“Sorry Mate, I Didn’t See You” or in short SMIDSY.
If you are wondering, what’s this is about? Well, it is about the SMIDSY crashes. I am sure many of you already aware of this. If you do not then don’t worry! We are here to talk about SMIDSY crashes.
SMIDSY Crashes is a term generally used for a crash between motorcycle and car. Scientific studies and many surveys showed that car drivers really can’t see us while passing by. We assume that car drivers really don’t care about us motorcyclists and they don’t mind hitting us. But, it is not true. No one would hit you intentionally and cause extensive and expensive damage to his/her car.
Think about it. Why would they hit you intentionally?
If you can’t think of any good reason then you must accept the fact that it is difficult for car drivers to see us on the road. The scientists found the reason behind this. The scientific principle behind SMIDSY called saccadic masking.
Saccadic Masking
Saccadic masking is a phenomenon in visual perception which also called saccadic suppression. A saccade is a very fast eye motion which related to speeding. Since it relates to speed, there is a blurring image on the retina which is of no use because our eyes have a mechanism of cut off the processing of blurred images. The result, a person become effectively blind during a saccade.
If you apply this phenomenon on the road while driving, you will see that when we look left, right, and intersection, there are blind spots in the vision that hide small objects. Still, if you want to see an example then go to your bathroom and watch yourself in the mirror at close range. Now, look from one eye to another, you will notice that you can’t catch the movement of your eye.
See Also: How to safely overtake on a motorcycle?
Perception Problems
In another scientific study, it explained that while driving we have perception problems. We believe the object which looks bigger is close to the object which is smaller. Moreover, only pedestrians and motorcyclists are the ones which look smaller while driving. Plus, a motorcycle has high acceleration, it becomes very difficult to calculate the exact distance and speed.
A result, a driver thinks that we are going to arrive much later than we actually do.
Best Ways for Riders to avoid SMIDSY Crashes
- Make sure you are in a correct lane where you can easily see even from a car. To do that, try to ride closer to the center line. This will also give you extra time to react from the suddenly emerging vehicles from the parking bay.
- Don’t pre-assume that a driver has already seen you. Give the proper signal to him/her to show your presence on the road.
- Don’t think about riding in blind spots.
- If you see a car crossing over at an intersection then try to slow down. Wait until you see the whites of their eyes. If you can’t try using the horn to alert them. If so, it is best to changing course behind the car rather than in front of it. Because it is where the car is heading. So, the chances are you may still collide.
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