You are riding your motorcycle down the street on a relatively open road. Ahead of you, you see a driver pull out to the end of their driveway, waiting to turn onto the street. You can see their head moving, and they look both ways, including glancing directly at your motorcycle. You assume that they have seen you and will wait until you have gone by to make their turn.
But they do not. Instead, they suddenly turn right in front of the motorcycle, cutting you off. There is no time to react, and you cannot even swerve around the vehicle. You hit the side of the car and suffer serious injuries. But how did this happen if the driver looked right at you?
They may not have seen you
What often happens is that drivers will look at motorcycles and simply not see them. After the crash, that driver may get out of their car and say that your bike just came out of nowhere. They had no idea you were there. Often, this is why drivers accuse motorcyclists of speeding, assuming that they must have come around the corner or over a hill at the last second.
But what is really happening is that the brain may have filtered the motorcycle out. When drivers do not take long enough to really pay attention and take in their surroundings, they sometimes fall victim to inattentional blindness. The brain can prioritize important information and is more likely to recognize things that the driver expects to see. So a driver who does not expect to see a motorcycle and does not take enough time to really look at the road may genuinely not see that bike until they have already caused the accident.
Even if they did not see you, they are still responsible for the crash, so be sure you know how to seek legal guidance on how to seek financial compensation.
