what stops you concentrating?

Plenty of studies out there that show mobile phones (handsfree or not)
are bad for concentration on driving.

I use an ipod when I commute, usually it is podcasts but sometimes
music.

I've noticed that normal traffic and even the odd "oh shit" moment are
fine. The music and talking can be ignored, although not if it is too
loud. Volume adjustment is important.

What I do notice is that if I'm using the verbal parts of my brain to
say work out what a sign is saying, or trying to count side streets or
do other computational tasks *other* than reacting to and anticipating
the motions of vehicles, then with the ipod going, that's much harder.

So it looks like when it's traffic as normal and even traffic as
stuffed, I'm using other processing. And I definitely note that if
the sound in the earphones is loud enough to be even a bit hard to
ignore, then I have trouble even in traffic.

But add in "dammit, where did the map say to go next" and "ok, that's
number 60, I'm looking for 121" then it's much harder.

I'm a very verbal type[1] so perhaps this is peculiar to my way of
thinking?

What do you find distracts you most when you are in traffic? What
makes it hard for you to flow smoothly and react in plenty of time?

Zebee



[1] you would never have guessed, right?

 

In the area that I live (Brisbane Sunnybank/Sunnybank Hills) it is Asian
Drivers (many who are students) who drive cars like shopping trolleys during
an end of year sale. No vehicle sympathy at all, they do not use mirrors or
indicators (and sometimes have difficulty in knowing which side of the road
to use). They stop to drop off passengers in bus stops on main roads
blocking traffic, change lanes 5 times in every 100 metres. A lot of these
drivers are using foreign licences and have never passed a test here despite
being resident for 3 to 4 years doing a degree at a local university.



Mostly the cars are hotted up rice rockets with lots of toys/dolls on the
dashboard and have the stereo blasting out rap/doof-doof music. Nuke the lot
of them I say.



And what about all those Landcruisers picking up kids at the local primary
school, suburban battle wagons.



Rant mode off.



Boxer

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:46:03 GMT

<snip racist ranting>

So presumably your racism makes it hard for you to concentrate on
traffic?

Trying so hard to check on the ethnicity of other drivers so you can
feed your confirmation bias (look it up) that you can't concentrate on
other traffic?

That is a handicap!

Zebee

 

In Boxer's defence, I'm sorry to say that what he says bears more than a
grain of truth. In the Sunnybank and Sunnybank Hills there _is_ a good
sized proportion of the population who are Asian. The area is extremely
popular (for some reason) with middle class Chinese families.

I think there's a difference between being racist (I don't consider
myself one - I can;t speak for Boxer) and stating the facts as you see them.

N/

 

Tits arses and ....um .... legs.
Not any combination mind you and sometimes only one of the three, but in
certain circumstances any of these can completely distract me to the point
of uselessness in traffic, or out of traffic or........


Capt A. L.

 

On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:29:28 +0000 (UTC), Zebee Johnstone wrote:

[...]

Don't think so - I have similar problems in similar situations and I
don't class myself as verbal. If I turn the sound down to a quiet
background, no problem. If it starts to impinge into what is often
laughingly called my brain, that's when mistakes happen. It's one of
those human factors we learn about in Aviation - something to do with
the human brain retaining only a limited number of thought lines
before some start to drop out. On the open road there are fewer things
to think about...

Gabby passenger/s, loud radio etc, same as you.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:30:21 +1000

Umm... no.

Because someone who is racist assigns certain characteristics to
members of a race.

And is dead sure they are stating a fact.

Like I said, look up "confirmation bias".

NOt that racists change their minds easily of course. Takes thinking
and experience and willingness to see others as human and all that
boring stuff. Never catch on in Queensland.


Zebee

 

Not all Asians in this area are bad drivers, but a very high proportion of
the bad drivers are Asian.

You really get your jollies putting labels on people you have not met dont
you.

A part of good driving technique is looking at the other driver to see if
they are having a conversation on a mobile, slapping the kids, lighting a
fag, doing their makeup, so identifing them as Asian is not all that
difficult.

Once again Zebee, you have shown yourself to be full of shit.

Boxer

 

I see what u did there

 

heh, sounds like zebee gets a nick name, dymo!

 

Things that are out of place, not usual,horns on the radio, heart
monitor beeps on the radio,siren noises on the radio,(flashing
headlights on bikes, joke, zeb)too many distracting signs,little bright
lights very low on other car (usually in bumper)in the middle of the day.
And by the by, some things can be attributed to a race.There is one
habit I have noticed,people stopping one car length from the lights.
Whenever I see this I always look at the driver and it so far without
exception has been Asian. This is not a dangerous practice just annoying
if the lights don't change due to the car not being over the sensor.

 

For reasons I have not determined I am much more aware of things likely to
to be a menace in Sinney traffic on the scooter than on the wee strom - and
its way better at threading the needle as well.

I suspect there are more things to distract on the strom - in foreign parts
of the city (Blacktown, wherefor art thou Blacktown?) I will fire up the gps
on the screen, sweep the instruments, fuss about the right gear for the next
stretch.

Not sayin' ones better than t'other - different horses for different courses
- but I suspect there are inherently less distractions with a twist-n-go.

Best, Andrew

 

Why is a statement of fact about people of a certain race
considered racism?

Not hard to tell what race someone is. Especially around
sunnybank when they drive with the doof-doof so loud you
can't help but look.

I would surmise that if you find it hard to determine the
ethnicity of another driver that you have a vision problem,
and so you probably shouldn't be on the road.
Personally while driving and especially when riding, I make
it a point to try to eyeball as many other drivers as
possible - helps to assess if they have seen me and what
actions they are about to take - ie determine the likelihood
of them doing something stupid. Very easy to identify
ethnicity.
I agree 100% with boxer's description of the sunnybank area
- more than the usual # of bad drivers, and they are mostly
asian. Around my parts there are a couple of africans you
need to watch out for. There are 2 in particular that I spot
every few days around the kid's school. Some of their antics
include driving the wrong way down a narrow one-way street
(multiple times), 63 point turn in another narrow street
holding traffic up for several minutes (where he could have
continued in the same direction and simply done a loop
adding about 200m to his trip), failure to indicate, pulling
out of parks without indicating and without checking for
other traffic, parking in bus stops, parking in No-Standing
zones, parking across driveways... Also seems to be new
dents on their vehicles every time I see them too. It is not
racist to say that the 2 worst drivers encountered in this
area, and encountered frequently are both africans. It is a
statement of fact.
Actually Friday afternoon I noticed one of the local
red&blues had one of them pulled over - be interesting to
see if there is any change in observed behaviour over the
coming weeks.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:39:00 +1000

Point one - statement of fact?

Point two - define racism.

Zebee

 

Doug Jewell wrote:

We have a couple of them in our neighbourhood, too.

Drive big 4WD trucks with the same arrogance as they do everything else.

Trouble is, being white chaps, unless you know them it's hard to pick them.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Are they the same drivers with foreign licences whom you nominate to the
police as the driver of your vehicle in order to avoid paying camera
fines?

Nev..
'08 DL1000K8

 

I thought that only worked if you were a high court judge and the
nominated driver was dead.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Never had a camera fine Nev.

Boxer

 

Spot on, I never would have guessed. <gd&r>

In Melbourne, Mobile Phones including hands free both distract me.
Carrying passengers who chat amongst themselves is no problem unless they
actively try to include me in their conversation.

I now use an electric trike with a top speed of 20km/hr and having a huge
basket for my shopping trips, I also have a 6 speed mechanical trike which
is faster for when I'm feeling fitter. Often I have the choice of a bike
lane in which I can ride my trike but get pi**ed off when being passed by
cyclists doing at least twice my speed without apparently even trying. ;-)

I obey all the road rules on my trikes and Melbourne motorists, including
Buses & Trucks give me a good go as distinct from expressions from some
other States.

 

A lot smarter to nominate someone who is alive, who will back up your
storey. Although the phots can now pick up faces if taken from the front
(another good reason to choose a full face).

Boxer