One of the most common things that drivers say after hitting a motorcycle is that they’re completely shocked because they didn’t know the motorcycle was there, and they never saw it. A driver turning out of a store parking lot, for instance, may turn left right in front of an oncoming motorcycle, which then hits the side of the car.
But the motorcyclist sometimes tells a very different story. They say that they saw the driver look right at them. The motorcyclist also had the right of way. Assuming that they’d been seen, they didn’t even bother slowing down. How is it that the driver could’ve looked at them, failed to see the motorcycle, and then caused the accident?
Inattentional blindness
There are many potential reasons, such as distraction, fatigue or impairment from drugs or alcohol. But one other thing to consider is inattentional blindness.
All this means is that the driver isn’t necessarily paying close attention. They’re just glancing at their surroundings to quickly get an idea of whether or not it’s safe to turn.
When someone does this, the brain just doesn’t have enough time to process all the details of everything they’re looking at. As such, it will filter out certain things that don’t seem important and fill in the gaps with things the driver expects to see. Therefore, a driver who is expecting to see an empty road—or perhaps looking for cars and trucks—will look at a motorcycle quickly, but it will never really register in their field of vision. They’re telling the truth when they say they’re shocked because they didn’t see the bike approaching.
But whether or not they’re telling the truth, it is still that driver’s negligent mistake that led to the serious accident. Those who have suffered injuries need to know how to seek financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages and the like.
