Subject: Motion Induced Blindness This is frightening! It works exactly like it says, and is one major reason people in cars can ‘look right at you’ (when you're on a motorcycle or bicycle)… AND NOT SEE YOU. From a former Naval Aviator: This is a great illustration of what we were taught about scanning outside the cockpit when I went through training back in the '50s. We were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process. I can remember being told why this was the most effective technique to locate other aircraft. It was emphasized (repeatedly) to NOT fix your gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. The instructors, some of whom were WWII veterans with years of experience, instructed us to continually "keep our eyes moving and our head on a swivel" because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peacetime hazards (like a midair collision) as well. We basically had to take the advice on faith (until we could experience for ourselves) because the technology to demonstrate it didn't exist at that time. Click on the link below for a demonstration: MSF Target fixation is also a phenomena that plays into this.
I remember Daves post as it reminded me of Chuck Yeager's technique for spotting aircraft at altitude, which ties in nicely with Mick's own experience. What worries me is that I can't see bugger all in his example. Either I'd be dead meat as a fighter pilot or I'm a victim of Apple and Adobe's lovers tiff.
It's another good tip to help keep you safe, I like it. Another vision aid when riding is to look where you want to go as you will naturally steer in that direction, so if you see an obstacle in front of you, don't look at it but how your going to get past it and you should naturally follow that route. Although I'm not sure how the two work in conjunction with each other, maybe use the scanning technique, keeping your head moving at all times until you see an obstacle and then look at the way around it?
Similar with me, that's why i thought it was worth adding to this thread. It's saved me from a couple of potential dings in the past.
When I was told about it and I tried it right away, the difference to my smoothness and confidence was instant and massive. That was over 30 years ago and when I got born again biking, the difference in the power and cornering speeds of the bikes was so huge that it took me a while to settle with it. But once I started the 1000 yard staring again, smoothness, confidence, placement and speed just fell over me like a cloak. Should be lesson 1 paragraph 1 in any training.
