Bumper stickers, billboards and even yard signs admonish drivers to look for motorcycles. Slogans, including “look twice to save a life,” serve to remind motorists that they should intentionally check their surroundings for motorcycles.
Every year, there are thousands of preventable motorcycle collisions caused by drivers who don’t notice motorcycles. How can motorists overlook heavy, loud vehicles that might be directly across from them at an intersection?
People may not recognize the motorcycle as a threat
The human brain does not have an unlimited capacity to analyze its surroundings. When there is too much incoming visual information to analyze everything, the brain prioritizes concerns that seem to be safety-critical.
Drivers almost always notice buses and semi-trucks near them in traffic, as these bigger vehicles pose a clear safety threat. Smaller vehicles and pedestrians may not draw the brain’s attention in a busy traffic scenario.
This limitation, known as inattentional blindness, is why drivers may claim they didn’t see a motorcycle before they caused a crash. The act of intentionally looking for motorcycles overcomes this cognitive deficit and helps prevent motorcycle collisions.
Drivers can’t use their insufficient surveillance of traffic conditions as an excuse for hitting a motorcycle. They should check their surroundings carefully before turning or proceeding through an intersection. Surveillance failures are a form of negligence that can lead to drivers breaking the law, possibly by failing to yield the right of way to others as they should.
If drivers don’t check for motorcycles, they may ultimately be liable for the crashes they cause. Working with an attorney can help those injured in motorcycle collisions pursue appropriate compensation for their medical expenses and lost wages.