News
Getting other road users to Look Twice
By Mario
Part of Septembers push as Motorcycle Awareness Month is a campaign aimed at getting other road users to Look Twice for motorcyclists.
News
By Mario
Part of Septembers push as Motorcycle Awareness Month is a campaign aimed at getting other road users to Look Twice for motorcyclists.
Weve all experienced it. A car, a van, a bus or trucksometimes even another motorcyclist!pulls out of a junction, or makes some other manoeuvre, apparently not having seen us.
Without getting into some nerdy discussion about saccadic pauses or other ocular phenomena, motorcycles are, whether we like it or not, harder to spot than bigger vehicles. Partly its size, partly its the speed and suddenness with which we appear in other road users vision. Sometimes, its not helped by a riders penchant for a 'bike, helmet and clothing in the same colour as the road surface.
Read more about 'saccadic pauses and other ocular phenomena
Another issue is familiarity. There are lots of cars, vans and trucks on the road, but far fewer powered two-wheelers. Every car that drives past is a reminder to look for them. But you might not have seen a motorcycle all day, then youre looking for a gap in traffic to pull into
Thats why, as part of Motorcycle Awareness month, the message is being promoted to all road users to Look Twice for bikes. Backed by Ride Forever, MSAC, NZ Police and NZTA, the campaign uses radio spots, Facebook ads, social media feeds andin a few regionsbillboards. It also features on the Motorcycle Awareness Month website with the following messages:
The radio spots in particular will hopefully remind drivers, right there in their vehicle, that motorcycles are hard to spot and to give a second look specifically for them. From a riders perspective, its also a reminder that we can never assume a driver has seen us.
Correct positioning, using vision correctly, knowing the signs to look for and good braking technique are just some of the skills we can deploy to give ourselves a better chance. And theyre just some of the things youll practice on a Ride Forever course:
Ride Forever coaching