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The disproportionately high number of motorcycle-related traffic accidents may be linked to the way the human brain processes—or fails to process—information, according to new research published in Human Factors, "Allocating Attention to Detect Motorcycles: The Role of Inattentional Blindness." The study examines how the phenomenon of inattentional blindness, or a person's failure to notice an unexpected object located in plain sight, might explain the prevalence of looked-but-failed-to-see (LBFTS) crashes, the most common type of collision involving motorcycles.
According to human factors/ergonomics researchers Kristen Pammer, Stephanie Sabadas, and Stephanie Lentern, LBFTS crashes are particularly troublesome because, despite clear conditions and the lack of other hazards or distractions, drivers will look in the direction of the oncoming motorcycle - and in some cases appear to look directly at the motorcycle - but still pull out into its path.
The study authors suggest training drivers to be more alert for motorcycles.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Saturday January 06 2018, @02:09PM (1 child)
One of the other good things I've seen suggested is to play "spot the motorcycle" as a game with your kids, if you have any. It will help train them to spot them when they're drivers (although really, it's probably too late for that, drivers will have been replaced)..
I think a bit part of why accident rates might be going up is the crappy sight-lines in modern cars. My current car has far poorer sight-lines than my previous (20 year old now). The A pillars block a very large and very important area of view, especially for those of us that look *way* ahead. Personally, I'd feel a lot safer with all the airbags gone, and a clear view of the road back.
(Score: 1) by toddestan on Saturday January 06 2018, @11:55PM
To compensate for the crappy sight lines, a lot of cars now have blind spot monitoring. Except the blind spot monitoring often doesn't see something smaller like a motorcycle. This makes the problem is even worse - due to the poor visibility, people just rely on the blind spot monitor, and if it says the blind spot is clear they just go and can flatten a motorcyclist in the process.
You can actually see first-hand how effective some of these systems are in various cars, as they often put the indicator for the blind spot monitor in the side mirror and at night it's often visible to you too if you're in the car's blind spot.