I Didn’t See The Motorcyclist—Literally

Sometimes we are invisible.

Riding in traffic requires a full toolbox of skills and approaches, including knowledge of angles when bikes can be invisible, literally not seen.Jeff Allen

The advice to “ride like you are invisible” centers around defensive and offensive riding that keeps us as clear as possible from drivers’ mistakes. It means using deceleration, acceleration, and steering to place ourselves in a safe position in traffic. Eyes feed the brain, which makes the decisions our bodies carry out. Drivers will make mistakes; let’s not be there when they happen.

I like the advice to ride like I’m invisible, and I follow it religiously. We have all seen the focus of American drivers continue to slip, so the more paranoid and offensive/defensive we ride, the better our chances of survival. “Trust no driver” is a smart mantra.

Sight Blocked, Motorcycle Not Seen

But a few years ago I noticed that my 5-foot-3 wife’s head was directly level with the gigantic outside mirrors on our SUV and pickup truck, effectively blocking her vision at a roughly 25-degree angle, especially the driver’s side mirror. Add to this 8 x 10-inch blockage, only a few feet from her eyes, a thick A-pillar and it wouldn’t be hard to hide a semitruck if the angle was just right. I encouraged Judy to raise her seat, but even with that, the mirror continued to interrupt her line of sight unless she made an effort to peer above or around it.

Ever-thickening A-pillars are an issue too, and have nothing to do with driver height. A-pillars now hold airbags and considerable sound deadening, so they have grown immensely. At a certain angle, a motorcycle could stay hidden behind a thick A-pillar for a long time and distance, and that angle is about 25 degrees to the left of the vehicle.

This first picture is of my friend Cliff’s GMC truck, complete with gigantic mirrors included in the towing package.Nick Ienatsch
But in this second picture, taken from just a few feet to the right, Cliff’s daughter Brooke is revealed, hidden in the first picture by the mirror. Brooke is about 7 inches shorter than her dad, so if her seat isn’t radically raised, the mirrors block her outward view.Nick Ienatsch

The final physical sight blockage is something that drivers do voluntarily and on purpose: Windshield-mounted GPS gadgets attached in their line of sight for easy reference. Those gadgets block vision, and bikes can be hidden in those spaces. Many mount the gadgets along the driver’s-side A-pillar, but I’ve seen them in the center of the windscreen too. This is a more difficult issue to tackle with riding technique adjustments, and I find it shocking that the law allows vision-blocking items to be on the windshield of a multi-ton vehicle driven by undertrained humans who are busy texting.

I snapped this pic from the backseat of a ride-share car because at certain angles and distances, a motorcycle would be completely hidden behind this driver’s windshield-mounted cellphone. Not good.Nick Ienatsch

I’m not sure we need more traffic laws and know that windshield-mounted driver guidance means quicker and smaller eye movements for drivers, but I’m positive that some drivers’ views of motorcycles are blocked by the GPS devices affixed to their windshields; I vote in favor of drivers being able to see out of their cars. I will retype my favorite traffic mantra, “Slow down in town,” and encourage all riders to cover the brakes in traffic and continue to fine-tune your ability to stop and swerve in emergencies. Here’s how to practice braking.

Higher Alert

Awareness of this visual blockage is this week’s main point. In normal intersections where traffic approaches from 90 degrees to the right and left or from a few degrees ahead, drivers have a good field of view. It’s in the special circumstances when we approach large-mirrored vehicles from that 25-degree angle where we must be on high alert with brakes covered, focus prioritized on that vehicle, speed controlled, and shifting in our lane to be seen sooner.

There are plenty of intersections at this angle, and there will be times in parking lots and other uncontrolled situations where this angle is in play. Now we know we’re in danger when the mirror is blocking the driver’s head from our view, and once your awareness of this dangerous angle grows, you will become quick to spot it at distances.

Should this rider expect the truck or van to pull out? Yes, because the angle puts the driver’s head behind the mirror. We must learn to automatically identify two things: vehicles with large mirrors, and the angle at which we are blocked by those mirrors.Robert Martin

Just as roadracers add skills and increase awareness of grip to progress, we street riders must continue to discern and adjust to traffic’s challenges to thrive and survive. We must realize when we are literally invisible due to our approach angle on SUVs and trucks with large outside mirrors. “I didn’t see you,” is a real situation when a shorter driver in a big-mirrored vehicle faces us at a 25-degree angle.

More next Tuesday!

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