grapes911 said:
I agree. The problem isn't that someone is on a bike, the problem is that the car driver it totally blind. If he couldn't see that bike coming, then he'd probably miss a large semi coming too. The only thing this ad tells me is that they need to re-evaluate who the give driving licenses to. The car driver should be forced to ride the bus.
Yes, which is why I think this advert is good for those who take heed of it.
As for the driver missing other traffic, probably not true. There is a principle called 'motion camouflage' which can make bikes blend into the background and vanish to a driver directly up ahead. A related optical effect called 'looming' makes them visible again at the last minute - but this makes the driver momentarily freeze in his tracks.
Looming works on the part of the brain's cortex that uses 'edge detection' to alert it to the presence of movement. If the edge of an object - such as a bike moving down a street - cannot be detected, then no alert is trigged. Dragonflies use the trick to sneak up on their prey and missile engineers are adopting it to make their ballistics harder to dodge. Go figure
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When dragonflies hunt, they keep on a line between a fixed point in the landscape and its prey. If the prey moves, the dragonfly moves with it, keeping the fixed point directly behind it at all times - effectively hiding from the prey. This works because the outline of the dragonfly remains in the same place against its background, making it hard for the prey to detect its movement. At some point close to the prey, the dragonfly 'looms' into view. But it's too late for the prey.
To prevent "motion camouflage" as you approach a junction with a driver pulling out, a smooth, gentle, single, zig-zag motion creates a rapid edge movement against the background and destroys the motion camouflage. The other drivers eye snaps towards the biker and he/she (should) hold their actions. I don't do this because it causes me to ... err ... fall off.
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Slow & seen to be safe
😎 And in balance.
