Motorcycle Riding at Night
Make Yourself Seen AND Recognizable
Motorcycle
riding at night is always more challenging. You not only have
to deal with reduced visibility, but you have to make yourself
seen AND recognizable as a motorcycle rider. This article by the
experts at Wheels-In-Motion.com makes this point clear and gives
practical advice you don't want to miss. If you frequently ride
at night this is a "must read".
Conspicuity
by Robert Vaughan
Conspicuity
means more than just making yourself seen--it means making yourself
easy to recognize. Placing a strobe on your helmet will make you
visible at night, but it certainly doesn't make you recognizable.
Seeing the two headlights of an oncoming truck doesn't help if
you think it is two motorcycles and try to go between them. Even
if you could make yourself look the size of a tractor trailer
truck, it wouldn't be enough. Several studies have proven that
reflective markings make even trailers safer.
To
be conspicuous, an object must be recognized without confusion
or ambiguity. Every second counts in avoiding a crash. A few tenths
of a second spent deciding the meaning of what is seen can mean
the difference between a close call and a hospital call.
Drivers
go through four stages in responding to an object they see:
They
detect it.
They
identify it.
They
make a decision to react.
They
act.
Good
conspicuity acts to shorten the reaction time in the first three
stages.
White
reflects five times more light than red but red means danger.
It says stop. Red and white are used for stop signs and railroad
crossings. Red also appears brighter to the human eye than it
really is.
Drivers
are used to interpreting these colors as something to avoid. Using
the same colors at night on retroreflective tape on helmets or
vests when riding a motorcycle will undoubtedly reduce our chances
of being hit by making us both visible and recognizable as a motorcycle.
Author:
Robert Vaughan
http://wheels-in-motion.com/
***************
End of Article
P.S.
Do you frequently practice motorcycle riding at night? Don't know
where to shop for some cool gear to protect yourself? Click here.
Usefull Resources
•
Bike
Bandit (Motorcycle
parts and gear) - As easy as buying books in Amazon! Want
to learn more? Check out the special section about Bike
Bandit.
•
HAND
PICKED suggestions from Amazon:
To
go back to the articles page just close this window.
Do
you have any article as "Motorcycle
Riding at Night"
and/or photo you would like to see published in this site?
Get
in contact! Click here
and send a message.
|
Go
to Japanese Motorcycles Homepage Go
to Motorcycle Articles Index
