Cycling safety: Awareness video test

Spring is nearly here and you'll soon be dusting off your bike and pedaling into traffic. Most cities and smaller towns are not cycling friendly, and even in places with dedicated cycling pathways, you're often at the mercy of clueless cars zipping by.

Transport for London has instituted a creative cycle safety campaign by raising awareness of two phenomena called "change blindness" and "inattention blindness." Harvard researchers demonstrated our "change blindness" with a simple experiment. They had a planted passerby ask a random person on the street for directions. In the middle of their verbal exchange, two workmen would walk right in between them carrying a door. Quickly, one of the workmen switched positions with the planted passerby. Amazingly, over 50 percent failed to spot the switch.

Same goes for a sister-phenomenon called "inattention blindness." Possibly a contributing factor in motorists colliding with cyclists, when a driver is concentrating on something they can be blind to other events around them. Their brain is not looking for a cyclist, it is listening to music, talking on the cellphone, contemplating existentialism, raging mad about the traffic. Whatever, their attention is elsewhere making them blind to most everything else. Take Transport for London's awareness video test to see how susceptible you are to "inattention blindness." I failed miserably.

As you tool around this summer in a car, on a bike or as a pedestrian, be aware of humans and vehicles around you. Place them center stage in your vision. Thanks to Julie's Health Blog for her coverage on the topic.