Motion Induced Blindness
Motion Induced Blindness
A fellow rider sent this to me. It is pretty interesting. It shows how someone can look right at you while you are out on the road and not even see you.
http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html
In general practice you should scan the road, constantly avoiding focusing on one object for too long. This demonstration shows why.
http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html
In general practice you should scan the road, constantly avoiding focusing on one object for too long. This demonstration shows why.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 3,817
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From: Novi MI
Already been posted and I haven't seen any rotating grids on the highway so I don't believe it applies to the real world. If they can't see me with my headlight and auxiliary lights up front and my 5 brake lights astern, it's cause they were probably distracted while driving.
Last edited by barjbar; Feb 24, 2012 at 09:04 AM.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
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From: Coastal Carolina
Already been posted and I haven't seen any rotating grids on the highway so I don't believe it applies to the real world. If they can't see me with my headlight and auxiliary lights up front and my 5 brake lights astern, it's cause they were probably distracted while driving.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 3,817
Likes: 2
From: Novi MI
Dangerous attitude. You're missing the point. The point is that if a person stares at a fixed object in front of him (for example the car in front of him) against a moving background (the scenery going by--it's not required to be a grid) you become blind to objects on the periphery. That's why a driver might be paying close attention to what's in front of him and still not see you coming from a side street or in the lane next to him. The same is true if we, as bikers, stare at the traffic ahead of us. We may not see the car coming out of the driveway, or the deer coming out of the woods. We ALL need to keep our eyes moving to avoid this visual phenomenon.
Wow, you don't get it do you? The whole point is to demonstrate a physiological phenomenon that puts bikers at risk. Understanding how the body, vision and mind work will help anyone that is open to increasing their riding proficiency and safety on the road.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 3,817
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From: Novi MI
I get it and I believe when a driver says, "I didn't see him." it really means I wasn't looking or paying attention. I say that phenomenon is the lowest of risk factors. 20% of the drivers cause 80% of the accidents. The majority of accidents are hardly "accidents" but drivers driving or riding, intoxicated, on drugs, tired, eating, drinking, applying makeup, texting, on cell phone, etc. Not long ago a woman was arrested for rear ending a woman biker and killing her. She crashed into the woman biker and told the police she didn't see the biker stopped at the light because she was applying nail polish to her toes.
Last edited by barjbar; Feb 24, 2012 at 11:06 AM.
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2010
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Already been posted and I haven't seen any rotating grids on the highway so I don't believe it applies to the real world. If they can't see me with my headlight and auxiliary lights up front and my 5 brake lights astern, it's cause they were probably distracted while driving.
It doesn't take much to make a motorcycle completely disappear from a driver's view.
If you're going to ride with that "**** em - they were distracted" attitude, well...at least your estate can take some small comfort in the fact that the cager got a ticket for failure to yield or some such.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2010
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Seriously?
Do yourself a favor man - take a look at the cager next to you sometime in traffic. Better yet, have someone else drive you around in a car while you sit in the passenger seat and pay close attention to the other drivers. Personally, I'm shocked when I see someone actively engaged in the task of driving the car. Zoned out staring straight ahead, babbling on the phone, yelling at kids, talking to the passenger, etc. These are all normal behaviors.
Oddly, drunks don't worry me too much. They are not that difficult to identify and very easy to avoid under most circumstances. Note, I said MOST, not all.
Cell phone? I just assume they're using one. Its rare not to see someone with it glued to their ear (usually in the left hand blocking their entire left side view, but that's another argument).
Whether or not you think these are excuses, they are real life. Remember, ride like you are invisible, not invincible.
Do yourself a favor man - take a look at the cager next to you sometime in traffic. Better yet, have someone else drive you around in a car while you sit in the passenger seat and pay close attention to the other drivers. Personally, I'm shocked when I see someone actively engaged in the task of driving the car. Zoned out staring straight ahead, babbling on the phone, yelling at kids, talking to the passenger, etc. These are all normal behaviors.
Cell phone? I just assume they're using one. Its rare not to see someone with it glued to their ear (usually in the left hand blocking their entire left side view, but that's another argument).
Whether or not you think these are excuses, they are real life. Remember, ride like you are invisible, not invincible.