Foo - Speaking of attentiveness videos...

No, this isn't the one where you count basketball passes and a bear suit... :p

Although this is in a car, it's applicable to cycling, especially if you're fast. ;)

Part 1, no commentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvj2fEIgY1Q&NR=1

Part 2, with commentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY7_cH67dxM&NR=1

Watch the first one, and think about what hazards you might see (understanding that Youtube's compression hides some details and the camera's field of view is limited). Then see how you compare to the second.

I've wanted to make a video like this.

Good God, they're all driving on the wrong side of the road! :eek: It's a miracle anyone survived. ;)

I didn't find the videos all that useful. Good drivers learn through experience to do all this processing. For the mediocre to bad drivers, there is no hope for them (and their victims) if experience doesn't teach them to do this. I think training can help a little, but not much. Some people just have better natural abilities than others in this type of mental exercise.

? Not sure as to what I'm seeing or should be seeing?

heh I laughed when he made the comment about the automatic, so many bad tendencies. :( Wouldn't think a "professional" would consider them real though.

Good God, they're all driving on the wrong side of the road! :eek: It's a miracle anyone survived. ;)

I didn't find the videos all that useful. Good drivers learn through experience to do all this processing. For the mediocre to bad drivers, there is no hope for them (and their victims) if experience doesn't teach them to do this. I think training can help a little, but not much. Some people just have better natural abilities than others in this type of mental exercise.

The problem I have about learning through experience is that public roads, with real hazards and real consequences, are not the place to learn through experience, or through trial and error. Keep making mistakes in the real world, and eventually you're going to break something or get someone killed.

This is all teach-able stuff. I've said to myself that if I could go back in time and teach the "teenage me" what I know now, I would.


? Not sure as to what I'm seeing or should be seeing?

You should be seeing all the potential hazards, from speculating why the car in front at the parking lot hasn't pulled out yet to checking if anyone's leaving from the recycling bins, etc. Even the early comment about automatic transmissions has some validity in that that car's brake lights don't necessarily mean that it's stopped cold. Similarly, I try to not use engine braking in my manual-equipped car if someone's behind me, because it's easier for them to react to my brake lights coming on than it is to decipher whether or not my car is gradually slowing down.

I'l bet that we all know people who wouldn't think of half of the features & hazards that are mentioned in the commentary, though.