Читать книгу Proficient Motorcycling - David L. Hough - Страница 35

Psychology research has uncovered an interesting phenomenon that relates to the I-didn’t-see-you excuse. It seems that humans are subjected to so much incoming information that one part of the brain serves as sort of a subconscious mental “spam filter.” The filter passes on to the conscious part of the brain only information that corresponds to what the person is concerned about, or what the psychologists call attending to. If a driver is thinking about (attending to) buying a new car, the spam filter will pass along anything related to cars, including automobile dealerships and billboards with car ads. The flip side is that if the driver is not concerned about something (say, motorcycles), the spam filter may delete the image. So it really can be true that a driver looks right at you and sees you, but your image gets filtered out and never gets to the conscious part of the driver’s brain. That would explain how a driver might not comprehend a motorcyclist wearing a high-visibility jacket and the bike flashing its headlight—or, for that matter, a freight train with a flashing headlight and the air horns blaring.

Although this rider is highly skilled, he wears a conspicuity vest over his leathers to help capture the attention of other drivers. A retro-reflective conspicuity vest is especially useful for night riding, when the stripes light up brilliantly in the headlights of other vehicles.

In addition to the headlights, this motorcycle has amber clearance lights in the front of the mirror housings and extra driving lights in the fairing lowers. The array of lights really helps an oncoming driver comprehend the presence of the bike, and the width of the clearance lights provide a driver with clues to more accurately predict its approach speed.

Since we can’t control every situation, we often depend upon other motorists to not run us over, like it or not. Motorcycles are narrower and more difficult to see in traffic. Other motorists don’t always comprehend how rapidly a motorcycle is approaching because a single seven-inch diameter headlight doesn’t really give motorists a clue about your approach speed. So there is a case for motorcyclists to be a little more conspicuous for the benefit of those drivers on the road who are really trying to avoid collisions.

Most important, if you are still in the process of learning the tactics of traffic survival, you really are more dependent on other drivers to stay out of your way, and you should help them out by being as conspicuous as you can. Whatever your experience level, you’ll have to arrive at a level of conspicuousness that meets your needs and fits your limits of sensibility.

If you think it might help increase your conspicuity, here are some suggestions:

• Consider lighter-color riding gear such as a tan, silver, or bright blue. Add brightly colored vanity stripes to your darker-colored leathers, or wear a bright reflective vest over your jacket.

• Choose a helmet in a lighter, brighter color or a helmet design with bright stripes.

• When shopping for a new machine or repainting your faded bike, give priority to a bright paint scheme.

• Use amber running lights on the front, as widely spaced as practical.

• For nighttime rides, add reflective tape to the back end of your saddlebags, tour trunk, and helmet. Add multiple red taillights, preferably spaced wide apart.