Children are "psychologically unable" to read vehicle speeds above 20mph

[downfader]

Very interesting article, and certainly explains why so many kids have misjudged my speed in the last couple of weeks (one young girl apologised to me after I scrubed off from about 25mph down to 3 when she stepped out in front of me, realised I was there and flung backwards into her mates in shock)

http://www.rhul.ac.uk/aboutus/newsandevents/news/newsarticles/speedchildren.aspx

 

[neslon]

Very interesting article, and certainly explains why so many kids have misjudged my speed in the last couple of weeks (one young girl apologised to me after I scrubed off from about 25mph down to 3 when she stepped out in front of me, realised I was there and flung backwards into her mates in shock)

http://www.rhul.ac.u...edchildren.aspx

That is an interesting article. I look forward to seeing what these come up with (from the link):

"Related ongoing projects include a study sponsored by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) looking at the judgments of older drivers at road junctions, as well as a study looking at why motorcycles have a higher risk of being involved in accidents classified as ‘looked but failed to see’."

 

[summerdays]

Interesting ... whilst I know that their ability varies from child to child (with one of mine taking a very long time to work it out), the suggested age for being able to judge the speed to enable them to cross small roads is about 8/9. This is potentially suggesting that it could be later than that, or that parents may assume they can correctly judge car speeds in general after seeing them judge slower moving traffic. I wish there had been a bit more detail on their actual ages rather than just primary school children.

 

[slugonabike]

To follow on from this, my nephew sustained a nasty brain injury in the summer and one of the things the OTs had to do was take him out and make sure still had a good perception of traffic speed - not something I would ever have thought of but, apparantly, it's not unusual for this to be lost when the brain is injured.

 

[downfader]

To follow on from this, my nephew sustained a nasty brain injury in the summer and one of the things the OTs had to do was take him out and make sure still had a good perception of traffic speed - not something I would ever have thought of but, apparantly, it's not unusual for this to be lost when the brain is injured.

Thats pretty interesting. I have read of everything from loss of smell or taste to mood swings on some brain injuries. Makes you wonder how you'd cope..

Hope the guy is doing well, btw!

 

[Greenflash]

Interesting, but does it apply only to children. Further research needed?

Here's one that's always puzzled me: On a busy street people will cross between narrow gaps in cars, often risking life and limb, to reach the other side. On a quiet street people will wait if they spot a car 500 yards away before crossing. Odd.

 

[Black Sheep]

That is an interesting article. I look forward to seeing what these come up with (from the link):

"Related ongoing projects include a study sponsored by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) looking at the judgments of older drivers at road junctions, as well as a study looking at why motorcycles have a higher risk of being involved in accidents classified as ‘looked but failed to see’."

I was always taught that if there is a car, wait

as I got older I was taught if I couldn't tell what the car was, it was probably safe to cross.


do they really need to investigate why motorbikes aren't seen?

half of the motorbike community are sensible, ride properly and people look round for a car and go, not spotting the bike, especially lane changing and filtering (a friend got bumped by a van filtering in standing traffic the other day)

the other half, the ones that do 80+ down the peak district lanes come much faster than people think they are (as you only expect people to do the speed limit) or are hidden by a corner that's a fair way from the junction, so you pull out to find a bike comes racing round it at top speed

it's not rocket science.

 

[ufkacbln]

Interesting, and asks a valid question

In every single interface between adults and children the implicit responsibility for care is with the adult. Roads are the only place where this is not the case. Should this be changed?


Mind you having said that the other aspect is that I am a very experienced 5* year old adult who finds reading the actions of some of the muppets on the road. All too few drivers actually drive properly, give signals, take correct lanes - the majority are unpredictable.

 

[slugonabike]

Thats pretty interesting. I have read of everything from loss of smell or taste to mood swings on some brain injuries. Makes you wonder how you'd cope..

Hope the guy is doing well, btw!

He was incredibly lucky and hopes to return to work after Christmas, thank you.

 

[downfader]

He was incredibly lucky and hopes to return to work after Christmas, thank you.

Cool!

 

[taxing]

I hope they publicise this: 'Travelling one mile through a residential area at 20mph versus 30mph will only add 60 seconds to your journey time - we encourage drivers to take a minute and save a child’s life'. It's the kind of stat that might actually cause drivers to slow down.

I'm bad at judging speed. Often I think that a driver has slowed to let me out, but aren't sure so daren't go. I wish they'd wave or flash their lights as well.

 

[Firestorm]

I was always taught that if there is a car, wait

as I got older I was taught if I couldn't tell what the car was, it was probably safe to cross.


do they really need to investigate why motorbikes aren't seen?

half of the motorbike community are sensible, ride properly and people look round for a car and go, not spotting the bike, especially lane changing and filtering (a friend got bumped by a van filtering in standing traffic the other day)

the other half, the ones that do 80+ down the peak district lanes come much faster than people think they are (as you only expect people to do the speed limit) or are hidden by a corner that's a fair way from the junction, so you pull out to find a bike comes racing round it at top speed

it's not rocket science.

I saw an article several years ago which said that its all about expectation. A car driver will pull up at a junction and be looking for cars coming down the road, something smaller such as a bike or a motorbike gets "ignored" by the brain. Hence the Think Bike campaign, to increase thought and thus awareness.

It would explain why Cyclists and Motorcyclists tend to make better car drivers......

 

[downfader]

I saw an article several years ago which said that its all about expectation. A car driver will pull up at a junction and be looking for cars coming down the road, something smaller such as a bike or a motorbike gets "ignored" by the brain. Hence the Think Bike campaign, to increase thought and thus awareness.

It would explain why Cyclists and Motorcyclists tend to make better car drivers......

There is also the "luming" effect. (Look that one up on youtube, theres a great advanced motorcycle lesson explaining this)