Motorcycles are efficient when compared to the fuel consumption of larger vehicles. They are also easier to maneuver and arguably more fun to ride. However, all of those positive factors come with some serious risks.
People on motorcycles can suffer severe injuries in crashes that they had no role in causing. Their small vehicles will not do much to protect them from the force of a collision with a bigger vehicle. Distracted, drunk and irresponsible drivers can hit a motorcycle, demolishing the vehicle and leaving the writer with life-altering injuries.
Afterward, there’s a good chance that the driver will claim they didn’t ever even see the motorcycle. Why do so many drivers fail to notice loud and relatively large motorcycles on the road?
The human brain can only process so much information at once
Driving, especially in heavy traffic or at high speeds, pushes your brain to the limit. It will have to process a massive amount of visual information as the environment constantly changes around you. Research has shown that drivers often fail to notice elements around them.
Still, the smaller an object is and the less of a threat it poses to someone in a vehicle, the less likely they are to notice it. Research has shown before, for example, that drivers are more than twice as likely to notice a taxi as they are to notice a motorcycle.
Only by intentionally looking for motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists can drivers limit their chances of hurting or killing someone else on the road. Recognizing why drivers cause motorcycle crashes could help you stay a little bit safer out on your next ride.
