What goes through drivers' minds?

[lulubel]

I've been reading a few threads on the commuting forum, and I noticed a common thread in a lot of incidents, near misses and collisions is that the other party doesn't appear to have noticed the cyclist, and it made me think ....

When I drove buses, it was very common to meet a car coming the other way on a narrow road, and the driver would stop, pull to the side, and try everything in his power (flashing lights, gesturing, etc) to get me to try and drive through the far too small gap he'd left. The general consensus among our drivers was that car drivers will always leave a gap big enough for their own car.

I wonder if this translates to noticing other road users. If they're only looking (the ones that bother to look at all) for something the size of their car, they've got a good chance of not noticing something smaller. It would explain why there seem to be so many SMIDSYs reported here and on other forums, and why cars pull out in front of me so often when I'm on my bike, but not when I'm driving the car. And, if they cut up other car drivers as often as they do cyclists, surely the roads would be permanently blocked with all the accidents that would happen.

It also explains how they can appear to have looked at you, but not actually "seen" you.

(All this came about because I went out for my first ride since my crash today, and I was very careful to make sure any driver waiting to pull out had definitely seen me before I rode past the front of the car.)

 

[Matthew_T]

I take it you have been reading my threads.

 

[lulubel]

Yours and a few others - yes

 

[Night Train]

Mostly I think they are not drivers, just people with a licence to make a car go.

Many drivers don't 'see' other road users at all, they just 'see' their route through a set of roads and go forth blindly. I put it down to the lack of consideration for driving being a valued skill that should be practiced and improved upon after the test.
The number of drivers who would not want to retake a test 'because they are afraid they will fail' just shows that for many the test is the height of their driving skills and knowledge and it all goes down hill from there.

However, there are many that see driving as a real life skill and value it enough to keep learning and improving and accepting they are not the best (and most invincible) driver in the world.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Many drivers don't 'see' other road users at all, they just 'see' their route through a set of roads and go forth blindly.

I had a good example of seeing the route not the other road users on today's ride.

Riding into Condover from the Pitchford side, the road is a bit twisty then goes into a short straight followed by a 90 degree left hander which is blind due to high walls close to the road on both sides: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en...oid=0jh1ggfA27mh7EzXelyrAA&cbp=12,268.69,,0,0

As we reached the straight bit a BMW X5 slowly overtakes. To be fair he gave us loads of room but came past so slowly that he was only just alongside me as I got to the corner. Only at this point did it seem to occur to him that he is going round a blind corner on the wrong side of the road so on go the anchors and he drops between me and my brother to go round the corner.

The guy acknowledged his mistake but until the corner he seemed to be just running on autopilot and completely oblivious to the risk of meeting someone coming the other way.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

If you speak to motorcyclists you'll find they often think drivers only look for cars and vehicles bigger than them. I expect Mr Darwin can explain that we've evolved to recognise threats in the environment and drivers don't regard motorcycles or cyclists as threat to their ability to breathe and so they are disregarded.

Now if you speak to people who drive small cars, like cinquecento's, seicento's, Aygo's C1 et al, you'll find they often say their presence doesn't seem to register with other drivers, because I guess a small low powered car is seen as little threat.

 

[ColinJ]

There has been a serious incident in Hebden Bridge today involving a collision between a 4x4 and a teenage girl. Obviously this will be investigated by the police, but all I can say is that the location of the incident was such that vehicle speed should have been extremely low, so it should have been able to stop in time to avoid a collision. IMO - walking pace is an appropriate vehicle speed there.

There is nowhere to go but into a car park which involves a 90 degree L-turn less than 20 yards from the traffic lights. (The road ahead is pedestrianised so the vehicle should not have been going that way, if it was.)

I know that pedestrians sometimes walk out without looking, and the fact that this is a no-through road just off a pedestrian zone might lead to confusion, but honestly, this kind of thing just shouldn't happen!

(The girl's injuries, though initially said to be life-threatening, have now been downgraded. Hopefully she will make a complete recovery.)

PS Sorry - I forgot to make my point which is that I think a lot of drivers are not only driving too fast, they are also locked up in their own little worlds and unless something in the way is big enough to catch their attention they just don't notice it, hence so many accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians.

 

[Dave 123]

Greg collins has a point. Before giving up driving my dad had a Daewoo matiz. Over the years he'd driven things like Volvo estates & Cortina estates. In the Matiz he said he was treated like crap by other road users.
Maybe size is important after all.....

 

[Red Light]

If you speak to motorcyclists you'll find they often think drivers only look for cars and vehicles bigger than them. I expect Mr Darwin can explain that we've evolved to recognise threats in the environment and drivers don't regard motorcycles or cyclists as threat to their ability to breathe and so they are disregarded.

Now if you speak to people who drive small cars, like cinquecento's, seicento's, Aygo's C1 et al, you'll find they often say their presence doesn't seem to register with other drivers, because I guess a small low powered car is seen as little threat.

Time to strap a couple of RPGs to the top tube methinks

 

[Red Light]

Greg collins has a point. Before giving up driving my dad had a Daewoo matiz. Over the years he'd driven things like Volvo estates & Cortina estates. In the Matiz he said he was treated like crap by other road users.
Maybe size is important after all.....

Back in the days when we used to have a Discovery we were regularly pulling cars off it and demonstrating that on a Land Rover the crumple zone is the other car. They even managed it when we were stopped or parked and seemed to have a death wish, minis in particular. The Discovery didn"t even get scratched which was rather satisfying.