Target Fixation

[Scorpygirl]

This is a very interesting report from the Herald today.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectID=10383926


RIP to those involved and condolences to family and friends, first and foremost.

What we are told on a bike as a first rule but you never hear about when you are learning to drive a car.

Thank you to the coroner!! Thoughts are welcome.

[crashe]

Scorpygirl - Yep I read that article today.

[John Banks]

On a bike, target fixation is a fact that comes into play from the moment we start riding, and something we do on nearly every corner. From when I sat my basic handling test, I was told to try and do a wide figure of eight, but was unable to because I wasn't turning tight enough. Then the instructor told me to turn my head towards the exit... bam, I made it.
In all the time I drove a car, I had never heard of target fixation because it wasn't something that came into everyday driving. (The fact that we are not taught what to do when the shit hits the fan is a big oversight in driver training, in my opinion)

[Morepower]

This is a very interesting report from the Herald today.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/st...ectID=10383926


RIP to those involved and condolences to family and friends, first and foremost.

What we are told on a bike as a first rule but you never hear about when you are learning to drive a car.

Thank you to the coroner!! Thoughts are welcome.

Sad story , they get taught to steer cars , not drive them .

[Scorpygirl]

Yes, Morepower. Yes, learnt to steer (drive) a car but I never heard of target fixation til I started getting involved with bikes.

Please this thread is about target fixation. I know the young man was on a restricted licence and was overtaking without the required 100m clearance. His bad but maybe there is other things to be learnt.

I want to focus on target fixation in this thread, please!!!

[pritch]

I want to focus on target fixation in this thread, please!!!

OK there are two obvious ways this can effect us. First, when we stare at the perceived threat and centre punch it. Been there and done that, but have hopefully learned the error of my ways...

Second, when Dick Cranium in the SUV suddenly spots you coming toward him and "locks on" to you.

We need to be aware of and to occasionally think about both.

If all of the above fails try to remember to stand on the pegs just before impact. Better to fly over the "target" than try to punch right through it.

Ride safe

[Motu]

I rode bikes for years without knowing about target fixation - like countersteering it's something you pick up as you go along and do without fully realising (NOT target fixating I am refering to) But when I started trials riding you have to actively target fixate - look where you want to ago,and the bike goes there.It was the next step up,and doing it consiously made me realise I had been doing it subconsiously for years....but not very well.

[Finn]

Bullshit. He overtook and crashed. Yip, I should have been a coroner.

How about looking at more overtaking lanes and teaching stupid kiwi's doing 76kph not to speed up to 118kph just as they enter an overtaking lane.

Target fixation my arse. I suppose his eyes where wide open on the slab so the graduate coroner guessed he must have been looking at something when he died.

[Scorpygirl]

Target fixation my arse. I suppose his eyes where wide open on the slab so the graduate coroner guessed he must have been looking at something when he died.

Oh Bugger My Dad died with his eyes wide open too!!!! Shit he died of cancer!!!!!!!!! FFS!!!!

[Finn]

Oh Bugger My Dad died with his eyes wide open too!!!! Shit he died of cancer!!!!!!!!! FFS!!!!

He obviously didn't see the car coming. When my dad was on his way out, they called me to say he wouldn't make it till breakfast. This was at 6am and he was in Tauranga. This was the same week those druggies got murdered in Tauranga after driving from Auck in 1:45. I made it in 1:37 in the car. Ran into his room and he looked like something from Scary Movie.

[Ixion]

Mr Motu makes a valuable statement. We can use target fixation to our benefit, and not just in trials riding.

When the situation looks horribly nasty , and it's all turning to shit, pick a target - a gap, the corner exit, a soft bit to land on, whatever is where the shit is not- and fix on it. It is quite amazing how often somehow you end up going there and getting out of trouble. Even if , had you been asked, you'd have sworn you could not possibly do it.

In the newspaper case, it comments that the horsefloat being overtaken by the unfortunate lad had squeezed to the left to , perhaps, give him room to run between the float and the bus. Had the lad looked for and seen that , and fixated on the gap instead of the bus, he might have survived.

When in danger, tear your eyes away from the danger, and look for safety. Then fixate on the safe place rather than the danger. Don't worry thinking about HOW you are to get there, instinct will sort that out.

Easier said than done, of course.

It is a good exercise, when riding to constantly train oneself to "look for the gaps"- to cast imaginary scenarios in one's mind - "if that car were to pull out in front of me to overtake that truck - NOW! where could I go." "If a car were to come round this corner on the wrong side of the road NOW, where could I go". The mind, trained over time thus, will react instinctively when genuine danger presents. I hope. Worked so far, any way.

[Rhino]

Bullshit. He overtook and crashed. Yip, I should have been a coroner.

Target fixation my arse. I suppose his eyes where wide open on the slab so the graduate coroner guessed he must have been looking at something when he died.

Holy Shit Batman. If coroners ever sink to your level, we have a problem.

Target fixation is a very well known fact. Talk to any pilot or Flying Instructor and they will confirm that "the aircraft goes where you are looking." That was one of the first things I was taught when doing my PPL. The same applies to both bike riding and cage driving.

Imagine yourself as a new, inexperienced road user. You start to overtake and realise that a LARGE vehicle is a lot closer than you first thought.

probably 90% of newbies will stare at the approaching radiator grille until too late.

Even experienced bikers have been known to have lapses and temporarily focus on that gravel/piece of debris in the road, although most of us manage to recover without having a bin.

[Scorpygirl]

He obviously didn't see the car coming. When my dad was on his way out, they called me to say he wouldn't make it till breakfast. This was at 6am and he was in Tauranga. This was the same week those druggies got murdered in Tauranga after driving from Auck in 1:45. I made it in 1:37 in the car. Ran into his room and he looked like something in Scary Movie.

Sorry Finn, I don't want to start a war. I was just trying to get some opinion on target fixation, the coroners findings and what people think. Yup he didn't see the bus but he did have an escape route that was given him.

[Finn]

Holy Shit Batman. If coroners ever sink to your level, we have a problem.

I would make an excellent coroner. "He's dead and he's starting to smell funny. I think we should bury him." Also I might add, "Just a hunch, but I think it could have been something to do with a bus."

Target fixation is real. Look to where you want to ride, bla, bla, bla but given kiwi's have trouble changing gears, how are you ever going to teach them anything about target fixation I ask you???

[Motu]

how are you ever going to teach them anything about target fixation I ask you???

By starting with the very next training group - over time old farts like yourself who know nothing about the subject will have passed out of the active system into greener pastures....but you will be remembered by a white cross on your favorite piece of road....and the grill of the car you hit.