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news
Car turning into cyclist's path (YouTube).jpgNew research finds many drivers really don't "see" cyclists or motorbikers (+ video)
New research published by the The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society suggests that drivers often fail to “see” motorbikers – and by extension cyclists – even when they look right at them.
Planetsave reports lead author Kristen Pammer, a professor of psychology and associate dean of science at Australian National University, as saying: “When we are driving, there is a huge amount of sensory information that our brain must deal with.
“We can’t attend to everything, because this would consume enormous cognitive resources and take too much time. So our brain has to decide what information is most important. The frequency of LBFTS [looked but failed to see] crashes suggests to us a connection with how the brain filters out information.”
Invisible cyclists: Eye-tracking experiment finds drivers don't see more than 1 in 5 riders
Researchers asked 56 adults to look at photos showing routine driving situations from a driver’s perspective. Participants were asked to decide if the situations represented safe or unsafe driving conditions.
In the final photograph, researchers inserted an unexpected vehicle into the scene — either a taxi or a motorbike. Half didn’t notice, and of those who did, two thirds identified the taxi while less than a third identified the motorbike.
The uniformity illusion: peripheral vision study may help explain why drivers fail to see cyclists
“Motorcycles appear to be very low on the priority list for the brain when it is filtering information,” said Pammer. One can only wonder where cyclists might rank in such a hierarchy.
Failure to notice an unexpected object located in plain sight is termed ‘inattentional blindness’.
The best-known study demonstrating the phenomenon centred on this video.
In most groups, 50 per cent of subjects do not report seeing the gorilla.
Pammer and her coauthors believe their study highlights a need to encourage drivers to be more motorcycle-aware when learning to drive.
"By putting motorcyclists higher on the brain 'radar' of the driver, hopefully drivers will be more likely to see them. In the meantime, we need to be more vigilant, more active, and more conscious when driving."
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- lonpfrb 38 sec ago
Neither does video camera evidence however it does enable you to hold them accountable depending on the police area that you cycle within....
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If there’s anything in nominative determinism, Ken Skates should be great for active travel.
- TheBillder 37 min 23 sec ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
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What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
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The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
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Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
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You have to add images via a reply to yourself after the topic is created. One at a time too.
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David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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Decathlon have the Garmin Varia RTL515 on offer at the moment for £129.99: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/rearview-radar-varia-rtl515-65-lumens/_/R-...
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54 comments
Thanks for posting this, you beat me to it. It was also published in the IAM magazine some years ago and it really does explain why we don’t see things when “scanning” with our eyes, the brain literally blanks out what you see when you sweep your eyes rapidly. The principles should be in the Highway Code and sent out with every driving licence as it if more people understood that they need to “look” differently it would prevent a lot of SMIDSY’s.
Full original article is also worth a read:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/elegi6k9amk8spw/1211%20Road%20Survival%20Guide...
Mick
Was that the case in Weston-super-Mare?
I think the driver said that they hadn't moved out because the child wasn't on the road so why would they?
(The child was wobbling along on a narrow shared use path which is *right next to* a 60mph speed limit road with no barriers etc and the driver didn't think they needed to take anything not on the road into consideration...)
I guess the corolloy of the title is that if drivers did see cyclists then they subsequently decided to run them over on purpose.... in reality I think that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that most drivers are incapable of concentrating fully for some long or even short journeys: there are physical distractions and the mind wanders....as does mine when I'm on long bike rides. Like many riders I've taken to wearing bright overshoes - as they rotate - and bright, flashing day lights in the hope of catching their attention. This sometimes irritates some, but at least I know they have seen me. And if they do cut me up then they've have done it on purpose.
I guess the corollary of the title is that if drivers did see cyclists then they subsequently decided to run them over on purpose.... in reality I think that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that most drivers are incapable of concentrating fully for some long or even short journeys: there are physical distractions and the mind wanders....as does mine when I'm on long bike rides. Like many riders I've taken to wearing bright overshoes - as they rotate - and bright, flashing day lights in the hope of catching their attention. This sometimes irritates some, but at least I know they have seen me. And if they do cut me up then they've have done it on purpose.
My ten year old daughter was terrified when her front reflector got broken and insisted that I get her a new one (even though I told her it wasn't a legal requirement so she wouldn't get in trouble for it). When getting one in my LBS they said that the best reflectors on most bicycles are the orange ones on pedals - they highlight non motorised movements as well as general location.
at a railway station in France recently I was stopped and my saddlebag searched for machine guns and tear-gas grenades. I had to apologise because I hadn’t thought to bring any, but your suggestion could very well prove productive in the road safety sphere.
Yes, I'd read somewhere that having reflective patterns on tights, or lights on your legs makes you much more likely to be noticed by drivers because of the irregular movement or pattern of light that registers with the brain.
Much more so than flouro jackets
Small child a few feet away AND seen wobbling and not one person including the killer did absolutely nothing, and police accepted this as behaviour that was acceptble/not dangerous!
And yet 9 months later Charlie Alliston charged/convicted for manslaughter/WAF )respectively) supposedly not allowing the deceased 'wobble' room or room for an error in judgement despite him slowing signifcantly and swerving to avoid (at crica 10mph) and yet drivers doing 60mph a couple of feet away from a small child they could see they would present a massive danger to if they made even a small error get the 'nothing you could do' consoling words and let off?
I certainly would at the very least be moving to the centre line and easing off the gas when seeing that scenario especially given the ridiculously high speed limit.
The double standards/hypocrisy are incredible, it's this blindness to the dangers motorists and their vehicles present and that no error margin is expected to be given by them that kills and maims so many, yet is when the situation is a person on a bike it's totally different, why is that?
I'll refer you to my other post. It doesn't make a jot what vulnerable road users wear. Motorists simply do not pay attention to what's happening around them. Once they are behind that wheel they focus only on the vehicle directly in front, what needs to be done that day and compelled to check their hand held device when it pings. next time you're a passenger in a car take note what is happening around you and then ask the driver what they noticed, you might be surprised at what they miss.
When I drive I not only look at the vehicle in front but several vehicles ahead. I'm also looking out for people stepping out off the pavement and possible vehicles at side streets as well as cyclists and equestrians. Driving is a skill that involves concentration at ALL times. That is why you need to be licensed. You are operating a large piece of powerful machinery in public.
It makes little difference what percautions people take. They will never be safe until motorists irradicate inattention and carelessness out of their driving routine.
Burtthebike - I'll give you a like for 'pour encourager les autres'
Sometime ago in the comments section of a Road.cc clothing review, someone suggested that a hi-viz jacket with a large speedcamera logo on the back would be effective.
I really think that this would get driver's attention.
I wonder if riding a bike with flashing blue lights while wearing a police uniform will help get drivers to notice you. It might also help reduce traffic offences ... bonus.
A cunning trick used by some motorcyclists - yellow jacket, white lid, black trousers - it looks close enough to a police motorcyclist to make drivers notice them a quarter second earlier. Not sure it'd work for cyclists as well, as every rider and their dog seems to be wearing yellow hi-viz these days (including me), and there's not so many police cyclists to form that pattern-recognition.
Thanks. Didn't realise you got bonus points for foreign phrases, but I'll try to slip a few in just for fun. Should we have some kind of points competition and a green jersey?
Strange how they can still msnage to see "horrifically, terrifyingly" bright rear lights. That was the description one driver gave of my Exposure Tracer when she stopped to moan at me. Afraid I wasn't terribly sympathetic - something alomg the lines of "well at least you saw me" (some words omitted). I begin to fear this is the only solution - make sure every one of them feels the need to honk, then at least if they hit me it's because they are psychopaths, rather than just inattentive fuckwits.
Hi viz LOL!
http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/masked-man-hi-vis-clo...
I can only recollect not "seeing" a cyclist on 3 occasions
1) While walking towards a car reversing out of a car park, I stopped and waited. Cyclist coming from other direction raced along car park, and swerved aroubd back of car without slowing down. Driver had to brake sharply. Maybe cyclist could see roof of car from his angle, certainly the back of it moving out - but driver's view blocked by the car she was parked next to.
2) Dusk on a dull day, Newhall st. Birmingham - car emerges from side turning, driver peering around parked cars. Black clad cyclist on black bike, with very tiny lamp twinkling on handlebars, almost collides with car (again, emergency stop). Even after I'd spotted the bike I still had difficulty seeing it!(I was walking a the time)
3) Me driving this time, approaching traffic island near home - cyclist in bright clothing comes down road from my right - taking a "kerb-hugging" line around the island. Amazed I hadn't seem him, but my usual driving style meant I didn't hit the poor guy as he went past. It would have been my fault.
Colours can have an effect, if you google "Advancing v Receding Colours" you will see what I mean!
Thank you. Now I know what I am buying as my next rear light. I already have the front sorted out with a beam-spreading, non-German-pootle-bike-compliant MagicShine.
Be careful. You'll be banned from the roads "for your own safety, because .... science"
Good to see so many people who are justifiably fed up with the victim-blaming crap that gets chucked at cyclists (and also pedestrians, by the way).
The bottom line is that mtorists CAN "see" cyclists and other road users if they want to. Too mnay just can't be arsed.
It is also extremely important that we understand the negative role the "road safety" industry has played in shifting the burden of responsibility away from drivers by pushing for hi-viz etc.
See
http://rdrf.org.uk/2013/11/03/hi-viz-for-cyclists-and-pedestrians-the-ev...
http://rdrf.org.uk/2013/11/01/hi-viz-for-pedestrians-and-cyclists-and-th...
http://rdrf.org.uk/2013/10/31/hi-viz-for-cyclists-and-pedestrians-sensib...
http://rdrf.org.uk/2011/06/09/of-slutwalks-and-hi-viz-the-politics-of-vi...
http://rdrf.org.uk/2012/03/01/sorry-mate/
on this subject
In my experience, cyclists are not on some drivers' radar screen.
They are looking for motor vehicles that are a danger to them, which cyclists arn't - and that's why they are not noticed. They look straight through you.
But its still driving without due care and attention.
It may or not be negative, but I'd rather wear flurescent colours & hi-viz reflective cycle clothing (and a helmet) than stealth black when I'm on my bike.
I want to be seen by those drivers who are looking out for cyclists; and I don't want to give those who are not looking an excuse for not seeing me.
Then you should probably admit defeat and just drive a car: I bet they'd *definitely* see you then...
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