Originally Posted by
jon c.
Although you say it is foreign to you, I suspect you've seen enough human behavior in your time to understand this is a flaw inherent to the species. I don't think this is well understood but there is some research on the topic (just a random abstract to note the nature of the effort):
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35872002/
So yes, sometimes a driver won't see a cyclist. I ride with flashing lights to help reduce the chance of that happening. But I recognize it may happen nonetheless. It's not excusing inattentiveness, it's just recognizing the realities of the road.
Good one! Saved me the trouble of looking that up to post similar phenom.
"Seeing" is not just an EYE thing. Eyes are just windows to the brain. Light enters the eye and data gets transmitted to the brain for interpretation. If the "lights are on but nobody's home" in that brain, the object will not be "seen". Especially significant with unexpected objects. On top of "seeing" the cyclist, then the brain has to figure out what to do and stimulate the central nervous system to react quickly and move steering muscles accordingly. Might be split seconds at stake even if the object is seen.
Like when an 18-wheeler straddles a muffler lying in the middle of a lane. Driver in the Corvette behind him might see the danged thing but not knowing if traffic is next to him might not change lanes to avoid a car-car collision. If the Corvette driver just saw three other mufflers in the road five minutes ago his awareness might be much greater and change behavior to avoid the next muffler. In other words, he is paying strict attention now and LOOKING for mufflers, not following too close, etc. By the next day he'll be back to not thinking about mufflers in the road.