Assuming Motorists See You
This Deadly Risk goes hand in hand with the Right of Weight. Assuming that other motorists see you is a very common cause of serious rider injury. Some people may miss signs and lights, while others will miss motorcyclists entirely. When you assume a motorist has seen you, it effectively lets your guard down. The basic train of thought that runs through the rider’s mind subconsciously in such scenarios is: “This driver has seen me, therefore they pose no danger to me.” There are many forms in which these thoughts can take shape; this car will not pull out in front of me, this vehicle is going to yield to me, this vehicle will not merge into me, etc. Every variation effectively spikes the collision risk associated with the interaction between you and that vehicle. When a vehicle hazard has been deemed a non-threat, there are shifts in psyche regarding the way the vehicle is viewed and treated. The importance of the vehicle drops significantly, which results in the brain redirecting attention and processing power toward other more pressing aspects of the environment.
Our brains process an incredible amount of incoming information. If they were to consciously analyze all of this information, we would be a slow moving and acting species as the constant bombardment of stimuli bogged us down. As our brains become accustomed to various functionalities, such as processing visual information to navigate roadways, the brain will develop shortcuts in order to limit the amount of processing power required by the brain to do a specific task. In this way, the brain is able to filter out certain aspects of the process to make it more streamlined and less mentally exhaustive. Assuming a motorist has seen you activates these energy saving tactics of the brain. By deeming the vehicle a non-threat, any attention that was being directed towards the vehicle will be moved elsewhere. The vehicle will disappear from danger radar, as if it engaged a cloak of invisibility. When this shift of psyche occurs, the rider will be less attentive to the vehicle, its intentions, and its position on the roadway in relation to the motorcyclist. In this situation, the rider will be slow to realize vehicle movement, slow to realize increasing threat, and slow to react if they must yield to the Right of Weight.
Cars vs Motorcycles
A new motorcycle rider must take a hard look at the implications of choosing to ride such a machine. As previously discussed, being small and exposed creates increased risk of injuries with motorcycle accidents. The increased risk does not end there, however. Even in best case scenarios, motorcycles are much harder to identify and manage visually for other motorists. There are several contributing factors that make this a reality. From the front, motorcycles are harder to identify than passenger vehicles.
For motorcycles, there is typically much less frontward surface area, as well as unfamiliar visual layouts for both vehicle chassis, and headlight configuration. Motorcycles are generally thin/small with a single or centralized light cluster. A vehicle has a large boxy shape and headlights that are spread apart along the same plane which make it stand out in the environment. These physical attributes make it harder for motorists to notice and identify approaching motorcycles when they are accustomed to spotting the regular attributes of passenger vehicles. For similar reasons, as discussed in the preceding paragraph, if the motorist does not identify any important visual information in a certain direction (such as an approaching motorcycle), their guard will be let down as their brain registers a no-threat mentality that allows the motorcyclist to swoop in undetected, creating a potentially lethal situation. It is this exact pathology that can have another motorist looking directly in the direction of a motorcycle, and register nothing but a clear path.
In addition to the difficulty of spotting the motorcycle, the motorist can also struggle gauging the distance and speed of the approaching motorcycle. When one is watching an approaching vehicle, there will be a steady, linear increase in size as the distance of the vehicle decreases. While watching a motorcycle approach, the increase in size will not always be perceived as linear. The motorcycle will appear to remain smaller as distance is decreasing up until it is in close proximity, where it will suddenly grow in size quickly as it passes by (this effect increases greatly with speed). There are several aspects that influence this phenomenon. One is that the rider and their machine do not take up a lot of area in the observer’s view. Just like the vehicle, it is true that the motorcycle’s size will grow in a linear fashion, but one must be observing the motorcycle intently to notice the small rate of increase from a distance. Some motorists are not observant enough to notice the small shifts in size and will misjudge the distance/speed of the approaching rider. A second aspect is that the look of the motorcycle chassis and headlight configuration can throw the brain for a loop. When a vehicle approaches, it is easy to discern distance and speed due to the growing boxy shape of the vehicle, combined with the headlights growing further and further apart. These visual clues of an approaching vehicle are very apparent to the eye. Motorcycles lack easily detectable visual clues. They do not have an easily trackable shape (on top of being unfamiliar to new motorists), and many only sport a single headlight. Whenever the brain encounters an unfamiliar visual stimuli, it will struggle to ascertain distance and speed of the object. If you have ever encountered a vehicle light configuration you don’t recognize at night, you’ll know exactly how difficult it is for the brain to reach any solid conclusions about the vehicle. In such conditions, the brain can struggle to determine what kind of vehicle its looking at, and even which direction the vehicle is travelling! The brain must be able to recognize what an object is before it can do any analysis on distance and speed. It is for these reasons that motorcycles carry increased risk for being cut off. Being cut off is extremely problematic, but there are countermeasures.
Motorcycle Safety Myths
First off, let’s dispel a couple of myths regarding the detection of motorcyclists.
Loud Pipes Save Lives
While it may be true that someone, somewhere, was saved because of their loud exhaust pipe, having a loud pipe does not ensure that anyone is going to hear you. There are plenty of loud noises on and around public roadways. When at a distance such as a block away, even the loudest pipes will not grab someone’s attention. Even when that same loud pipe is brought relatively close (15 meters or 15 feet), chances are still low that it will grab anyone’s attention. Many people will listen to music, or talk on a bluetooth device or to other occupants in the car which will hold much of their audial attention. A loud pipe must be brought in close proximity for someone who has their attention elsewhere (less than 5 meters or 16 feet) to notice. When you are this close to a vehicle, there is only one location where this could save your life. That location is riding in a vehicle’s Blindspot, somewhere that a motorcycle should not be in the first place. Dangerous areas around vehicles will be explored with No-Ride Zones during the traffic section.
Fluorescent Gear Ensures Detection
High visibility gear has surely come in handy for many more riders compared to loud pipes. However, that bright coloured/reflective gear will ensure motorcyclists are seen is a myth. Surely such an article of gear will be very apparent from certain angles, but the effectiveness of striking colours can be heavily impacted by the motorcycle chassis, position of the rider, and direction of the onlooker. Gear designed to be more attention grabbing is great when it works, but will not help whatsoever if a motorist has failed to detect the motorcycle rider. The bottom line is that bright coloured gear will help you be seen, but does not guarantee it.
Read the following motorcyclist strategies and consider which rider would carry more risk:
- Rider 1 assumes all motorists see them because they wear bright coloured gear while riding a brightly painted motorcycle.
- Rider 2 assumes all motorists don’t see them and they wear black gear while riding a black motorcycle.
If you selected Rider 1 for carrying more risk, you have selected correctly. Rider 1 has a greater chance of being seen by other occupants of the roadway which has given this rider a sense of comfort. They are relaxed to the threat of other vehicles and are not concerned with being cut off. On the other hand, Rider 2 is ready and attentive to all other vehicles in the vicinity. Expectation of being cut off significantly affects the way that they ride. Rider 2 is less likely to be seen, but more prepared for an emergency. Rider 2’s preparedness causes them to be managing their risk better than Rider 1, as they stand a better chance at avoiding collisions. Such is the power of Mentality Hazards. This does not mean that wearing high visibility gear isn’t a great way to manage risk, but focuses on the fact that it is not 100% effective at doing so. How to maximize the chances of being seen will be explored in the Impassable Hazards section.
Invisibility Mindset
When all of this is taken into consideration, it leaves the rider in a tricky position. Despite the best intentions of you and other people, there will be times that other motorists fail to see you, or misjudge your speed/distance. In these deadly situations, reactions have to be instantaneous. And not only do you have to be highly reactive, you must also be very meticulous with motorcycle positioning and emergency forethought. The best way to remain proactive to the threat of other vehicles is to ride like you are invisible. By doing so, you turn the tables in your favour. Rather than assuming people see you and then reacting if they don’t, you assume that no one can see you and react when they do. Riding with such a mentality is a powerful risk management tool for the motorcyclist. Assuming no one can see you constantly has your mind tuned in to other vehicles cutting you off, and what the game plan is for these scenarios. Such anticipation leads to incredibly proactive motorcycle operation. The best place to be when someone would have cut you off is out of the way. Never be caught off guard by motorists by adopting an Invisibility Mindset.
