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Devaclis
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:17 AM
"We're invisible out there"
A Motorcyclist's Ideas on Why We are Not Seen



Date: Sat, 8 Nov 1997
From: John Moore
Subject: Visibility and Drivers
The following is quoted with permission by the author, from the July '97 issue of "Airmail" Newsletter of the Airheads Beemer Club. This is a group of motorcycle riders of the "Airhead Boxers" (BMW motorcycles with air-cooled engines). Some of the article won't pertain, directly, to bicycle riders (i.e.: the lighting systems) but the gist of the information presented should shed some light on why we don't get seen when we're biking...
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"Get Horizontal"

by B. Jan Hoffman

43% of all motorcycle accidents occur as a result of an oncoming vehicle turning across the path of a rider. Drivers simply fail to recognize the motorcyclist's right of way. Their typical lament is "I just didn't see him". You might lament "How the hell is that possible, you were looking right at me, you zoned-out space cadet!"
Some motorcyclists may feel that drivers deliberately choose not to see us. They feel that drivers resent us because of our agility, acceleration, or designer leathers. Others suspect that some car drivers must be anally retentive psychopaths who compensate for their fear of flying by driving to kill.
In the urban rain forests of LA or New York, that may be true. But elsewhere, most drivers really don't see motorcycles. Well yes, their eyes see us, but the image doesn't register in the brain. Why is that?
Some intelligent doctor types have postulated that the brain is an organ which rejects, rather than gathers information. They believe that if all the information collected by the senses were to register, the brain would experience sensory overload and blow its fuses.
For example, all the billboards, signs and other visual messages along the road can't possibly register in the brains of car drivers. That would cause sensory overload. To prevent that, the brain tends to organize the world into systems; those which are important to the activity at hand, and those which aren't. The car driver's brain has learned to exclude the non-essentials, and to focus only on those objects which are a threat to survival. On the road, those objects are predominantly other cars. Because cars are much wider than they are tall, the brain systematizes threats as objects characterized by horizontal lines.
Things characterized by vertical lines are eliminated from consciousness as non-threatening, extraneous information. Trees, lamp standards, sign posts, bridge abutments, buildings; none of these vertical objects are liable to jump out in front of the driver to threaten his existence.
Along comes a motorcycle. The driver's eyes give it a quick visual scan and the brain determines that this too is a vertical object. No threat. No further focus required. Zone out. Continue replay of last nights debauchery.
The next thing you know, the driver turns left across your lane even though you can see him looking right at you!
In my early days of riding, an experienced rider hammered at me ceaselessly with the message that "You are invisible out there!" All I heard him say was "Be careful". I didn't understand at the time that he was saying "To most car drivers, you are literally invisible."
Anyone with experience on a bike knows that he was right. Many a novice rider has departed the corporal world because he rode his bike the way he drove his car; as if he could actually be seen.
My advice is, if you don't want to be horizontal, look horizontal. How do we do that? One way is to use running lights. Many Japanese bikes have orange running lights up front integrated into the signal light housing. That gives some sense of horizontal perspective to car drivers. Some Harleys have a pair of white driving lights alongside of the headlight. That's more effective due to the increased candlepower.
I've often lamented the lack of stock running lights on unfaired airheads. A single headlight does not give a sense of perspective, and therefore tends to disappear into the background. I replaced the stock signal lights on the front of my Roadster with 4" round signal/running lights. They immediately and dramatically improved the etiquette of the other users of the road. Some Airheads have disparaged the aesthetics of my "police" lights. I find the impromptu installation of a Buick grill even less attractive.
I've also converted the rear signal lights to signal/running lights. As with the additional front lights, they made an immediate improvement in the etiquette of other road users.
I realized the importance of rear running lights when I was following a friend home from Barley Therapy one dark evening. To my surprise, rather than focusing on his GS tail light and spacing myself accordingly, I soon found myself gauging my distance from the rear end of the car ahead of him.
His pathetic little taillight simply dissolved into the brighter lights of the car, and his bike effectively disappeared.
If this can happen to me, you can be sure it will happen to car drivers, who are not attuned to motorcycles.
So, get horizontal. Convert your signal lights into signal/running lights. If you are going to apply reflective tape to your bike, jacket or helmet, make horizontal or diagonal lines rather than vertical ones.
Most of all, negotiate our streets and highways as if you are invisible.
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For those of you interested in more info regarding the "Airheads" their website was at http://www.vci.net/~mcl/ahs/airheads.htm but the link is dead now.
Be seeing you...
John Moore

asp_125
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:22 AM
I must've been wearing the cloak of invisibility on Wednesday when the Ford Exploder decided he wanted to be in my lane without so much as a mirror check or signal. :321:

Nick_Ninja
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:27 AM
Ride BIG.

Zach929rr
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:27 AM
I must've been wearing the cloak of invisibility on Wednesday
^^ No shit. The same thing happened to me on Wednesday night right about 5 minutes before that storm came through. I was heading up to Golden on I-70 at about 8:30, light rain coming down. Right before the off-ramp for the 58th flyover, a lifted White Ford F-250 decided he wanted to be in my lane. Thank whoever for good reflexes and quick acceleration.

Horsman
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:30 AM
Ride BIG.

Get BIG eat moor Kayke!!!

Devaclis
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:30 AM
I just about merged into a bike on the way in today. BWM riding on my left blind spot. I ALWAYS check mirrors and look over my shoulder and I STILL did not see him. I am happy he had a Strebel Horn on the fucker. I would have creamed him :( Whether you ride or not, you can still be guilty of hurting a cyclist. Keep your eyes open.

McVaaahhh
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:31 AM
Ride BIG.

check

Zach929rr
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:32 AM
check

Double check? :oops:

64BonnieLass
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:39 AM
Great post D.

Blinding yellow bikes FTW. :) (it helps at least a little I think)

Devaclis
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:45 AM
It is funny, I had a bright yellow CBR, that I got hit on. I now ride a BIG, bright yellow DRZ with a bright yellow jacket. I still get merged into, run off the road, and nearly rear ended. People are not looking for motorcycles. They really are not even looking for cars. They are only looking for openings in traffic.

dirkterrell
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:50 AM
People are not looking for motorcycles. They really are not even looking for cars. They are only looking for openings in traffic.

That might just be the very essence of the issue.

Dirk

Devaclis
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 10:55 AM
I think it is the reason that bikers look bad to cagers. WE are higher up, smaller, and more able to take advantage of those openings. It makes us seem as if we appeared out of nowhere. Because we fit in a smaller space it DOES frustrate and surprise cagers. In a car you are looking through the windshield of the car in front of you for your spatial information. You are limited by your a and b pillars, your cars own hood, your being attached to your seat via a belt. You do not have all of the information available to a free floating motorcyclist who can see over, around, behind the traffic around him.

OUTLAWD
Fri Aug 7th, 2009, 12:19 PM
That might just be the very essence of the issue.

Dirk

+1

This is why I try to weave in and out of traffic as much as possible, as well as splitting lanes while riding a wheelie at 90 mph...it simply increases my chances of being seen...Hooliganism is a safety precaution

...and i have to do something to entertain myself on my far too frequent trips down I-25

Mike Danger
Fri Aug 28th, 2009, 12:25 AM
Just caught this, and to add my $.02 the main reason bikes dont register to drivers is that drivers are used to looking for cars, so when they look and don't see something they are effectively "trained" to react to, it just doesnt register. Plus its hard to judge the position of a bike, just by a quick glance, because people are not used to the relative size.

Its kinda like a fly.. you think you see it, you go to catch it, and it disapears, and you think "I had him in my sights!"

I think Im going to put the Hyper bright leds in my Mirrors

Davy4575
Sat Sep 26th, 2009, 09:30 PM
Speaking of splitting lanes. That legal here? We used to do quite a bit in Cali, and in Wa. (Legal is Spokane, not in Seattle) I havent seen anyone do it here. Im sure this will bring up the debate about it being unsafe, but it does have its place somtimes.

Zach929rr
Sat Sep 26th, 2009, 09:33 PM
Speaking of splitting lanes. That legal here?

Nope.

http://www.forumspile.com/Thread-Crap-Wont_Die.jpg

mdub
Thu Sep 30th, 2010, 08:33 AM
kill it now

Snowman
Thu Sep 30th, 2010, 08:49 AM
London Motorcycle Courier Rule No.1
Always assume that you’re invisible to every driver out there, until you make eye contact. At which point assume they are out to kill you…

TFOGGuys
Thu Sep 30th, 2010, 09:35 AM
we're invisible because of the camouflage....
http://military-power.net/images/Motivation/bad-camouflage.jpg

Mother Goose
Thu Sep 30th, 2010, 09:55 AM
kill it now
Says the person that bumped a year old thread.... :applause:

CYCLE_MONKEY
Sun Oct 17th, 2010, 07:57 PM
In general cagers are not aware or vigilant because they don't have to be. They're lazy, stupid, selfish, self-centered, and inattentive. I see bikers because I look for them, and I don't miss them. I think before a car license is ever issued they need to be forced to drive a bike or moped for at least a year, so they're made to be aware.

I read an article in a 'Winger magazine, and they said one of THE best things you can do is have a bright monocolor helmet. Which makes sense because fist it's the highest point on a bike, and thus the most visible (rather than a bright bike or vest), and also because every animal sees something that's taller than they are (like sitting in a car) as dominant, so therefore it's a "threat". Exactly why I have a bright, plain white helmet. ;)

StormSurge
Sun Oct 17th, 2010, 08:47 PM
Many people I have seen are just plain lazy drivers in general. They would just start merging into another lane BEFORE they turn on their signal or even look to see if it's clear. I think its very important to try to ride big and bright to make yourself as noticeable as possible, but in the end, if the driver is in "autopilot" mode they wont see anyone simply because they don't even try to look. Even driving in my car people just start coming over into my lane without even looking first. It's just crazy to me.
:bs:

CYCLE_MONKEY
Sun Oct 17th, 2010, 09:11 PM
I think that the more people that cut off bikers and then get dragged out of their cars and beaten senseless, the less people will do it.:devil1:

Sarge
Mon Oct 18th, 2010, 07:07 AM
I think that the more people that cut off bikers and then get dragged out of their cars and beaten senseless, the less people will do it.:devil1:

:imwithstupid:

Has anybody ever done the "kick the door" thing while almost/getting run over?

MetaLord 9
Mon Oct 18th, 2010, 07:53 AM
Seriously...which one of you assholes keeps pouring worcestershire sauce into the damn embalming fluid, b/c there are ENTIRELY too many frigging zombie threads nowadays.

Sarge
Mon Oct 18th, 2010, 08:21 AM
I've been tempted to resurrect one myself, just so I can get my turn in by the end of the week. :lol:

R1-Laubinero
Mon Oct 18th, 2010, 09:45 PM
godamn zombies !

Aphrodite
Tue Oct 19th, 2010, 09:24 AM
Yay zombie threads............

I travel way too much back and fourth across the metro area all day long and basically see either laziness or arrogance, not sure which, but the fact that people don't turn their heads and the phone stuck to their ears makes them dangerous....add to that they are thinking they are in a bigger hurry than anyone else around them make them do rude and stupid things.

~Example: I was going south @ 4:30ish pm, Monday, traffic was clipping along just below speed limit to the right and above the speed limit (+10mph?) to the left along the area of C470/E470 this guy in this gold Lincoln Town cars was in the right lane signaling moving left quickly pretty much right next to me, could see him telling someone a story enacting it, or telling the passenger off, either way he canceled his left turn signal just right of me I began to move on, suddenly here he comes still moving over and never batted an eye, flinched or nothing just kept going kept making his movement as though he didn't just realize he just cut off everyone across the entire interstate.

~Along the whole route there are those who signal as they began to move, and opps can't so they turn their signal off, until they can move and then the signal comes back on as they move again. WTF

~Same day about 6:00pm up in the Thornton area, 112th ave line of vehicle at a red light, single lane, but a wider lane. And I could have sworn I saw this Black R1 with the rider wearing all black riding the sidewalk to pass people, and then when he got next to me he was on the street, went to the front of the line and turned right and moved on down the road.

The car at top was either not paying attention, or was just plain arrogant in their work up with in themselves, and the bike above was in such a big hurry if I wasn't a rider I might get pissed at him due to the fact that what he done was illegal due to the fact that if anything he was lane sharing.
Turn signal and hand signal are to let people around you know what you are "going" to be doing, not "already" in the process of doing......

Any of the actions could have been a ticket, and all would have their excuses to render for their actions, if anything more would have occurred from their lack courtesy with in of their actions.

My mom sums it up nicely. That's life in the big city.

Stay happy and be a defensive rider/driver, it will get worse.

Treat everyone like they can't see you. Even if YOU think they do see you. It's just in your best interest.

Be safe.

:cheers:

R1-Laubinero
Tue Oct 19th, 2010, 10:35 AM
bright flourescent colored helmet= driver's think its a child's ball= reaction-- your helmet is viewable 360 and is above the bike---the BSI did a study---its why I bought the 5 contents helmet from agv---every bit helps-- what doesnt help is the amount of road camoflage everyone uses while on a bike.... also figuring on that every driver is a zombie behind the wheel will help too ---trust no one!

Davy4575
Tue Oct 19th, 2010, 11:54 PM
Well, what the hell, since its still alive... Im thinkin we should make the helmets square and look like a tv. Of course then people will probably target fixate on you