Interesting, how the brain works

[Harry Bloomfield]

A woman was looking right through me when she stepped out into the road and i couldn't avoid hitting her as i cycled up a hill. I couldn't have been more than 10' away and she simply didn't watch where she was going. Silly moo. She was okay. I picked her up, dusted her down and went on my way again pondering the choice of using my powers of invisibility to fight crime or get into gigs for free.

Part of the problem is the silence of progress of someone on a bike, people just assume no engine noise, nothing coming. I had two drunks step out right in front of me in the busy main street a few years ago, whilst on a push bike. I managed to avoid them, but they gave me a load of slather, as if it was my fault.

 

[motorbiking]

We seem to have some sort of visual memory. In this case conditioned to looking for cars. There seems to be another as well. The were are the car keys type. Put them somewhere unusual and people may find they can walk right past them and not even see them especially if in a bit of a rush. Our brain remembers what the things in our houses look like is thought to be the reason.

Yes - thats due to the myelin insulation which helps the brain find repeated paths quickly. So when we come to a junction, 1/50 there are bikes and 6/10 there are cars. We see the cars, because we have the experience of seeing them.

If you teach yourself to scan (actively moving your eyes to follow a system), you break the established path and have a better chance of seeing what is there.

Same for stopped vehicles on the hard shoulder. If we can see the sides (angled vehicle) we can see its stopped, if we can see only the back we think its moving.

 

[Pat ex]

Same for stopped vehicles on the hard shoulder. If we can see the sides (angled vehicle) we can see its stopped, if we can see only the back we think its moving.

Really? If I was to make any assumption about a vehicle on the hard shoulder I would assume it's stopped. Otherwise why would it be on the hard shoulder?
The reason why emergency vehicles turn slightly side on, and their wheel direction is turned inwards, is in case of a rear impact, it does not propel them back into the traffic.

 

[motorbiking]

The Number 1 cause of shunts on the hard shoulder is other drivers failing to realise the vehicle is stopped.

And as for turning the wheels in to the barrier - It may help, but its not why they do it. its doesn't make much difference to a 4x4 in park gear anyway as the front wheels wont grip much in a rear end shunt..

 

[ajohn]

As Volvo found high level brake lights made a rather large difference to rear end shunts. They over produced rear end replacement panels by a rather surprising amount. Like all they produce things like this based on yearly averages. Changes to ABS have probably had an "impact" as well but that isn't a visual aspect.

The latest change is cars always showing some lights on the front. Volvo toyed with that as well at some point via headlights. I don't think there was any clear result.

 

[Pat ex]

The Number 1 cause of shunts on the hard shoulder is other drivers failing to realise the vehicle is stopped.

I would think the number 1 cause of collisions on the hard shoulder is drivers driving on/wandering onto the hard shoulder!

According to your logic, we should be stopping at a strange angle at traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, junctions, roundabouts, etc, in order to avoid a rear end shunt.

 

[ajohn]

The Number 1 cause of shunts on the hard shoulder

I haven't driven in Europe for a long time now so talking 70's maybe 80's. I recollect having to buy and carry a warning triangle. I will have driven in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy etc but I was told required by law.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The latest change is cars always showing some lights on the front. Volvo toyed with that as well at some point via headlights. I don't think there was any clear result.

So did Saab, I had two 99s and a 900 which all had daylight running lights that couldn't be turned off (on the later 900s they installed a switch). I certainly used to get flashed a lot

 

[Pat ex]

I haven't driven in Europe for a long time now so talking 70's maybe 80's. I recollect having to buy and carry a warning triangle. I will have driven in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy etc but I was told required by law.

In addition dayglo bibs, thingys, HiViz vests (that's the word) and spare bulbs are also required in some countries.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I haven't driven in Europe for a long time now so talking 70's maybe 80's. I recollect having to buy and carry a warning triangle. I will have driven in Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy etc but I was told required by law.

In France so is a high viz for all occupants of the vehicle. In the late 70s I was stopped by the French police (Gendamerie?) at night in northern France, and after checking the van wasn't nicked, all they wanted to see was that we had a triangle, our high viz vests and a set of bulbs (we had the obligatory yellow bulbs and beam dip "shields" (black sticky plastic on the headlamps). It was apparently an easy nick on Brits going for the boat

 

[motorbiking]

First aid kits are also required in vehicles in many countries.

I would think the number 1 cause of collisions on the hard shoulder is drivers driving on/wandering onto the hard shoulder!

According to your logic, we should be stopping at a strange angle at traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, junctions, roundabouts, etc, in order to avoid a rear end shunt.

It's not my logic - its what they teach you in first on scene training.

Not just in the UK it seems

Blocking Techniques for Roadway Incidents

Jack Sullivan illustrates blocking and parking tactics for roadway incidents to protect responders and increase scene safety.

www.firehouse.com

Parking at an angle makes it easier for approaching traffic to identify that your unit is stopped, parked and not moving. Units parked in line with traffic, even on the shoulder, are not as easy to identify as stopped and approaching traffic will often not recognize that the unit is parked instead of moving with traffic.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The Number 1 cause of shunts on the hard shoulder is other drivers failing to realise the vehicle is stopped.

I've just seen one an hour ago in a 50, outside lane L2. Sainsbury artic, with a little car on it's nose at right angles to the road. I guess the car driver pulled out without looking and the lorry picked it up and pushed it down the road. Not far by the look of it, so car driver was lucky.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

As Volvo found high level brake lights made a rather large difference to rear end shunts. They over produced rear end replacement panels by a rather surprising amount. Like all they produce things like this based on yearly averages. Changes to ABS have probably had an "impact" as well but that isn't a visual aspect.

I've had ABS for decades, but have never, ever triggered it in anger - in fact I cannot remember having triggered my normal brakes in anger. Nearest I get is having a deliberated play about on ice and snow each winter, just to remind myself of the feel of it.

The latest change is cars always showing some lights on the front. Volvo toyed with that as well at some point via headlights. I don't think there was any clear result.

The only useful function is that of knowing a vehicle might be moving rather than parked.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The only useful function is that of knowing a vehicle might be moving rather than parked.

In northern latitudes, where the sun is low to the horizon for a greater part of the year, they are very useful to see oncoming traffic

 

[ajohn]

I've had ABS for decades, but have never, ever triggered it in anger

You have never needed to panic brake then. Can't say as I have either. Ice etc has nothing to do with it. These days drivers even get help with that. At some point it will apply max breaking force for the driver. The fact that the ABS knows what that pressure is helps it do it's job.

Panic brake is the trade term meaning needing to stop as soon as possible.