From: cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.soc
Subject: Re: Politics of Cycling Speed
Date: 15 Dec 92 19:48:12 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <71508@cup.portal.com> JForester@cup.portal.com (John - Forester) writes:

>   There are two kinds of fear. Acute fear is an emotional response
>to the recognition of imminent danger that prompts mind and body to
>perform beyond the normal level, traditionally phrased as "fight or
>flee." There is also a lower level of fear that considers the
>prospect of danger and prompts the person to avoid it. In order to
>achieve either response, we must feel (more than know) which items
>are dangerous. Fear also suspends judgment about the feared item.

There is at least one more important kind of fear in cycling, and that
is rational avoidance of something deduced to be dangerous, in the
absence of any affective response. For example, I wear reflective
stuff at night because I have decided it improves my safety. But I'm
not frightenened in the slightest to ride without it. I simply think
it unwise. The same goes for many of the precautions I've taught
myself, such as checking for red-light runners before moving thru an
intersection. This kind of rational fear is important, since many of
the risks of traffic are too rare to become realised as affective
fears. I would say that anyone whose traffic behaviour was controlled
only by affective fear was a bad driver.

>   Consider Neil J. Cherry's description of his behavior because of
>his healthy fear of traffic: "I keep checking my mirror to see where
>the cars are behind me, etc." That is his entire description of his
>safety practices. Ninety-nine percent of the things that will involve
>him in an accident are up front where he can see them and take the
>proper action, yet Neil spends his time looking in his rear-view
>mirror for an event that is both very rare and which he can't detect
>in time to do anything about it.

I always keep an eye on what's coming up behind via my mirror. I
sometimes identify a lunatic driver I need to be wary of. I sometimes
see a car coming to overtake me with a winker on indicating that it
means to cut in front of me. Last week I saw a driver accelerating to
overtake me, not apparently having noticed that a car ahead was going
to swing out to turn. Being forewarned, I slowed down in order to be
next to a space in the parked cars when this driver was forced to cut
in very sharply.  Because my mirror had forewarned me I easily avoided
a car which otherwise would have chosen to swing into me rather than
hit another car. This near accident happened in front of me; but I saw
it developing by looking both behind and in front. I routinely plan
where I would prefer to be overtaken and adjust my speed and position
accordingly.  This could not be done without a mirror.

>from behind) by inconsiderate or incompetent motorists. He says that
>as he "was swerving around some potholes" a motorist attacked him.

If he had been checking his mirror he could have planned to arrive at
the potholes a little earlier or later, or held back the car by
advance positioning and signalling. Cars appreciate cyclists who show
awareness of their presence and make obvious their plans to negotiate
the mutual hazard.
-- 
Chris Malcolm    cam@uk.ac.ed.aifh          +44 (0)31 650 3085
Department of Artificial Intelligence,    Edinburgh University
5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK                DoD #205