The simple science planning to spare motorcyclists’ lives

Hitting eleven areas across the country, Shiny Side Up is the nation’s greatest bicycle fest. In any case, it’s not simply leather, chrome, and stunts – it’s about sparing lives.

The joint initiative between ACC’s Ride Forever program and the NZTA is unmistakably more successful at spreading the word than pamphlets or statistics.

“It’s not them having ACC or the Government saying ‘we know what’s best for you’,” says ACC’s motorcycle programme manager Dave Keilty at the Kapiti Coast event. “This gives the riders an opportunity to learn from other experienced and qualified people.”

Kevin Williams has been teaching safety in the UK for over twenty years, and has been conveyed over to teach Kiwi riders the science of being seen. He says it’s more than putting on hi-viz and seeking after the best.

“Motorcyclists have this idea that drivers don’t look properly. After me talking to them for thirty minutes, I think most of them go out thinking ‘actually, maybe there are some other good reasons that they don’t see me.'”

Riders can realize why other street clients probably won’t most likely observe them, regardless of whether they figure they may be in plain sight. One model is saccadic masking – which is less complex than the name proposes.

“Turning our heads quickly from side to side actually shuts down part of our vision, so that we only actually take snapshots, and we can miss things that are between those snapshots. And that’s typically where the bikes go AWOL,” Mr Williams says.

“And sometimes people just see bikes and don’t realise quite how quick they’re travelling, so they just get to the driver a lot sooner than the driver was expecting,” he says.

Helping riders comprehend for what reason they’re not seen methods they can observe approaches to be seen.

“Some lateral movement back and forwards across the lane may help the driver pick you up,” says Mr Williams.

Motorcycles make up around 3 percent of vehicles on the streets in New Zealand – yet make up 16 percent of street passings.

“We don’t have the protection of the shell or the airbags,” says Mr Keilty. “We are the safety belt and the airbag, that’s us. So we’ve got to be aware that we’re doing everything we can in our power not to have that crash in the first place.”

Shiny Side Up participants are urged to join to the ACC’s Ride Forever program. Since propelling in 2012, 20,000 riders have taken classes – and they’re 27 percent less likely to crash.

“We want the younger riders to much more aware, much more safety-conscious, and have much better skills by the time they’re 40,” says Mr Keilty. “We want the over-40-year-olds to come in, sample what we’ve got, and work out there’s actually a lot still to learn.”