OI! HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
A massive thanks to Bournemouth University and Shel Silva, who gave up her time to explain this
THIS FEATURE MAY NOT BE ABOUT old bikes and undoubtedly we’ll get complaints, but please read on – it may be the most important thing you do read. As riders of old bikes, we have dim lights – if any at all, often ride bikes slower than the modern traffic around us, and rarely have mirrors, let alone indicators. Oh, and many of us use old, open-face helmets and dark clothing without armour. Yet when there’s an accident with another vehicle, it’s the ‘dozy car drivers’ at fault?
Well, new research has proved that actually it may well be... in a way. Bournemouth University has been running a project that studies the neurological and cognitive influences of drivers and riders and how they affect their behaviour to gauge any differences in the responses they use. As well as questionnaires and interviews, by using the latest in eye movement tracking tech when watching videos of a journey, they can see what is being seen by the driver or rider, what their brain is getting them to look at, what they deem important, and – most vital – what is being ignored.
This incredible equipment can accurately detect where someone is looking when they are riding or driving, and it proves what many of
