The Art of Situational Awareness.

[Katman]

It starts with the act of concentration. Make no mistake, day-dreaming while riding will all too often end in tears.

At any one point in time we are blessed with a finite amount of mental capacity to concentrate. (That capacity to concentrate grows as your brain gets used to the act of concentrating. Placed in a situation where you're required to concentrate heavily will have you mentally tired within minutes but with practice that time can extend out to hours).

It's how we use that amount of concentration available to us at any point in time that determines our degree of situational awareness. Our concentration needs to be divided between all the potential hazards that exist around us and the allocation of those percentages is constantly changing.

For example, as you approach a T intersection where a car is in a position of having to give way to you, the 5% of your concentration that you allocated to it 100 metres away needs to increase as you get closer, till at the split second of turning across the projected path of that vehicle it is receiving closer to 90% of your concentration. When approaching a vehicle parked on the side of the road in a position of potentially doing a u-turn in front of you it is not sufficient to have noticed it as a potential hazard in the distance then promptly ignore it. As you get closer it needs to receive more and more of your attention. The instant you are past a potential hazard the amount of concentration allocated to it is immediately redirected and divided between the new hazards around you.

In a similar vein, when on a straight and clear section of country road, directing 100% of your concentration on the road in the far distance is pointless. The larger proportion of your concentration would be better directed at the long grass at the sides of the road that are potentially hiding an animal that could be startled into you path. If however, a vehicle appears in the distance it instantly becomes a potential hazard and the percentage of concentration you allocate to it increases as it approaches.

TL;DR? Think of the constant allocation and redistribution of your available concentration as a game - it won't seem so tedious.

[YellowDog]

I would suspect that around 75% on here understand and agree with your statement of The Bleeding Obvious.

Perhaps we need a Beginners Tips section?

Some will take heed more than others. Stating what riders already know is unlikely to make them change their habits.

IMO - Emotional state of mind is an over riding factor in most things we do in our lives, especially riding.

Maybe Police should carry an emotion meter with them in the form of a spare nagging wife from their back seat, to see how the rider/driver is able to cope; and hence assess their emotionmal state of mind. An accident shortly after may well follow

Anyone on here wish to volunteer their partners?

[Katman]

I would suspect that around 75% on here understand and agree with your statement of The Bleeding Obvious.

Far too many motorcyclists ride with their mind inadequately on the job.

Concentration doesn't come from just having your eyes open.

[Katman]

And furthermore it's not enough to just be aware of another vehicle. Your mind should actually be thinking "What action am I going to take if that vehicle fails to give way?"

Evasive action can be taken instantaneously if the "What if" scenario has already played out in your head.

[unstuck]

Far too many motorcyclists ride with their mind inadequately on the job.

Concentration doesn't come from just having your eyes open.

True, most people live most of their lives on auto pilot.

[p.dath]

IMO - Emotional state of mind is an over riding factor in most things we do in our lives, especially riding.

I like the term "Red Misting" that I read in a book - the act of becoming fixated on a task so greatly so as to ignore the other things around you. For example, you sometimes see people developing "red mist" when they want to overtake someone - they become fixated on that once task and take unnecessary risks to achieve it (and they may not even realise they are taking risks at the time). Often goes hand in hand with road rage.

[paturoa]

I agree, the allocation of concentration thing is obvious in terms of the examples you talk to with intersections, u turns etc. However the most important point you make is buried / hidden within your post.

The point being; concentrating, on concentrating on your riding.

When your day dreaming your actualy concentrating on your day dream. Teaching yourself to concentrate on the ride, all of the time is the point.

When I come back from a ride, I feel remarkeably refreshed and tired at the same time, as I've spent bugger all time thinking about my worries. It is a sort of a time out. Anyway I'm off the topic now.

[sinfull]

I would suspect that around 75% on here understand and agree with your statement of The Bleeding Obvious.

Perhaps we need a Beginners Tips section?

Some will take heed more than others. Stating what riders already know is unlikely to make them change their habits.

IMO - Emotional state of mind is an over riding factor in most things we do in our lives, especially riding.

Maybe Police should carry an emotion meter with them in the form of a spare nagging wife from their back seat, to see how the rider/driver is able to cope; and hence assess their emotionmal state of mind. An accident shortly after may well follow

Anyone on here wish to volunteer their partners?

Ex nagging wife thank you !!! My attention span was only good for 7 years ... no wait she left me , where HAS my memory gone ??

I recon there are a dozen different factors which override the concentration needed to stay in one peice, of which katman speaks. Such as tiredness, problems at work, to name but a few !
I don't think it's just a beginners problem and feel that the 75% you speak of become overconfident in their abilities and vulnerable to lapses of concentration !

His "game" can be practised in other ways perhaps ? Shall we see if we can list a few !

Here's a bleedin obvious one- room full of flys, one fly swat, concentrating on one, keeping the others in your perifial, as they move around the room your concentration goes from 90% on the closest to another moving into range ! You may have to throw a slab of rotten meat on the table if your attention span is worth anything lol

[The Singing Chef]

Riding a bike is nothing like driving a car, everything around you and every action you do, affects the bike and the possible outcome to every situation.

You need to be aware of the road condition, bike condition, weather, small animals, children, cars and other users on the road, police cars, surrounding foliage, the lay of the road, camber, road signs and grip and so on and so forth. The list is endless, the fact that you can sit in a car and pretty much just turn the wheel and worry about a very limited number of changing conditions means that when you are on a bike, your brain needs to be functioning at 110% all the time, every time.

You need to be able to read the traffic ahead and around you so that you know what they are going to do before they do it, and though that sounds impossible, it is indeed very achievable to a certain extent.

As detailed in www.abbiss.co.nz you can chase the vanishing point, now what is the vanishing point? In a very brief description, the vanishing point is where the two points of the road converge in front of you to where you can see no further. The vanishing point can help to tell you how the following corner goes so that you can adjust your speed correctly.

There are the lines that you take that will be ever changing because as you may be aware, the road surface is constantly changing, whether it be small or large rocks lying straight in your path, or a slick of oil or diesel mid corner, or road kill etc…

... Rest of the story here.

[Berries]

your brain needs to be functioning at 110% all the time, every time.

We are fucked then. 100% would be more than sufficient.

[The Singing Chef]

We are fucked then. 100% would be more than sufficient.

Mere mortals...

[Maha]

We are fucked then. 100% would be more than sufficient.

That is correct...it always amuses me when people say ....1,000% (there is no such thing) it can always only be 100%
Percentage = proportion or rate per hundred parts.

Motorcycling is a percentage game (to an extent) and being 100% aware of everything going on a round you at any one time is impossible.
Applying a percentage of your thought, to what is around you (and beyond) should enhance the chance of a safe ride.

[PrincessBandit]

I think many people who have been involved in a bike accident will truthfully admit that their mind was not 100% on their riding at the time. But due to a large part of human nature wanting to blame-shift there is denial that we were doing anything wrong. At it's most superficial, we perhaps weren't "legally" doing anything wrong i.e. we were on the receiving end of another drivers/riders error. However, our lack of thinking ahead and active brain-engagement with our constantly changing situation means that we can be contributing to a messy end result.
One of the reasons I refuse to listen to music while I ride is because it's a huge attention diverter for me. While others might find katman's percentage calculations a bit OTT it is helpful to actually articulate these things. Some of us might be aware of the fluidity surrounding our altering concentration foci; many aren't consciously thinking about it. A heightened awareness might just be a life-saver, particularly at this time when road rules have changed.

[Pussy]

Yep! Doesn't matter if you're in the right or the wrong in a motorcyle crash... it bloody hurts anyway!

[tigertim20]

It starts with the act of concentration. Make no mistake, day-dreaming while riding will all too often end in tears.

.

this part here goes against being human
nobody is perfect.

you can post all the theoretical advice you want KM, but anybody with half an ounce of intelligence knows that theory and practice are two different things.

the best one can hope for is to MINIMIZE the potential for accidents. it is not humanly possible to completely avoid all accidents. - they are called accidents for a reason.