Hacker News Reader

So motorcyclists here have an acronym "SMIDSY" - stands for "Sorry mate, I didn't see you" - which is almost universally the first words out of a car drivers mouth after they've driven into a motorcycle.

View on HN

Sounds believable to me. The human eye doesn't have as broad of a field of view as the brain's post-processing would lead you to believe, so it's very easy for its search pattern to miss small objects.

Which is because almost universaly motorbikes move faster than traffic and between lanes. So unless you stare at your rear view mirror constantly you may well miss them aproaching. Alas, at least here seeing a motorcycle driving at/under speed limit is an exception, not a rule.

Parent poster was talking about car drivers hitting motorcyclists.

You're saying that car drivers don't check their mirrors correctly when manouvering, which to me sounds dangerous.

Not saying I agree, but he leaves room open for other alternatives such as hitting a motorcycle while weaving within a lane. You won't hit a car that way, but you might take out a lane splitting bike.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com