blinders

Over the years, I've posted my opinion that there are two reasons why a motorist would not see me on my bicycle. Those two are that either a) the motorist wasn't paying enough attention to his or her surroundings, or b) has a vision impairment such that it is not legal for him or her to operate a motor vehicle. No other option presents itself to me without there being a hint or more of dishonesty on the part of the motorist.

A friend or two have suggested that there is a legitimate third option. I am embarrassed that I don't remember the gist of their claims, but it could have been what is discussed in this article from a Royal Air Force pilot, in which much of the discussion focuses on Saccadian masking.

In short, when we move our focus, our eyes move. Our brains don't process the neuro stimuli that land on our retinas during this motion. We only process what is seen during an ocular fixation, however brief that fixation is. Our brains gloss over what is between two points of fixation (or focus, if you will), completely missing any detail in that angle of our potential vista. Please read the entire article, as I don't wish to copy it here. It's worth a few minutes.

The lesson, in short, is to do things to minimize Siccadic masking. Move your head around. Look more than once in each direction. Don't be in such a big hurry to get through an intersection. Know that others you want to see you may not be looking as closely as you would have them look, be aware of their Saccadian masking.

On an unrelated note: I looked at the visit counter yesterday, and noted that it was shy of 11,100. today it is at 11,130, a large jump for this site. From whence does all this traffic come?