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Another consideration for not being literally invisable.

Yes. The human eye (and brain) has trouble seeing and comprehending things that don't move. That is why many riders will apply the front brake a bit when approaching an intersection, to make the headlight beam change a bit. Might catch someone's eye. Other riders will move from one side of their lane to the other, doing a slight weave, hoping that bit of motion will differentiate them from the background. That is also the way a headlight modulator gets attention. The modulation of the light gives apparent motion to the light, which attracts attention.

Something else that helps with conspicuity: two more lights at the front of the bike, as low as reasonably practical. A single point of light (the headlight) can be mis-interpreted as glare off a windshield or something else, and it's hard to judge distance on a single point of reference. Three points of light will change apparent size as they get closer, which gives better spatial comprehension. Railroad trains have done that for years, because you really only see them when you are directly in front of them, and when they are coming toward you, it's hard to judge distance.

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Steve said:
Yes. The human eye (and brain) has trouble seeing and comprehending things that don't move. That is why many riders will apply the front brake a bit when approaching an intersection, to make the headlight beam change a bit. Might catch someone's eye. Other riders will move from one side of their lane to the other, doing a slight weave, hoping that bit of motion will differentiate them from the background. That is also the way a headlight modulator gets attention. The modulation of the light gives apparent motion to the light, which attracts attention.

Something else that helps with conspicuity: two more lights at the front of the bike, as low as reasonably practical. A single point of light (the headlight) can be mis-interpreted as glare off a windshield or something else, and it's hard to judge distance on a single point of reference. Three points of light will change apparent size as they get closer, which gives better spatial comprehension. Railroad trains have done that for years, because you really only see them when you are directly in front of them, and when they are coming toward you, it's hard to judge distance.

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All those things are correct. However, that is not what the article is about. The article is about forward blind spots and how the arc of blindness expands with distance and considers that there is a set of circumstances that will, with two vehicles approaching an intersection within a speed/distance value, guarantee that an oncoming vehicle will be physically invisible, and undetectable until impact.
 
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A similar incident happened to me last year when turning in a mall parking lot. There were huge snowbanks that had been pushed up on to the sidewalk. As I was turning, a pedestrian was obscured by the right front post on my truck. He had come out from behind the snowbank, and I did not see him as I was negotiating the turn. I had looked both ways a second before as I was pulling into an area with opposing traffic. He stumbled into the side of my truck and was not hurt, but he was in my blind spot the entire time that I was turning.
 
If you watch a longtime motorcyclist drive a car, you'll often see their head bobbing back and forth to look around the "A" pillar.

For most of the year, I ride 99% of the time and don't drive much. The poor visibility while sitting in a cage drives me nuts. They're also slow, huge, hard to maneuver, and lean the wrong way... cars are really pretty dangerous when you think about it.

Overall, the field of vision restriction arising from constant phone pokery is probably more widespread and dangerous. Forcing cage pilots to stop stimulating their electronic nipples while driving would be a good start. (And yes, this issue is highly personal to me...)

But yes, it's important for people to understand that "vehicles and people are often hiding behind that A pillar (and all that garbage hanging from your mirror and stuck to your windshield), so move your big fat head and look, wouldya?". The term "CBDR" and the trigonometry diagrams would be lost on most.
 
bwringer said:
If you watch a longtime motorcyclist drive a car, you'll often see their head bobbing back and forth to look around the "A" pillar.

For most of the year, I ride 99% of the time and don't drive much. The poor visibility while sitting in a cage drives me nuts. They're also slow, huge, hard to maneuver, and lean the wrong way... cars are really pretty dangerous when you think about it.

Overall, the field of vision restriction arising from constant phone pokery is probably more widespread and dangerous. Forcing cage pilots to stop stimulating their electronic nipples while driving would be a good start. (And yes, this issue is highly personal to me...)

But yes, it's important for people to understand that "vehicles and people are often hiding behind that A pillar (and all that garbage hanging from your mirror and stuck to your windshield), so move your big fat head and look, wouldya?". The term "CBDR" and the trigonometry diagrams would be lost on most.
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Funny you say that because weave and bob my head is exactly what I do to check for traffic when pulling into traffic when driving the van.
The scary part is that one can be sitting at an intersection waiting to pull into traffic and note five cars approaching. There is the possibility that there are actually six and one is remaining in your blind arc. A head bob for a couple of seconds will locate the invisible car. It seems to me that you're most likely to get hit when you think there is nothing coming. My habit is to check both directions twice over a span of 5 to 10 seconds to insure nothing is sneaking up on me. heh I started doing this a few years ago when I realized how many cars were "appearing" that were not supposed to be there. I had not realized how it was happening until I came across the article.
 
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It's a good thing for car drivers that there's all these airbags and other new fangled things they call safety features because when you can't see out of your vehicle anymore due to blind spots you ARE going hit something. Not only are the "A" pillars now obscenely large you have almost no way to even do a decent shoulder check due to those tiny rear side windows and overly high window sill. The one major safety feature they seem to not understand is the ability to see where you're going and what's around you, and the silly cameras placed everywhere just don't cut it. Don't even get me going on about the insanely stupid digital info centers.
 
Nice story but at the end of the day the cars entered a roadway without the drivers fully assessing the situation.
Blame the blind spot if you want it's only going to get some new contraption on the A pillar to see around it and a get out of jail card for not paying sufficient attention.
There is a world of difference between looking and seeing just as in hearing and listening.
If I could do one thing it would be to teach the difference to all drivers.
You should assume that if you look and a road appears empty then your eye is playing tricks and take the extra time to find the hidden object in the empty road. One day it will be there, large as life.
A wise instructor once told me to burn your eyes into the empty places and find the hidden things.
 
The useful takeaway from this is that if you can't see the drivers eyes, he likely can't see you. Something that I think a lot of us pay attention to, maybe even subconsciously. I know I'm always checking the rear view mirrors of cars I'm passing on the highway, figuring out when I'm in their blindspot.
 
RichDesmond said:
The useful takeaway from this is that if you can't see the drivers eyes, he likely can't see you. Something that I think a lot of us pay attention to, maybe even subconsciously. I know I'm always checking the rear view mirrors of cars I'm passing on the highway, figuring out when I'm in their blindspot.
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Unfortunately the corollary is not true. I've been looking many a cager in the eye at less than 50 yards and they still pull out. Go figure.
 
You can use (perceived) eye contact or a rolling wheel, but ultimately your only guarantee is physics. If you can slow down or speed-up in such a way as that car can't hit you is your only guarantee. I sometimes watch rider videos where the motorcyclist get very ****ed when a cager doesn't "respect" the motorcyclists "right of way". These guys clearly have not figured out the "law of gross tonnage". You get run over, it really doesn't matter if you were in the right or not.
 
isleoman said:
I wish it were only A pillars blocking the view.

I followed a sedan out of a parking lot last week and he was watching "The Orville" on some type of electronic device mounted below his mirror. Can't believe it would be legal.

I had already seen the episode he had on, which added to my frustration................. Ba Dum bump
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Watching movies/TV while driving is illegal in every state and has been for a long time.
 
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