Avoiding left-turning cars - the "Anti-SMIDSY Manuever"

[Garandman]

Posted this video before but it's important enough to have its' own thread.

The Brits have an expression for the most common form of multi-vehicle accident: "Sorry Mate, I didn't See You" or SMIDSY.

The Hurt Report detailed how left-turning cars that did not see an approaching motorcyclist account for more than half of multi-vehicle crashes involving motorcycles when other factors (alcohol, etc) are removed.

If you are impatient but want a technique to help reduce the likelihood of this happening to you, go to the 5:00 mark of the video.

I've been doing the same thing since 1985, when I lived in a small town [Marblehead] with a lot of side streets and commuted through Salem to Beverly - ditto.

Tried everything: different colored helmets and jackets, waving, flashing headlights - without much effect. Tried the weave, it worked, and been doing it since. The video explains why: it minimizes the physiological effect of "Looming."

[e30addict]

Interesting.

[lobsta3]

Great tip!!
And the aptly named Marbleheader got one of my bikes too.

[pk4882]

The ANTI-SMIDSY works. I practice it. Funny thing is, you do it, the car sees you, and is annoyed by your hot doggy swerving! LOL

I have long held an additional theory that adds to the "Looming" danger:

In the primitive subconscious (lizard brain) of the cagers, a horizontally oriented object (truck, car) is a potential closing threat. A vertically oriented object (tree, power pole, motorcycle) is fixed, not a threat, and ignored.

Add that to the optics of looming, and yeah, you are invisible.

What say you all?

PK

[stoinkythepig]

Been doing it for years; it really does work. I do get dirty looks, but those just prove that they see me.

The other thing I do as well is run with my high beams on, but turn them down (as though it were night time) whenever I meet another car (head on or at a side street). The change in light intensity seems to attract attention, but the fact that I'm not turning my high beams on seems to prevent people from thinking that I'm flashing my lights to give way.

[01xj]

Been doing it for years; it really does work. I do get dirty looks, but those just prove that they see me.

The other thing I do as well is run with my high beams on, but turn them down (as though it were night time) whenever I meet another car (head on or at a side street). The change in light intensity seems to attract attention, but the fact that I'm not turning my high beams on seems to prevent people from thinking that I'm flashing my lights to give way.

I do this as well. Especially to cars that are edging out of a side street or driveway. Just an extra "attention grabber" that might prevent an accident.

[AEG]

The ANTI-SMIDSY works. I practice it. Funny thing is, you do it, the car sees you, and is annoyed by your hot doggy swerving! LOL

I have long held an additional theory that adds to the "Looming" danger:

In the primitive subconscious (lizard brain) of the cagers, a horizontally oriented object (truck, car) is a potential closing threat. A vertically oriented object (tree, power pole, motorcycle) is fixed, not a threat, and ignored.

Add that to the optics of looming, and yeah, you are invisible.

What say you all?

PK

I think it is also subconscious evaluation of the threat by its size. People are more reluctant to pull over or merge into the line in front of a MACK truck than of a Civic. A narrow profile of a motorcycle makes it difficult to estimate speed/distance.

[breakdirt916]

ohhhh...I get it

definitely a good idea, I'll start doing it!

[Sirrus]

Huh. Glad you shared this! Looks like fun, as well as a dam good way to stay safe. ^_^

[carsick]

I believe loud pipes or a nice wheelie would have the same effect, don't we all just want to be "noticed?"

[rsw81]

The horizontal versus vertical profile theory is actually somewhat physiologically true. The way our vision works is by converging to images horizontally into one image by the virtue of "accomodation" in our vision (ie: our eyes point in slightly to focus on the same object, allowing us to gauge distance based on this angle of accomodation). Thus an object that is mostly vertical and not changing in size much, appears stationary in comparison to a large horizontal object who's size changes significantly as it approaches.

I think this is a great idea as well as the riding with brights on all the time until you see another vehicle to take down to low-beams.

-Rob

[Garandman]

For good or bad, while several studies show that lights help conspicuity, there aren't any studies I'm aware of validating the use of high beams or modulators.

Personally I prefer street bikes with two headlamps as I feel it helps get noticed, but there is no evidence supporting that, either.

[AEG]

...
Personally I prefer street bikes with two headlamps as I feel it helps get noticed, but there is no evidence supporting that, either.

RE: the bike with two headlamps - it always made me wondering if this setup is more dangerous at night: on a very dark road the oncoming traffic sees the two lights and confuse the bike for a car that 'appear' much farther away because to the distance between the lights is shorter.

[gregp]

After watching that video, the first thing that popped into my mind was "Well, if they drove on the right side of the road, that whole thing would have been avoided!" - LOL!