{"id":57231,"date":"2021-04-14T09:06:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T13:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?p=57231"},"modified":"2021-04-14T09:06:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T13:06:51","slug":"seen-but-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"Seen But Forgotten"},"content":{"rendered":"

New(ish) research out of England sheds new light on why car drivers cut us off so often. According to the study \u2013 The \u201cSaw but Forgot\u201d Error: A role for short-term memory failures in understanding junction crashes<\/em> \u2013 the real reason that cagers drive right through us in intersections isn\u2019t so much that they don\u2019t see us, but that even when they do, they forget we\u2019re there. <\/p>\n

According to the paper\u2019s lead author, Pete Chapman, researcher with the University of Nottingham\u2019s School of Psychology, the problem isn\u2019t the LBFTS \u2013 Look but Fail to See \u2013 problem commonly blamed for car\/motorcycle collisions but rather something he calls SBF: Saw but Forgot. In a series of experiments that attempted to determine why car drivers fail to see motorcyclists, Chapman and his co-authors \u2013 Chloe J. Robbins, Harriet A. Allen and Karl A. Miller \u2013 determined that the problem isn\u2019t so much visual as it is recollection. <\/p>\n

Chapman et al. sat a bunch of drivers in a simulator (based on a Mini for some reason) and outfitted them with Tobii Pro Glasses that tracked eye movements down to one degree (quite literally, the width of a typical motorcycle approaching an intersection). Eye movement was tracked before and during the drivers\u2019 attempts to cross imaginary intersections. In some cases, said traffic was comprised of other automobiles; in others, a motorcycle was thrown into the equation. Whatever the scenario, the researchers measured whether the driver in the Mini allowed enough room for a safe entrance into the intersection and, if not, the reason behind the unsafe manoeuvre.<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s results were both predictable and startling. No one who\u2019s ever ridden a motorcycle will be surprised that motorcycles were vastly overrepresented \u2013 16 to three \u2013 among the vehicles that the car driver would have hit had they pulled into a real intersection unsafely. However, what is surprising is that in the majority of those cases \u2013 11 of 16 \u2013 the study found that \u201cthe driver had already made an eye movement on the approaching motorcycle for at least 60 milliseconds (the minimum time to consider an object \u201cencoded\u201d [in the brain]).\u201d<\/p>\n

But then, says Chapman, the driver forgot about the bike. Indeed, through all of the study\u2019s experiments, there was no appreciable difference in \u201cencoding\u201d \u2013 that term seems to be university psychobabble for \u201cseeing\u201d \u2013 the approach of the motorcycle, either in time or in focus by both those drivers who \u201csaw\u201d the motorcyclist and those that didn\u2019t. Indeed, in virtually every case, those special glasses clearly showed the Mini driver gave the motorcycle the same attention initially as the cars in their path.<\/p>\n

According to the paper, what really matters is the order in which we are seen. According to the study, the most common scenario in which a motorcycle is seen but ignored \u201cinvolves a head movement towards a motorcyclist, then one [movement] to a car coming from the other direction, and a final one on the road ahead before pulling out.\u201d In other words, the driver saw us, but in the short time it took to turn their head the other way, they forgot that we exist \u2013 a \u201cfailure in working memory,\u201d as the paper describes it. Occasions in which the driver looked at the car first and then the motorcycle but still pulled into the intersection unsafely were less common. In other words, as the paper concludes, being seen isn\u2019t the problem \u2013 it\u2019s the order in which we are seen.<\/p>\n

The one question the paper doesn\u2019t answer is whether the efforts many motorcyclists make to increase their conspicuity \u2013 headlight modulators, auxiliary lights, selective yellow bulbs and\/or lens \u2013makes us more memorable to cagers or are they so predisposed to \u201cforget\u201d us that they are immune to such efforts. In other words, do bright shiny objects such as reflective vests make us more memorable? The study did not answer this question nor, truth be told, does the paper offer any advice to a motorcyclist looking to make themselves more worthy of note. <\/p>\n

Oh, there\u2019s some advice in there about teaching car drivers to say \u201cSee bike, say \u2018bike\u2019\u201d to themselves as \u201cphonological pathway\u201d to superior memory, but methinks the chance of that catching on is only slightly better than Meghan Markle being invited to Buckingham Palace for tea. <\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the study is truly the first research that posits an alternative theory to the \u201cbut he was looking right at me\u201d accidents that are far too common in car\/motorcycle interactions. That we do not yet have a solution should not be cause for despair. One needs to define a problem before one can solve it and, at the very least, Chapman et al. have moved the question beyond \u201cWhy didn\u2019t he see me?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New(ish) research out of England sheds new light on why car drivers cut us off so often. According to the study \u2013 The \u201cSaw but Forgot\u201d Error: A role for short-term memory failures in understanding junction crashes \u2013 the real reason that cagers drive right through us in intersections isn\u2019t so much that they don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2047,1876],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMotorcycle Driving Safety on the Road | Motorcycle Mojo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this month's issue of Motorcycle Mojo magazine, we ask the question "why car drivers cut us off so often?" Click here to read the answer today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Motorcycle Driving Safety on the Road | Motorcycle Mojo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this month's issue of Motorcycle Mojo magazine, we ask the question "why car drivers cut us off so often?" Click here to read the answer today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Motorcycle Mojo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MOTORCYCLE-MOJO-MAGAZINE-161377162001\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-14T13:06:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/genericfeatured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"930\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"586\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@motorcyclemojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@motorcyclemojo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mojo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/\",\"name\":\"Motorcycle Driving Safety on the Road | Motorcycle Mojo\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-14T13:06:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-14T13:06:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd\"},\"description\":\"In this month's issue of Motorcycle Mojo magazine, we ask the question \\\"why car drivers cut us off so often?\\\" Click here to read the answer today.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seen But Forgotten\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/\",\"name\":\"Motorcycle Mojo\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd\",\"name\":\"Mojo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Mojo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Motorcycle Driving Safety on the Road | Motorcycle Mojo","description":"In this month's issue of Motorcycle Mojo magazine, we ask the question \"why car drivers cut us off so often?\" Click here to read the answer today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Motorcycle Driving Safety on the Road | Motorcycle Mojo","og_description":"In this month's issue of Motorcycle Mojo magazine, we ask the question \"why car drivers cut us off so often?\" Click here to read the answer today.","og_url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/","og_site_name":"Motorcycle Mojo","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MOTORCYCLE-MOJO-MAGAZINE-161377162001\/","article_published_time":"2021-04-14T13:06:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":930,"height":586,"url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/genericfeatured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mojo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@motorcyclemojo","twitter_site":"@motorcyclemojo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mojo","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/","url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/","name":"Motorcycle Driving Safety on the Road | Motorcycle Mojo","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-04-14T13:06:51+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-14T13:06:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd"},"description":"In this month's issue of Motorcycle Mojo magazine, we ask the question \"why car drivers cut us off so often?\" Click here to read the answer today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2021\/04\/seen-but-forgotten\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seen But Forgotten"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/","name":"Motorcycle Mojo","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34e2f2e71d83920226c959f06fd24cdd","name":"Mojo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4cc87f50d1fa4da0cf95de93394efdd4?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Mojo"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com"],"url":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}