Study finding of the day: Feb. 23, 2009
I have lots of cool stuff for y’all, but I am so pinned with work it’s just ridiculous. At least I’m writing about Specialized bikes today. Ran into this gem:
Competitive road cyclists report safer driving behavior than drivers who have no cycling experience.
– Martha, C., and P. Delhomme, 2008, “Risk comparative judgment while driving a car among competitive road cyclists and non-cyclists”
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Makes sense to me.
1) Cyclists are more conscious of the dangers of bad driving — especially if they’ve been hit by cars. I’ve been nailed three times. Wrecked bikes but no injuries. God loves the fool!
2) If you’re pinning it on your bike, you don’t need to drive like an idiot. Nothing like a little braaap to quiet the demons.
i perform behind the wheel proficiencies in our school passenger vans with all of our teachers/coaches that drive for student activity trips. the people who ride motorcycles and/or commute on bicycles all have excellent perception and anticipation skills behind the wheel, far better than the average driver for sure.
Interesting.
My dad was never a bike rider, and he learned to drive at age 30. He says we kids, who grew up with Atari and BMX, have a huge advantage when it comes to spatial awareness.
He’s a really smart E.R. doctor; he would use a phrase like “spacial awareness” in conversation … 🙂
I heard recently from a forgotten source that motorbike riders and cyclists use their peripheral vision better.
Apparently it also makes us more susceptible to motion sickness because we see more things moving around, like the horizon.
I don’t know if any of that is true, but it seems plausible.
hahaha
“Apparently it also makes us more susceptible to motion sickness because we see more things moving around, like the horizon.”
I sometimes take my car to the car wash in which you drive in and stop. The machine goes back and forth washing the car. I get queasy because my eyes tell me the car is moving while my brain knows I have it in park.
“Apparently it also makes us more susceptible to motion sickness because we see more things moving around, like the horizon.”
Thats an interesting thought, I get extremely motion sick. I have been on skis and bikes racing at somewhat higher levels since I was 5 years old. That could be it. Or perhaps its my lack of control when someone else is driving that gets me… Thanks for the mind tweak Chris 🙂
when I feel carsick I open the windows…maybe you should try that the next time you’re in the car wash 🙂
doh!
Apparently drivers also know that cyclists have superior perceptual and athletic skills, and therefore drive more closely to riders wearing helmets than riders without helmets. Researchers thin’ “the reason drivers give less room to cyclists wearing helmets is because they see them as “Lycra-clad street warriors’ and believe they are more predictable than those without.” As expected, Dr Walker, who conducted the study, was hit twice while wearing a helmet.
Check it out at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/5334208.stm