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Could this phenomenon contribute to cagers' inability to see us?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_ ... 284925.stm

There was something a while back about bikes coming up to junctions and drivers pulling out because they couldnt get a good grasp of how fast the bike was moving towards them.. cant rememeber what it was called, but I dont think it's so much a change issue as much as a sheer inability to process what they can already see.

http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/2008/ ... ision.html

makes good reading.

We have a junction near us where so so so many accidents happen with cars pulling out on bikes.. every week nearly.
Not the biker's fault maybe.. maybe due to the angle of the junction and the carsat the junctions. the bikes are on the main drag by the way, not sat waiting to turn onto it.
Scares the shit out of me because I know some of these riders and know they were riding normally and with due care. I believe that junction needs redoing with traffic lights. 'Til then I take a detour round it and thru the village rather than thru that junction.

I read something not so long ago that was about 'looming'. This is where an object is coming towards you but because there is no side to side movement it appears to be stationary until it is right on top of you and suddenly looms out of nowhere. It is especially common with bikes due to the small frontal area and often the only thing you can see is the headlight.

It was suggested you can comabt this by weaving slightly as you approach a junction where another vehicle is waiting to pull out as this will make you much more visible.

also made worse by people riding with their lights on - it is even harder to judge distance of a moving headlight.

back_marker wrote: It was suggested you can comabt this by weaving slightly as you approach a junction where another vehicle is waiting to pull out as this will make you much more visible.

Snappy got pulled by the fuzz for weaving on her bike!

BikerGran wrote:

back_marker wrote: It was suggested you can comabt this by weaving slightly as you approach a junction where another vehicle is waiting to pull out as this will make you much more visible.

Snappy got pulled by the fuzz for weaving on her bike!

Yes - but you've got to admit that it wasn't really designed to carry a loom ...

Kwackerz wrote:There was something a while back about bikes coming up to junctions and drivers pulling out because they couldnt get a good grasp of how fast the bike was moving towards them.. cant rememeber what it was called, but I dont think it's so much a change issue as much as a sheer inability to process what they can already see.

It is called the "Halo" affect

It has been well documented (and I have dealt with many) where drivers have difficulty in judging speed and distance of an approaching bike, and which is usually made worse by bikes with headlights on because the bike is hidden behind the halo of light projected from the machine.

So a driver sees the light, makes a judgement that it is doing (for example) 30 MPH and is half a mile away when it is in fact doing 60 and is a quarter of a mile away.

There is also a major issue with the depth perception of many drivers (and riders) and although easily corrected, Opticians usually only check depth perception if you ask them, and to be fair many drivers do not realise they have a problem until it goes pear shaped.

Taken to extremes perhaps but have a look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubil ... tube_gdata