You may see stickers on motorcycles saying, “Look twice for motorcyclists.” You also see driver awareness campaigns broadcasting the same message. Why is this? After all, cars don’t carry stickers saying, “Look twice for cars.”
People feel the need to warn drivers to look out for motorcyclists because it is clear from crash investigations that many don’t. A lot of drivers who run into and injure a motorcyclist claim that they did not see them. Even though the motorcyclist was there all along.
Drivers find it harder to see motorcyclists than cars
Drivers find it easier to see cars than motorcycles because they expect to see cars. They are in a car, as are most other people, so, due to how the brain works, that is what they unconsciously look for when scanning the road.
The brain can only process so much information at once, so it ignores most things to focus in on what it thinks is important. Scientists call this “inattentional blindness.” Another example would be how you can easily zoom in on a friend’s face in a crowd, while not seeing the hundreds of other faces that surround them. You cannot see every single face, so your brain selects the one it thinks is important.
Some drivers are not looking for anything
If a driver is looking out for cars, at least they have a chance of seeing a motorcycle. Yet many drivers don’t even do that. They are staring at their phones or distracted in some other way and oblivious to what is happening around them.
Learning more about your legal options will be crucial if a driver hits you while you are on your motorcycle, as the size difference means it’s probably you that will come off worse.