SIAM: the fix for the SMIDSY

[Tricia1000]

https://youtu.be/vJG698U2Mvo

If you haven't seen this before, try it out on your friends and family.. Then those that fail, get their registration numbers, and stay away from them..

Tricia1000
RoADA (Dip)
Consultant to NZTA
0212693246

[Mom]

I counted correctly and spotted the red herring. I did not find that a challenge. So, the question is, does riding a motorcycle make you hone your observation skills more finely that joe average car driver?
Interesting Tricia.

[swtfa]

I too counted correctly and spotted the gorilla. Maybe it's a woman thing... we don't miss a damn thing. Didn't have our 'man eyes' on

[eldog]

I too counted correctly and spotted the gorilla. Maybe it's a woman thing... we don't miss a damn thing. Didn't have our 'man eyes' on

even with my mans eyes on, I counted correctly, had to take my shoes off tho.
I saw the red herring as well but only when it was in the middle of the group

a good test

[Erelyes]

"because drivers are inattentive , it's our responsibility..."

to kill them all.

Oh, motorcyclists can be inattentive jerks as well.

[ZeroIndex]

This is my new SMIDSY passive avoidance measure... plus at night, the lighting is great.

[eldog]

This is my new SMIDSY passive avoidance measure... plus at night, the lighting is great.

I had something similar on the Mighty Scorpio, but nowhere near as many lights

I like the flashing lights they do draw attention.

However I found I had too much light when I went from full to dip esp in the countryside

Too much light in the middle of the bike also caused drivers to still not see me (I looked too far away from them to be a threat)
Once I spread the lights apart this made a major difference, even though its a small bike.

good job - make yourself visible and to enhance the usually poor manufacturer lighting system.
The Scorpio has quite a good standard light pattern which surprises most.

I used to follow a Suzuki GSX650 a lot and noticed that the light was poor for lighting up corners when slowing down into them, the light pattern was concentrated forward and lacked any wide angle spread so the slow speed curbs would 'disappear' from the riders vision

just wondered how you got on with the WOF

[ZeroIndex]

I normally just run them as solid beam... Really adds width to the already wide ZX14. My friend keeps thinking a truck is chasing him

[eldog]

I normally just run them as solid beam... Really adds width to the already wide ZX14. My friend keeps thinking a truck is chasing him

Cool, that's how I want the other road users to think when I am coming towards them too.
just need some more loud sounds

[Tricia1000]

Hi Anne,
In my experience, being a good biker, will automatically make you a good driver, and much better at spotting hazards.. But being a good driver, doesn't automatically make you a good biker, or good at hazard awareness.

Tricia1000
RoADA (Dip)
Consultant to NZTA

I counted correctly and spotted the red herring. I did not find that a challenge. So, the question is, does riding a motorcycle make you hone your observation skills more finely that joe average car driver?
Interesting Tricia.

[george formby]

Could not be fecked watching the video but I have been moving to catch a drivers attention for a long time. Not a weave as such, I change position and speed in my lane to be more noticeable and also to give me more space should they still pull out. Seems to be effective and I think quite a few drivers realise why I'm moving. Had the thumbs up from truckies before when we have made ourselves more visible and regularly see drivers rolling into a junction with quick glances focus on me and stop, often well over the line.

I do believe that training and practice on a bike improves observation. Discussing this with the instructor on a pro rider gold course he suggested a mental running commentary to improve the skill and have an ongoing scale of risk, he is a Federale and no doubt that is the reason why it is used in training.
I thought I was pretty good with observation but the commentary has improved me. I'm spotting things bloody miles away now and more proactive about what I can't see. I guess it trains the brain to stop filling in the gaps, the main reason for smidsy, and actually look and register what is going on.

[scumdog]

"because drivers are inattentive ,

Just summed up a lot of bikers too...

[eldog]

Could not be fecked watching the video but I have been moving to catch a drivers attention for a long time. Not a weave as such, I change position and speed in my lane to be more noticeable and also to give me more space should they still pull out. Seems to be effective and I think quite a few drivers realise why I'm moving. Had the thumbs up from truckies before when we have made ourselves more visible and regularly see drivers rolling into a junction with quick glances focus on me and stop, often well over the line.

I do believe that training and practice on a bike improves observation. Discussing this with the instructor on a pro rider gold course he suggested a mental running commentary to improve the skill and have an ongoing scale of risk, he is a Federale and no doubt that is the reason why it is used in training.
I thought I was pretty good with observation but the commentary has improved me. I'm spotting things bloody miles away now and more proactive about what I can't see. I guess it trains the brain to stop filling in the gaps, the main reason for smidsy, and actually look and register what is going on.

Running commentary in my head - Been trying to do that, reduces the amount of other stuff interfering with the ride and the inattention that I have been guilty of.
I am improving on that score but its quite difficult, practise will see it improve. Its helping me at other times too, only trouble is I am dealing with lots of interruptions all the time, focussing can be a strain.
I need to develop a method so it becomes automatic - spend too long describing stuff, need to sort a sort of shorthand for items
like telephone pole=pole, descriptive terms for street furniture etc

[george formby]

Running commentary in my head - Been trying to do that, reduces the amount of other stuff interfering with the ride and the inattention that I have been guilty of.
I am improving on that score but its quite difficult, practise will see it improve. Its helping me at other times too, only trouble is I am dealing with lots of interruptions all the time, focussing can be a strain.
I need to develop a method so it becomes automatic - spend too long describing stuff, need to sort a sort of shorthand for items
like telephone pole=pole, descriptive terms for street furniture etc

Kinda distracted me when I started, too. I tried to do it literally as a commentary like you see on the telly but I realised that most of the stuff was not really a hazard once it's registered. I sort of file or discard what I see. Much easier. What I have gained since that wee revelation is looking as far ahead as possible, yeah, we all do that I know, but I mean really seeing as far as I can and registering it. On my daily commute there are stretches of road that I can see a long way through, dropping into & out of a valley, a straight going into a windy uphill etc and my wee "check list" has got me seeing the furthest piece of road where it disappears and everything in between. Twice in the last week I have clocked cyclists just vanishing around the corner at this point giving me reason to be cautious maybe a Km or more from where I spotted them, just wee specks disappearing. The road in between has a clean bill of health sort of so I'm thinking further ahead. I don't think I would have been seeing such detail a couple of years ago, more interested in the line for the next corner. It's manifested in all sorts of ways but basically one thing leads to another to figure out what lies ahead and what I should be doing about it.
I guess the "hazard scale" and commentary have helped me think further ahead and increased pro active riding.

[ZeroIndex]

At my stage in riding, it's fairly automatic, everything is in two categories. 1). is it mobile (people, vehicles, animals) 2). is it inanimate (parked vehicles, gravel, roadworks, etc)... Mobile stuff, take notice of, be prepared to slow down, stop or look for escapes. 2). Inanimate stuff, do I need to change my road position due to part of my lane being taken up, had the road surface changed at the beginning of a corner etc