If you have ridden a motorcycle for long, you’ve probably experienced the following scenario: A driver pulls out in front of you or moves across you, forcing you to brake hard to avoid them. On realizing they nearly knocked you off, they raise a hand and mouth, “Sorry.”
Each year, some motorcyclists are not so lucky. They cannot stop in time to get the apology and are either killed outright or transported to the hospital with severe injuries. The first question any motorcyclist who survives will ask is, “How did they not see me?” Or, “Are they blind?”
Apparently, they are
Despite the fact that drivers can see many other things around them, research has shown that most are indeed blind to motorcyclists. At least partially. The term for the phenomenon is inattentional blindness. It means that someone can miss seeing something despite staring straight at it.
Fortunately, there is a reasonably effective cure
To see motorcyclists more easily, drivers need to think about seeing them. It’s that simple, and you can try it yourself next time you head out on the roads. Think of a car color, let’s say green, and count how many green cars you see on your daily commute. It’s almost certainly far more than you saw before when you never consciously thought about green cars.
Most drivers never think about motorcyclists, so they do not expect to see them. Because they don’t expect to see them, they miss them, leading to many motorists killing or injuring motorcyclists that were right there all the time. If a driver knocks you from your motorcycle, getting legal help to claim compensation will make sure they don’t forget you.