out. Hanging back also gives you time to react if someone does cut across you.
Don’t flash the headlight, they may interpret this as an invitation to move and don’t make sudden braking or acceleration movements.
Years ago we used to be told, “make eye contact with the driver” but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been staring directly at a driver and they at me, while they proceed to pull across in front. Instead I watch the front wheel of the vehicle. If it moves, I immediately take evasive action. Before a car shoots forward, it will often rock backwards, that can be your first indication that they are going for it. Give yourself time and space to react.
Certainly the best piece of advice I was ever given was by a policeman who stopped me when I was a teenager and had been riding like a clown. As he approached the bike, he gestured for me to remove my helmet and as he drew alongside, he reached out his hand and hit me an unmerciful slap across the ear (this was the days when you didn’t mess with the police). The slap got my attention, then he delivered the punchline “if you want to stay alive on that bike, ride it like everyone else is trying to kill you”. He turned on his heel and went back to his car.
That piece of advice stuck with me, and it has undoubtedly kept me alive on the road.
Anticipate they are going to pull out in front of you and have a plan, expect them to ignore you. Expect drivers not to see you, if this is your expectation, you will have a fighting chance on the road. If they dont cut across you, that is a bonus.
Most motorcycle accidents aren’t the fault of the biker, but that doesn’t matter when you are in hospital, or in the ground. Be aware and stay alert, they are all trying to kill you.