The build-in distraction...

ST1100Y

ST1100Y

Site Supporter
ST1100 50,000 Mile Badge
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
Messages
744
Age
61
Location
Vienna, AuSTria
Bike
ST1100Y, ST1100R
So for those interested in the topic of 'operational (in)security', I did a copy & paste:
(original text/source in the link above)

Comment on the operational safety of modern motorcycles: Built-in distraction

Information overload and abundance of functions increase the danger of distraction and overwhelm on motorcycles.
Ingo Gach criticizes this as highly problematic

Everyone knows the situation when people engrossed in their smartphones almost walk into someone on the sidewalk.
Now imagine the person was traveling at 100 km/h – a collision would be unavoidable.
Motorcycles pose exactly this danger due to increasing built-in distractions.

Growing Danger

At the end of January, ADAC once again warned that the trend towards more and more functions and complex controls in cars is increasing the dangers.
The average grade for operational safety dropped from 2.3 in 2019 to 2.7 last year. Unfortunately, this danger is also developing in parallel for motorcycles.
TFT displays are now standard, and Bluetooth connectivity to smartphones is common in current models.

Many motorcycles have only small TFT displays of five inches or even less, and they are also overloaded. Not only speed, RPM, and various engine data are displayed, but also assistance functions.
Via Bluetooth, a flood of information and functions that belong more to leisure activities, like playing music.
The driver's attention is involuntarily distracted when a message arrives on the phone and suddenly flashes on the display.

27 Meters of Blind Flight Per Second

A motorcyclist who looks down at their instruments at 100 km/h on a country road travels 27.78 m per second in blind flight.
Searching the display can also take a long time, especially when trying to decipher the tiny numbers and letters.
Some desperately wish for a magnifying glass.
Compounding the issue, information on electronic displays is often densely packed and illogically scattered.
The trip odometer might be confused with the engine temperature, or the battery voltage with the outside temperature.

Complicated Menu Navigation

If you want specific information or want to change a setting, you usually have to search through nested menus,
which involves a lot of button pressing on closely spaced buttons (hit the wrong one again!) or fiddling with scroll wheels on the handlebars.
Adjusting the grip heating level or traction control can become a hassle if it's hidden in the fifth sub-menu.
Even if you've memorized the operating manual beforehand, you'll spend a long time clicking through the menu and won't be paying attention to traffic.
The motorcycle might drift into the oncoming lane, or the car with the right of way might not be noticed.

On the Road with One Hand Thanks to Touchscreen

Another innovation is slowly finding its way into motorcycle cockpits: touchscreens.
What is practical on a smartphone can quickly become a nightmare on a bike.
Because to touch the display, you have to take your hand off the handlebars.
But whether no hand is on the front brake or the clutch lever: in an emergency, the crucial second is missing,
which is added to the reaction time to prevent an accident, because you have to reach for the lever first.
One-handed full braking doesn't work.

App Control

The latest trend is TFT displays up to seven inches from the aftermarket. They mostly come from China and cost little more than 100 Euros.
Attached to the handlebars, they can display Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
However, the motorcycle instruments with important information are partially or completely hidden behind them.
On the additional displays, the rider can access apps via the touchscreen while riding.

Some manufacturers even offer the option to view the scene in front (!) and behind the motorcycle on the screen using supplied mini-cameras. No joke.
It doesn't take much imagination to realize how dangerous the distraction from electronics is.
No one is asking motorcycle manufacturers to return to analog speedometers, but a more user-friendly information system with simplified operation is urgently needed for many models.
 
While I won't argue with the premise -- my BMW GSA is riddled with nested menus, as well as the multiple buttons and switches in close proximity -- I do take issue with this one:
ST1100Y said:
The trip odometer might be confused with the engine temperature, or the battery voltage with the outside temperature.
Click to expand...
If the outside temp ever approaches 14.3 (battery voltage), I won't be in the saddle motoring down some roadway!
You'll find me at home in front of a fire, or in a cafe drinking hot coffee!
Yeah, it took me about 2 weeks with the Owners Manual to learn my way around the menus and options available on this hi-tech adventure bike.
 
It was precisely the same mathematics that doomed me to crash my ST, back in 2019.

I was going about 45 mph and had allowed what I *thought* was adequate following distance to the vehicle (a pickup truck with a cap on the bed, which completely blocked my view of the line of cars ahead of it) in front of me- three to four carlengths, perhaps more, as I remember it.

45 mph = 66 fps.
Absolute minimum stopping distance from 45 mph is 124 feet under ideal conditions. 124 feet is perhaps six carlengths, I reckon.

Partway across a tall, two-lane bridge with no shoulder and traffic in the oncoming lane, I made the poor decision to check speedometer, mirrors, and GPS (not built-in but also not in my line of sight; I had to look down to see it). Such checks were / are a long-ingrained habit, repeated more often than I really need to make them.

In all, I estimate my gaze was diverted from straight ahead for one to two seconds, during which I would have traveled between 66 and 132 feet without looking ahead.

Somewhere in that space of time the pickup truck was forced to slam on its brakes; there had been a chain-reaction panic stop ahead of it.

By the time I looked back up, diagnosed the situation, and started to brake it was far too late.


Remember, I was trailing by only half to two-thirds that amount, assuming that if the truck had to stop I'd have its stopping distance plus my own in which to control the situation.

Because I was not looking ahead at the critical moment that additional space and time were denied me. When I slammed on my brakes in panic mode, I was ejected from the bike. I recall bouncing and rolling and sliding face-down for some few feet.

FORTUNATELY it was to the inboard side of the bridge and not over the side railing, onto the rocks a couple hundred feet below. The bike carried on and crashed against the back bumper of the pickup.

Takeaway lessons:
  1. ATGATT, ATGATT, ATGATT. My helmet, jacket, and riding pants did what they were supposed to do and protected me. They were all destroyed but no matter, I was unharmed.

  2. Allow more following distance than you think you need, especially in situations where there is no obvious, credible line of avoidance.

  3. When in traffic, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU ON THE ROAD, not to the electronic gizmos on your bike regardless of whether they're OEM or aftermarket farkles you or someone else added later.
 
Last edited:
Good lesson, learned the hard way.
This is the first time I've read of the details of your crash, in all these years.
Sounds like in your case, you were better off leaving the bike, voluntarily or not, because I bet that truck didn't move much when the bike hit it.
Yowza.

Mellow said:
I find the BMW screen pretty intuitive. There's as little or as much info as you need or desire to see. I also have my phone and Garmin where I can see them..
Click to expand...
I'll admit, it's MUCH more intuitive, ... now that I've learned it.
This is the first motorcycle multi- function display I've ever owned.
And it still is a learning curve to learn all the handlebar controls... some are a reach/stretch from normal grip positions.
And it's much more than turn signal, horn, hi-low beam, on-off/ starter button.
These ain't our 1970s UJMs!
But yeah, they're all learn-able.
 
ibike2havefun said:
... I made the poor decision to check speedometer, mirrors, and GPS (not built-in but also not in my line of sight; I had to look down to see it).
Such checks were / are a long-ingrained habit, repeated more often than I really need to make them.
Click to expand...
Every new "toy" bears risks of being a distraction...
Be it new riding gear, new gloves (stiff like hell), a new helmet, an intercom, bike2bike radios, etc, etc... hence requiring practice (preferable on well known roads) till being intuitive...

Brief anecdote:
upon obtaining very first (BTW still serving til present day) GPS in 2004, I made it a habit of slapping it onto the car's dash and let me guide to known destinations... like the grocery store...
You can't imagine the scolding I received from my (former) partner for that... fully convinced of me now gone totally insane there... 😁

However, some weeks later, during a trip with the ST and like the 'virgin flight' with named Garmin Quest-I, she then meekly admitted that my "trial runs" with that thing weren't such a bad idea... 😝
Deciphering a GPS' audio and video information while operating a motorcycle in unknown terrain and traffic, ain't as easy in the beginning as some might think... 🤔
And despite of the meanwhile the years of experience with that thing:
I still like the satnav's audio announcement as 'pre warning' and in addition to the visual turn indication, so I can keep my eyes on the road ahead, instead of frequently scanning the screen in fear of missing it...

The issue is how to prioritize the information around to process and focus on the most important ones in the stack first... and that is what people can't do properly anymore...

I guess we all know that person who stops right in the middle of a word while talking to your, over his darn phone beeping... suddenly you don't even exist anymore... 🙄
The problem, and in this I'm fully with the author of the article above: people show that very same (annoying) behavior while moving down the road... 😑
 
Last edited:
Yeah, much fortune in that episode, interesting to me takeaway 1 come in with protective gear. Which in this case, is it’s saving grace.

Also because my idea of protection has been totally wrong and have been incredibly lucky i haven’t tested that. A sound helmet, if worn and a pair of shades, has been the extent of it, any jacket was because of how it looked, not anything else.

I do things better now, I hope it’s cause I am learning as I get older. I have my first set of ‘protective gear’ coming together.. trying to balance and understand the line needed.
I now have boots, pants, gloves, gloves??! My lifelong pick for gloves has been fingerless little leather spits of material! Hahahaha! Crazy, just crazy. Well still have to put it on and wear, which has put a new spin on riding, which is kinda cool, but just as with any ccw..,if its at home, then it won’t do you any good.

So glad your incident was just that and not anything more!!

Thanks for sharing.
 
Last edited:
ibike2havefun said:
It was precisely the same mathematics that doomed me to crash my ST, back in 2019.

I was going about 45 mph and had allowed what I *thought* was adequate following distance to the vehicle (a pickup truck with a cap on the bed, which completely blocked my view of the line of cars ahead of it) in front of me- three to four carlengths, perhaps more, as I remember it.

45 mph = 66 fps.
Absolute minimum stopping distance from 45 mph is 124 feet under ideal conditions. 124 feet is perhaps six carlengths, I reckon.

Partway across a tall, two-lane bridge with no shoulder and traffic in the oncoming lane, I made the poor decision to check speedometer, mirrors, and GPS (not built-in but also not in my line of sight; I had to look down to see it). Such checks were / are a long-ingrained habit, repeated more often than I really need to make them.

In all, I estimate my gaze was diverted from straight ahead for one to two seconds, during which I would have traveled between 66 and 132 feet without looking ahead.

Somewhere in that space of time the pickup truck was forced to slam on its brakes; there had been a chain-reaction panic stop ahead of it.

By the time I looked back up, diagnosed the situation, and started to brake it was far too late.


Remember, I was trailing by only half to two-thirds that amount, assuming that if the truck had to stop I'd have its stopping distance plus my own in which to control the situation.

Because I was not looking ahead at the critical moment that additional space and time were denied me. When I slammed on my brakes in panic mode, I was ejected from the bike. I recall bouncing and rolling and sliding face-down for some few feet.

FORTUNATELY it was to the inboard side of the bridge and not over the side railing, onto the rocks a couple hundred feet below. The bike carried on and crashed against the back bumper of the pickup.

Takeaway lessons:
  1. ATGATT, ATGATT, ATGATT. My helmet, jacket, and riding pants did what they were supposed to do and protected me. They were all destroyed but no matter, I was unharmed.

  2. Allow more following distance than you think you need, especially in situations where there is no obvious, credible line of avoidance.

  3. When in traffic, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU ON THE ROAD, not to the electronic gizmos on your bike regardless of whether they're OEM or aftermarket farkles you or someone else added later.
Click to expand...
4. I want to add that we can and should train constantly to focus on escape routes. In a panic our brain shifts to tunnel vision focusing on the threat from predators and nothing else. It's ingrained in our lower reptile brain but we can train our upper brain to shift our gaze and head for the escape route. In a chain reaction created panic stop the predator threat is the back of the vehicle ahead. Target fixation shuts down looking at anything but the back of that 6 to 8 foot wide steel "wall" of car/truck but on each side of it is probably a nominally 6 to 8 foot wide clear safeway between vehicles or fixed objects or terrain along the shoulder. Training to see the escape routes can be done every day we encounter traffic and spend time in it. Training escape routes is nothing more than playing "what if" scenarios. For action drills practice emergency swerve then brake drills taught in MSF and other rider courses. Taken from the Upper Half Of The Motorcycle, On The Unity Of Man and Machine by Spiegal. White Horse Press 2010.
 
The Article is exactly why I'm keeping my 96 ST, touch screens are Great when I'm home at the coffee table, not when I m in a moving vehicle. Yeah I bought a phone holder for the bike, tried it once, didn't go well so been in the tank bag or coat pocket ever since.
 
dduelin said:
4. I want to add that we can and should train constantly to focus on escape routes. In a panic our brain shifts to tunnel vision focusing on the threat from predators and nothing else. It's ingrained in our lower reptile brain but we can train our upper brain to shift our gaze and head for the escape route. In a chain reaction created panic stop the predator threat is the back of the vehicle ahead. Target fixation shuts down looking at anything but the back of that 6 to 8 foot wide steel "wall" of car/truck but on each side of it is probably a nominally 6 to 8 foot wide clear safeway between vehicles or fixed objects or terrain along the shoulder. Training to see the escape routes can be done every day we encounter traffic and spend time in it. Training escape routes is nothing more than playing "what if" scenarios. For action drills practice emergency swerve then brake drills taught in MSF and other rider courses. Taken from the Upper Half Of The Motorcycle, On The Unity Of Man and Machine by Spiegal. White Horse Press 2010.
Click to expand...

I agree.

An escape route may have helped me but as I mentioned in my specific case there were none. To my right, a railing at the edge of the shoulderless lane, and beyond that a long plunge to exposed rocks. To my left was oncoming traffic in the lane across the double yellow. I was in a box from which there were no viable forward or lateral exits.

I should have increased my following distance to create a sort of escape route directly in front of me but of course I thought I had an adequate gap already.

Live and learn. Each is important. Failure to do the latter lowers the odds of continuing to do the former.
 
St-Gerard said:
Yeah I bought a phone holder for the bike, tried it once, didn't go well so been in the tank bag or coat pocket ever since.
Click to expand...
I lost a new (2 weeks old) expensive phone off my brand new Ram mount X- thing, and before I could turn around to save it, the oncoming traffic ran over it several times.
THEN I learned about their optional rubber band-ish tether.
Too late.
Now it's jacket pocket or tankbag, for charging.
NOTE TO SELF: zip yer dang pocket, ya moron!
 
I have my phone on a Quadlock on the "shelf" I added to my bike. It's been rock solid and I have never had an issue with the phone coming free.

But with the rain lately, I have been increasingly putting it inside my jacket. I am leaning towards making that a full time habit. I think I have read here that doing so permits you to have a phone with you that you can reach and use in the event of an emergency. Granted it may suffer damage while skidding along the asphalt with you, but it also won't be much use if it's undamaged but attached to a bike metres away and you have orthopedic, or other, injuries that prevent you from being able to move.
 
Sadlsor said:
I lost a new (2 weeks old) expensive phone off my brand new Ram mount X- thing, and before I could turn around to save it, the oncoming traffic ran over it several times.
THEN I learned about their optional rubber band-ish tether.
Too late.
Now it's jacket pocket or tankbag, for charging.
NOTE TO SELF: zip yer dang pocket, ya moron!
Click to expand...
Quad Lock.
 
ibike2havefun said:
I agree.

An escape route may have helped me but as I mentioned in my specific case there were none. To my right, a railing at the edge of the shoulderless lane, and beyond that a long plunge to exposed rocks. To my left was oncoming traffic in the lane across the double yellow. I was in a box from which there were no viable forward or lateral exits.

I should have increased my following distance to create a sort of escape route directly in front of me but of course I thought I had an adequate gap already.

Live and learn. Each is important. Failure to do the latter lowers the odds of continuing to do the former.
Click to expand...
I agree an escape route is not always available but often they are but our brains don’t see them or perceive them wide enough if we don't train for it. In no way am I trying to critical of ibike2havefun. I wasn't there and don't know the exact circumstances. In the referenced book there is an interesting set of graphics showing a freeway or Autobahn two lane width road with the travel lane ahead ‘blocked’ from POV of an approaching vehicle from behind. Interestingly our brain will perceive the car much bigger than it actually is, filling the entire lane when is really isn't. (A standard lane is 12' wide, a full size pick up is less than 9' wide with mirrors, the body width is less than 7', a full size car smaller and a compact car or truck smaller yet.) The picture is marked in meters either open or blocked. Only 30% of available space is blocked with 1 vehicle braking hard and 70% is available. Another pic shows the same two lane road with two vehicles blocking the lanes. More than 2/3rds is still open. It would take 6 cars parked door handle to door handle to completely block the paved surface. In 2013 I was riding on I-10 in urban Jacksonville. I was in the leftmost lane of 3 travel lanes. Over a rise and around a slight left curve a wrong way driver in a 70s Lincoln Continental appeared in my lane. The paved shoulder on my left was partially blocked by construction but I had no choice - anything to avoid a head-on collision. I moved left as far as I could and the Lincoln passed on my right. The driver was killed instantly when she collided head-on with the pickup truck following me. Several years ago I was riding 60+ on a 55 mph rural road in Georgia. Approaching me were several cars going the other way. As we closed the last oncoming car swung out in my lane to pass the cars ahead. I had only a second to react but it was over in that second. I had enough room to move right and all three of us had plenty of room to pass on a two lane road.
 
Curious, were you also able to reduce speed by braking or laying off the throttle? I think braking would be the natural reaction even if swerving which might reduce control during the avoidance manoeuvre.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom