Originally Posted by
adamhenry
You have to make a split second decision. Will it it be right or wrong. Saying you do don't think about which way to turn the handlebars is just avoiding the question. Most people will do the wrong thing in a panic situation and steer the bike into the obstruction.
If you have to think, it's too late. You make the decision which way to steer and let your highly trained auto-pilot do it's job. Consciously thinking about how to execute a maneuver is too slow and leads to errors. The reason that people like police, pilots, military, etc. practice and drill is that thinking is too slow. Drilling programs the auto-pilot, which can take over and implement the solution before the conscious mind even starts thinking about it.
BTW - one of the reasons that people run into things when panicking is that they have target fixation. The autopilot is programmed to follow the eyes, so if you look at the target (obstacle) you'll hit it, but if you look at the desired escape path, that's where the bike will go.