1olbull
Riding Motor Since 1950
I have ranted many times about motorcycle head and tail lights being dangerously inadequate. Over recent years scientific testing has illuminated, exposed and proven this to be fact.
Because vehicle driver/rider research is ongoing and always changing, in the past years I have attended four seaerate courses regarding human factors just to keep up. I shall attend a fifth in Arizona later this month.
The term "Lead Vehicle" has to do with the closing speed/distance recognition of a following driver. The term "Looming" has to do with the subtended angular velocity of the driver's vision of the lead vehicle. This is simply the angle of the driver's view of the taillights horizontal width or the vehicle width and his ability to discern closing speed and distance in order to avoid a rear end impact.
Factors considered are: the discernible width of the Lead Vehicle; relative velocity (speed of the following vehicle minus speed of the Lead Vehicle), and the distance between the Lead Vehicle and the approaching vehicle at the moment of interest.
Likely you can readily see that just the reduced width of a motor versus that of a cage puts us at greater risk.
At night, only the taillights are cues for the vehicle driver approaching from the rear. The keys are the taillight width and taillight brightness. For us on motors, having just one taillight eliminates the width factor and leaves only the brightness factor. MUY PELIGROSO! Bright is best! Proper aim is paramount.
I realize this is somewhat technical, but I feel it is very important knowledge for a motor rider to know. Your motor's lighting is critical to your safety, as is an understanding of your perception response time and the distance necessary to safely avoid a hazard at speed.
This site does not allow the posting of .pdf files, so I will supply the two I feel most "digestable" if requested with an email.
Happy New Year & Safe riding!
Because vehicle driver/rider research is ongoing and always changing, in the past years I have attended four seaerate courses regarding human factors just to keep up. I shall attend a fifth in Arizona later this month.
The term "Lead Vehicle" has to do with the closing speed/distance recognition of a following driver. The term "Looming" has to do with the subtended angular velocity of the driver's vision of the lead vehicle. This is simply the angle of the driver's view of the taillights horizontal width or the vehicle width and his ability to discern closing speed and distance in order to avoid a rear end impact.
Factors considered are: the discernible width of the Lead Vehicle; relative velocity (speed of the following vehicle minus speed of the Lead Vehicle), and the distance between the Lead Vehicle and the approaching vehicle at the moment of interest.
Likely you can readily see that just the reduced width of a motor versus that of a cage puts us at greater risk.
At night, only the taillights are cues for the vehicle driver approaching from the rear. The keys are the taillight width and taillight brightness. For us on motors, having just one taillight eliminates the width factor and leaves only the brightness factor. MUY PELIGROSO! Bright is best! Proper aim is paramount.
I realize this is somewhat technical, but I feel it is very important knowledge for a motor rider to know. Your motor's lighting is critical to your safety, as is an understanding of your perception response time and the distance necessary to safely avoid a hazard at speed.
This site does not allow the posting of .pdf files, so I will supply the two I feel most "digestable" if requested with an email.
Happy New Year & Safe riding!