An investigation of motorcycle rider use of and attitudes to high visibility gear

[brp]

Yeah headlight the oil too, each to their own , all I'm going by is my personal experience, when Im sitting up high in my old terrano and scanning the road backwards and forwards I just stop and lock on to the orange hi vis - I'm not consciously driving going round now where's an orange hi vis, the lime green ones don't see to they right there .... tend to blend into background a lot, could be my eye just akin to orange dazzle family

[Scuba_Steve]

when Im sitting up high in my old terrano and scanning the road backwards and forwards I just stop and lock on to the orange hi vis

which is the possible danger with them & why in some groups are nicknamed the "hit me I'm here vest". Target fixation, the same ability that allows people to hit the only post in k's of nothingness
Also hi-vis can become invisible during sunrise/sunset that too is a danger

The result we should want at the end of day is to be seen but not noticed

[brp]

The result we should want at the end of day is to be seen but not noticed

Good point - I'm seeing the hi vis hundreds of meters away, does bright orange "scream" hazard ? Humans not attracted to perceived hazards

[nodrog:Me]

"Ask farmers why they use bright orange dazzle on their flock"

To tell which ones have been rooted.

What the fuck has that got to do with riding a motorcycle?

[Maha]

Yeah headlight the oil too, each to their own , all I'm going by is my personal experience, when Im sitting up high in my old terrano and scanning the road backwards and forwards I just stop and lock on to the orange hi vis - I'm not consciously driving going round now where's an orange hi vis, the lime green ones don't see to they right there .... tend to blend into background a lot, could be my eye just akin to orange dazzle family

Would something like this blend into the backbround?

http://www.fc-moto.de/WebRoot/FCMoto...extiljacke.jpg

Those cheap so called fluoro wrap around vest things are good for fuck all in my opinion.
I beleive there is the right gear for the job if needed.
People just need to get past the idea that, Hi Viz means spending $14.95 at the local building suppliers.

The real deal...http://www.fc-moto.de/WebRoot/FCMoto...-Athos-Air.jpg

[brp]

Definitely flew over your head

[brp]

Would something like this blend into the backbround?

http://www.fc-moto.de/WebRoot/FCMoto...extiljacke.jpg

Those cheap so called fluoro wrap around vest things are good for fuck all in my opinion.
I beleive there is the right gear for the job if needed.
People just need to get past the idea that, Hi Viz means spending $14.95 at the local building suppliers.

Nah bob the builder ones stand out great .... better than kermit the frog coming along the road

[brp]

Need that kermit the frog jacket in hi glow dazzle orange

[p.dath]

... all I'm going by is my personal experience, when Im sitting up high in my old terrano and scanning the road backwards and forwards I just stop and lock on to the orange hi vis - I'm not consciously driving going round now where's an orange hi vis ...

There is a famous German behavioral psychologist called Bernt Spiegel. He has this great experiment where he has a circle with A B C D written like on it. A & B are opposite each other, likewise with C & D (they are at the clock positions 12, 3, 6 and 9). Then he asks a person to hold a pendulum above the circle and to try and hold it still.

He then aks them to think "A & B" and keep repeating it in their head. Invariable what happens is the sub-cortical section of the brain takes over (the bit that does things without thinking about it), and the person starts swinging the pendulum between A & B - even though the more conscious cortical section of the brain is telling them to keep their hand still.

And this is exactly what happens when someone "locks" onto something with their eyes.

If I understand Bernst correct, this is one of the reasons why when someone on a motorcycle gets into trouble on a corner, and look where they think they are going to crash - and then do. Because even though their conscious (cortical layer) of the brain is telling them not to, the sub-cortical layer takes over and makes sure they crash inot what they are looking at.


So know what when you "lock" onto something that is is most likely your cortical brain layer doing this. And as soon as you find your doing something without thinking then your sub-cortical brain layer has taken over - and once that happens it is very hard to stop. Mostly what happens in this situation your cortical layer changes to "monitoring" only, and can only observe what the sub-cortical layer does (hence the reason you can't stop your self riding off a corner on a road once you have "locked" on to a crash object - but you can monitor it and sure do know what is going to happen!).

[p.dath]

And you want to know the really scary bit? The sub-cortical layer in this situation works by being influenced by mirror nuerons. The scary bit is these nuerons can be fired not by just your cortical [thinking] brain layer - but watching someone else is enough to make them fire as well - without engaging your own thinking cortical brain.

So if the person goes off the corner in front of you, your mirror neuron's start firing and try and make the sub-cortical layer respond in the same way!!! Your likely to ride off the road after them.

And the real bastard. The sub-cortical layer of the brain is very fast. Much faster than the cortical layer. So if your close enough to the rider in front, you may possible ride off the road following them (thanks to those bloody fast mirror nuerons), and only afterwards realise what has happened as the slower sub-cortical thinking layer catches up with processing the data.
Hence you need a reasonable following distance, so your cortical brain layer has enough time to digest the problem and stop you from following the person in front off the road.

[rustic101]

PM me with your email address if you would like a copy.

Hi Folks,

Have received an email tonight with the final written report (not able to upload the document its .1 too big for here), the email intro was:

ABSTRACT
Introduction
The use of and attitudes towards high visibility gear (HVG) among motorcyclists is a pressing issue. There are a disproportionate number of motorcycle deaths and crashes (last year in New Zealand there were 50 and 1300 respectively) compared with other vehicles. There is some evidence that high visibility gear decreases the risk of motorcycle injury, but the current attitudes towards high visibility gear in the motorcycling community is mixed. There is currently no legislation regarding HVG and motorcycles in New Zealand.


Methods
A literature review was carried out looking at previous quantitative and qualitative data around this subject. Quantitative data collection included roadside observation of motorcycle apparel, and on-the-street and online surveys. To gather qualitative data, we carried out an analysis of an online motorcycle forum, and had face-to-face interviews with key informants.


Results
We found that the use of HVG among motorcyclists was not widespread. From observation data, it was seen that 38% of motorbike riders and 33% of scooter riders wore no form of HVG on their helmet or jacket. The survey found that 50% of motorbike riders and 42% of scooter riders never wear any HVG. Some of the attitudes towards HVG from motorcyclists were positive, however the common barriers to wearing HVG identified were image, cost, practicality and availability. There was also a prevailing attitude that HVG does not improve safety and it is the other road users who are at fault.


Conclusions
There is some evidence that shows that HVG can improve motorcyclists’ safety, but the use of HVG is currently low. The most important barriers to wearing HVG that motorcyclists identified were cost, image and practicality. These need to be considered when designing new gear. For a change to occur, an attitudinal shift is required before any legislation is introduced. Further research is needed to determine how effective HVG is, and to look at any alternate options for improving motorcycle safety.

[Ender EnZed]

.

[Berries]

Have received an email tonight with the final written report (not able to upload the document its .1 too big for here)

I am more interested in what number .2 was.

[rustic101]

I am more interested in what number .2 was.

The kilobite thingys (file size) were too big to post

[crystalball]

My headlight is on all the time, This should be enough for a cage driver to see me ( night and day) We need T.V adds to teach blind cage drivers to remember motorcycles are on the road to and to respect us on the road. We see many adds on drunk driving and speed kills why not add a motorcycle add to. Also I see so many cars with only one headlight on at night and so many cars driving badly. They need to learn more not us. We dont have a bad atitude we just get fedup that we are the ones whom need to learn. The cage drivers are the ones whom need too.