Near Death of a Cyclist

The Near Death of a Cyclist
(The life critical need to understand the perceptions of others)

It was a dark and stormy night (don’t most tragic stories start this way?)

I was sitting in my car on Booth Street in Annandale waiting to pull out. Traffic was coming in both directions with lights on. The street was very busy with vehicles and pedestrians: people stopping to pick up groceries, rent movies, get take outs, get home from work, looking for parking spaces. A good spot to be very focused on the traffic environment.

I was in gear, had my indicators on, front wheels cranked out, ready to take the opportunity of a break in traffic. Pretty normal driving behaviour, thousands of movements like this are made every day in places like Annandale.

I checked my mirror and over my shoulder, traffic had passed, it was completely clear. I double checked, foot on the accelerator seconds from pulling out and I suddenly saw a reflection off something approaching fast about 15 metres away. It was a cyclist on a black bike, wearing black clothing with no lights and wearing no helmet. When he passed me he was very close to my car and pedalling furiously down the hill. He was seconds from death or serious injury. If it hadn’t been for the light of an approaching vehicle some distance down Booth Street reflecting off his glasses I would not have seen him at all.

The consequences would have been very serious. He would have been dead or seriously injured, his family suffering a terrible loss and I would probably have been charged. Police and ambulances would have arrived at the scene. An investigation, and later a coronial inquiry would have been costly and damaging psychologically. I would have been hyper vigilant for months, possibly with nightmares and PTSD symptoms. It would have stayed in my mind for ever.

I should know. I was a behavioural science educator internationally for 15 years and have been directly involved in such matters, including analysing and debriefing serious traumatic incidents, lecturing at police academies on trauma and officer survival. Ironically I am also doing a PhD based on a horrific traffic accident linking the relationship between trauma and resilience. So I know the landscape well. Lastly I am also a very experienced motorcyclist and know the dangers of close encounters in traffic at a personal experience level.

Perception – Life Critical awareness

So what was going on here in terms of perception? We see with our eyes but we perceive with our brain. There are factors that dramatically affect perception. These include: our expectations, motivations, previous experiences, intuition, distractions, survival excitement stress/adrenalin reactions and many more. Our hearing is attenuated rearward when focused on a threat or something that interests us ahead. Our visual sense becomes narrower and peripheral vision decreases. Under stress these changes are dramatically increased. I have modified the ‘Ten Fatal Errors” in policing for motorcycling and they apply to cyclists as well: Consider these:

1. Complacency, apathy
2. Getting caught in a bad position
3. Not perceiving danger signals
4. Relaxing too soon
5. False perceptions/assumptions
6. Tombstone courage
7. Fatigue and stress
B. Not maintaining your bike
9. Believing your own myths
10. Losing concentration

We also operate on personal ‘myths’ such as “it’s never happened before so it won’t now” or “I can get away with this. It won’t happen to me”, “I’m just getting on my bike to get bread and milk – no big deal”, “I’ve got good reactions and brakes” and many more directly influencing our behaviours., actions and decisions.

The cyclist probably had one of these myths in his head, e.g. ‘riding without lights has never been a problem before and lots of people do it. The cops don’t ever do anything about it so it’s OK.’ Maybe he was in a hurry, under pressure, maybe riding down a steep hill in busy traffic at night gave him a huge stress buzz. As a motorcyclist I can understand the sheer pleasure and positive stress I get on a ride day at Eastern Creek – but not on Booth Street in Annandale on a dark night in busy traffic.

So in conclusion I ask cyclists to really think about how your own perceptions and myths can affect your safety and what the perceptions of others might be. Stay alive.

John Walker is the author of ‘Hits and Myths of Motorcycling’ (Perceptions, false beliefs, fatal errors and mental conditioning)
Australia Road Rider Magazine