Dylan Asena (M)

  Patricia Howarth (C)

  David Marsh (M)

  David Hoskins (M)

  Paul Gibson (M)

  Michael Meadows (M)

 

 

 

After the AGM Stephen Wilkinson-Carr treated us to a technical talk about the causes of and remedies for Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You (SMIDSY) collisions. We were first shown some videos of near-misses filmed from the bars of bikes, helmet cams, or through car windscreens. In each case, a vehicle turned out in front of the camera. We were invited to speculate on the reasons the vehicles pulled out, but returned to these later.

 

 

 

 

• Blind spot tracking. Issues with two vehicles on converging paths, where the relative angle of the approach does not change – e.g. circumnavigating roundabouts, approaching through bends. If the other vehicle (particularly a motorcycle) is hidden behind a pillar and continues to approach at the same relative angle, it will remain hidden with potentially disastrous results.

 

• Assume something's there
• Look methodically
• Look twice
• Think: where's the sun?

 

• Assume something is there - Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, your brain is also less likely to register something you are not expecting to see. Here we’re entering a scary territory referred to as ‘aviation psychology’. Suffice to say that if you think the road is empty, you are less likely to see a vehicle actually present.
• Look methodically - When you look left and right at a junction, always deliberately focus on at least three different spots along the road in each direction - close, middle-distance and far. With practice, this can still be accomplished quickly, and each pause is only for a fraction of a second. It means you are overriding the natural limitations of the eye and brain. Fighter pilots call this a ‘lookout scan’ and it is vital to their survival.
• Look twice - Always look right and left at least twice. If you repeat the same lookout scan, which you will with practice, any vehicle masked by a saccade on the first look is less likely to be missed on the second. This does not apply if you charge into a junction at a constant speed. Then a vehicle on a collision course will stay in the same relative position in your vision - if you miss it the first time, you will probably miss it the second time too.
• Think: where is the sun? - It’s generally understood that low sun can make it difficult to see, but not why: driving into sun reduces contrast, especially when vehicles with a small profile fall into the shadow of larger objects. Even large vehicles, but especially smaller ones like motorbikes, can become hidden. This is why fighter pilots attack with the sun behind them. Remember it when riding with low sun. You must moderate your riding accordingly.

 

 

• Assume you're invisible
• Look for driver's face
• Assume the worst
• Watch vehicle wheels

 

• Assume you're invisible. Always be aware of the risk of not being seen and never forget that it will hurt if someone does manage to pull into your path. Don't assume that you have had eye contact with a driver from 20 feet away or more. It might look like eye contact but you STILL can't be sure they've seen you. 
• Look for driver's face. If part of their face appears behind the screen pillar it's possible that you can't be seen. Don't assume that because you're wearing high visibility clothing and your headlight's on that you are visible - if there's a screen pillar in the way, visibility aids don't work.
• Assume the worst. Assume that emerging vehicles may pull into your path and position yourself for maximum safety margin. Usually this means taking a position towards the crown of the road, or further if safe, if someone might emerge from the left.
• Watch vehicle wheels. Watch the wheels of potentially conflicting stationary vehicles. You can recognise wheels starting to turn sooner than you can recognise other movements.

We then returned to the initial set of videos, armed with our new knowledge and were able to identify many of the effects mentioned above, as well as giving more informed opinions on how the situations could have been avoided.

Overall, a well-constructed, technical, thought-provoking and professional presentation, which had the entire audience thinking, participating and interacting.