Posts Tagged ‘conspicuity enhancement’

Why Is That Motorcycle Glaring At Me?

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

An angry face is staring right at you; do you notice it? You bet you do.

the face of the bikeWhat if you’re driving in your car and the angry face is the front end of a motorcycle that you’re just about to turn in front of? Do you see it and stop your turn? Apparently there is a good chance you will.

Time for a paradigm switch perhaps. “Loud pipes save lives” may soon become “Pissed off bikes protect riders.”

What the heck am I talking about? I ran across this article about how Honda researchers are finding that the more a bike looks like a human face, and in particular an angry human face, the more likely it is that other drivers will see it. So they’re starting to deliberately make bikes look more human–and angry.

So welcome to the future. Let’s hear it for pissed-off bikes!

Biker Quote for Today

“I don’t give it a name, but I always speak with it. I don’t know if other riders do the same. This is not only a piece of metal – there is a soul” -Valentino Rossi