nearly....

[gavroche]

....had my first crash yesterday. Was out on a ride and going down a hill steadily when a black van coming the other way turned right, right in front of me. Had to apply the brakes hard and the back wheel started to skid. Luckily, I managed to get round him and cursed him as I did so. As he stopped in the railway car park, I went over to see him . The poor guy couldn't apologise enough. He was very sorry and kept saying he never saw me. I just told him to be more observant in future and went on my way. Why do we seem to be invisible to motorists?

 

[Riding in Circles]

Familiarity.

 

[Archie_tect]

He knew you???

 

[Hatties]

He was very sorry and kept saying he never saw me.

"I didn't see you" is the most common excuse. I hate people using it. But you are lucky that the driver was apologetic. The incident must've given him a very good lesson.

I went out in my car (erm... *cough cough*) and my wing mirror got clipped by a reversing car which was actually on the pavement (it was trying to come off the pavement to park on the road by reversing). My wing mirror got snapped off. The driver of the offending car said "I didn't see you" with a smile on his face and assessed that the damage wasn't "too bad" even before I said anything. He wasn't apologetic at all.

If he is unable to see my car... I mean a CAR, how could he see a cyclist? Good job I went out in my car today. I would've been badly injured if I had been on my bike.

 

[briantrumpet]

This sort of thing is far too common, and the offenders genuinely do not seem to register cyclists - I think there's some visual processing going on that disregards over the image of the cyclist, as the brain perceives the cyclist not to be moving. Someone posted a really interesting link about how mosquitoes (I think) use this phenomenon to get to their target (unnoticed) - go in a straight line, and often they just won't be seen. The answer - move left & right (if possible, and sensibly!) when approaching junctions so that you register with the driver's brain.

If anyone remembers that that thing about mosquitoes (or whatever it was), I'd love to find it again!

 

[BlackPanther]

There are so many blind numpties out there. Its best to just ride like you're invisible. Other than that......

Reduce speed and be prepared to stop/take avoiding action.
Wear high viz.
Makes sure brakes are in tip top condition.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

This sort of thing is far too common, and the offenders genuinely do not seem to register cyclists - I think there's some visual processing going on that disregards over the image of the cyclist, as the brain perceives the cyclist not to be moving.
!

There are two issues here.

One is the "not moving" perception, this is the exact reverse of the problem seen on the hard shoulder of Mways , where vehicles plough into stationary vehciles ( even with hazards flashing etc) because they see the rear of the vehcile as moving. The advice now is to park the stopped vehicle at an angle so that the brains of the dozy drivers coming behind refuse to process your vehcile as crabbing down the road. This would match your idea of moving from side to side.


The other issue is that maybe the driver simply did not see .

I have recently inherited a car that I woudn't have chosen myself ( Pug 407) and the thickness and rake of the A pillar is so vast that you can easily lose a Transit van behind them, I find myself searching either side on the pillars LOOKING for what's behind them, I imagine that not many people will bother doing so. If I can lose a Transit ( or even a full road lane) what chance has a cyclist got unless I'm positivley looking for them?

 

[yello]

The answer - move left & right (if possible, and sensibly!) when approaching junctions so that you register with the driver's brain

That's what I was told as part of my motorcycle training. Seemingly, the brain just does not register an object moving in a line towards it, you have to break out of that line. So it seems in some circumstances that SMIDSY might actually be true!

The other issue is that drivers aren't looking for bikes. They're looking for cars. It's not just drivers. The same is true for pedestrians sometimes. They look past the cyclist for oncoming cars, see none and step out in front of the cyclist! What to do about it? Well, you can attempt to make eye contact (not always feasible), it's not guaranteed but it does work. Other than that, if you're really unsure then stop and let them go!

 

[briantrumpet]

The other issue is that drivers aren't looking for bikes. They're looking for cars. It's not just drivers. The same is true for pedestrians sometimes.

The thing is that it's not really 'people' that aren't looking for bikes, it's their brains that are doing this processing without alerting the brains' owners. It's the same sort of processing that makes visual illusions such as this so bemusing - despite the fact that you KNOW it's the same shape (once you've seen it), you still can't persuade your brain to see it as the same shape, as your brain is automatically processing in perspective.

So, even if you've appealed intellectually to people to look out for motorcycles and bikes, people's brains are still liable to be running the 'ignore apparently static small objects on the road' process. And that's before we factor in the pillars by windscreens, and other moving objects that might take precedence in the drivers' perception.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

That's what I was told as part of my motorcycle training. Seemingly, the brain just does not register an object moving in a line towards it, you have to break out of that line. So it seems in some circumstances that SMIDSY might actually be true!

The other issue is that drivers aren't looking for bikes. They're looking for cars.

It's worse than that, they are not looking for cars or bikes or any other type of vehicle,they are looking for what they want to see, they are looking for space . They WANT to see nothing, so that they can move.

 

[HovR]

One explanation that is often brought up is looming. (<- Video link about the subject.) To put it simply, you appear to be very small in the drivers vision for a long time, and only appear to get larger at the very last moment.

The video linked above also contains some information about the left/right swerving action mentioned further up this thread, which helps "break you free of the background" in the drivers vision. Or click here to go directly to it.

 

[Hip Priest]

I had it coming out of a car park the other week in my car. Looked left, looked right, clear. Started pulling out and spotted a cyclist to my left, so stopped. I don't know how I missed him first time. Glad I checked twice or I would've caused him to brake.

 

[col]

The truth is they/we just dont see things sometimes, it happens. All you can do is your best.

 

[Thomk]

The truth is they/we just dont see things sometimes, it happens. All you can do is your best.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY&feature=related

 

[Matthew_T]

Its a common problem I have with cyclists/cars.

It is easy to see a car because they are big and take up the whole lane, with bicycles, they take up a small portion of the lane and arent very big (apart from the people on them).
I can partly understand where drivers are coming from if it is in a large town with lots to look at, but on a country road with no other vehicles, there is no excuse for not seeing a cyclist coming straight at you, even if you perceive them as not moving.

I think in cases like this, and airzound is needed if you anticipate the driver not looking or not seeing you.
I only really travel in the countryside on group rides or in the summer so havent done so in a while. I prefer lit town roads in the dark.