Drive safe! Here’s reason behind motorcycle collisions

Canberra, January 9: According to researchers from Australian National University (ANU), a majority of motorcycle accidents occur because drivers fail to notice unexpected things in plain sight.

According to human factors/ergonomics researchers Kristen Pammer, Stephanie Sabadas, and Stephanie Lentern, LBFTS crashes are particularly troublesome because, despite clear conditions and the lack of other hazards or distractions, drivers will look in the direction of the oncoming motorcycle - and in some cases appear to look directly at the motorcycle - but still pull out into its path.

Pammer, a professor of psychology and associate dean of science at Australian National University, notes, "When we are driving, there is a huge amount of sensory information that our brain must deal with. We can't attend to everything, because this would consume enormous cognitive resources and take too much time. So our brain has to decide what information is most important. The frequency of LBFTS crashes suggests to us a connection with how the brain filters out information."

Further evidence that inattentional blindness could be present was revealed in the results of a survey administered before the experiment, the purpose of which was to gauge participants' overall perception of each vehicle in the photos. Although they believed a motorcycle was just as likely to be on the road as a taxi, they thought they would be far less likely to notice the motorcycle.

Pammer and coauthors believe their study highlights the need to encourage drivers to be more motorcycle-aware. Training programs could be required for all novice drivers.