It's funny - I knew what was coming (I'd seen a similar test in Mythbusters, with a zombie rather than break dancing bear) and I still missed it.
The ad sums it up well - if you don't consciously look for something even while concentrating, you probably won't see it. This article in the NZ Herald reaches an identical conclusion. It's also perhaps THE reason there are so many cyclist - car crashes of late (and the stats show drivers are by and large the at fault party).
I'm coining the term Lycropia - the cycling version of myopia (near sightedness). Drivers have a blind spot for cyclists. And people are dying as a result.
And fluro lycra doesn't address the issue either - if a bear suit & moonwalking won't fix it, a bright shirt won't either.
This actually makes perfect sense to me, and explains a few incidents. (yes, it's anecdotal, but indulge me this once). I was crossing the road at Bronte beach the other day, and for those who don't know Bronte there's two steep road decents feeding into the beachfront. A family was crossing the road at the base of one of the decents (not at the pedestrian crossing BTW before you ask), and I saw the father and two kids look up the hill right at the cyclist. It was a bright day, the sun was behind us, the rider was maybe 15 meters away - literally impossible to get a better view of the cyclist. Yet having looked squarely at him, they stepped straight out and damn near got skittled (I reckon the cyclist was probably doing 50 odd, so it would have been ugly). I can only guess they were looking for cars and Lycropia kicked in.
Of course rather than apologise, and clearly being in the wrong, the pedestrian parents proceeded to give the cyclist an earful.
So cyclists: be aware of lycropia, and never assume anyone has seen you.
And drivers & pedestrians: Appreciate cyclists are in fact road users , and make sure you are looking for them.
And authorities: get this ad on the Telly post-haste
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