Flicker Fusion Threshold, Riding in Line
 

I'm not sure which forum to post this in, but it seems like road cyclists like to ride in lines, so I'll see what you all think:
I ride with my children a fair bit. Occasionally, I have to stop suddenly, and when I do, I am often rammed by the child behind me, who is, in turn, sometimes rammed by the child behind him. (This isn't a huge deal, since with my children I'm often riding my Yuba Mundo, which can take a bit of ramming.) But I don't recall ever having rammed one of my children (or anyone else, except for a neighborhood kid when I was nine or ten years old), and I've been wondering why this is.

One possibility is simply experience. But I've noticed lately, when I think about it, that I tend to ride a little to the side so that I won't run into whoever is in front of me. So perhaps that's another reason (not exclusive of experience, of course). I've also been wondering whether attention isn't part of the reason. When I'm riding behind someone else, I'm focused pretty intently on maintaining a good distance and positioning. Does this sort of help you 'see more quickly'? There's a concept called flicker fusion threshold: dogs aren't interested in watching TV because (among other reasons) the images don't look continuous to them (see this funny article about dogs and television). Birds, apparently, because they have to maneuver at high speeds, have even 'faster' vision. So I'm interested in your thoughts about fast vision and ramming.

Never slam on the brakes. Pay attention to the road ahead so that you can point out and avoid obstacles.

Group ride disaster waiting to happen...

What's up with all the ramming?

Perhaps ramming is the wrong word--it sounds too intentional. And it's not frequent, but I noticed it the other day at an intersection where cross traffic doesn't stop and visibility is not good. And back in the spring, one of my children 'rammed' another one and knocked the plastic cover off of her taillight.

Uh, be a good dad and feather brakes when sensing any inkling of a possibility of danger? Problem solved.

The riders behind are not paying attention to what's going on ahead of them.

Oh, what's that you say? They're kids.

Oh. Well...