SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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: 2) by Reziac on Sunday January 07 2018, @02:50AM (4 children)
I don't know how it would work on a motorcycle, but on a bicycle ... if you ride on ice or packed snow, you learn to use ONLY the rear brake the very first time you apply 'em... because if you use both, you'll swap ends (and possibly flip yourself) at amazing speed. Same with braking while going down a serious hill.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1) by Crash on Wednesday January 10 2018, @08:32PM (3 children)
The worst was a steep ~45° hill during the Winter with moderate temperatures - which caused frequent black ice. Oddly I only wiped out once that year.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday January 10 2018, @10:30PM (2 children)
I know the evil stuff well... black ice didn't seem to bother the bicycle as much as did packed snow, maybe a matter of relative surface melt from tire pressure.
And that's a steep enough hill to wipe out without any help! Yikes!
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1) by Crash on Thursday January 11 2018, @04:56AM (1 child)
Or the bicycle, I used to ride a heavy steel-frame wide-tire Mountain Bike that you could just barely pick up with one hand.
Things changed drastically when I switched to a Medalist 7005 aluminum frame, which you could easily pick up with a single finger
Found a picture here: https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/13627227/ [pinkbike.com]
Rain, Sleet, Snow, Hills - no problem!
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday January 11 2018, @05:27AM
Yeah, my old bike was a steel-framed Schwinn from the 1960s, and it weighed 40 pounds (I know, cuz it got weighed when it was sent on the bus as freight). That thing had its own momentum. Current bike weighs about half that and isn't nearly as sensitive to how it's braked. (OTOH, it's not nearly as good a bike, despite being lighter on the controls.) But when I come off my yard hill -- I still rear-only brake, cuz otherwise it wants to skitter a bit.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.