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Razors Edge

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And here is the story. Essentially, poor vision is a real issue for older drivers in the UK.  Mandatory vision screening every 5 years might be a great idea.

Cycling police officers have called for mandatory driver eye testing every five years after one in 20 people pulled over in an operation targeting drivers who overtake cyclists too close failed roadside eye tests. Those who failed the test were mainly over the age of 60.

West Midlands Police officers Mark Hodson and Steve Hudson pioneered close pass cycling operations, where plain clothed officers on bikes are used to detect poor overtaking. Hodson says with most Birmingham drivers now aware of the operation, they are increasingly stopping drivers who either don’t see the officers on bikes, or are drunk or on drugs.

Hodson wants families to report unfit drivers before they crash, putting cyclists and pedestrians particularly at risk. Many drivers the officers stopped were unable to read a number plate at 7.5m, around a third of the required 20m. 

‘I would like to see mandatory eye testing every five years for every driver,’ says Hodson, adding that an ageing population and more and younger people being diagnosed with type II diabetes, which can affect vision, was ‘a recipe for disaster’ when it comes to safe driving.

‘They will kill someone eventually. The only reason they will stop driving otherwise is when they have a bump. It can’t go on any more.’

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2 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

And here is the story. Essentially, poor vision is a real issue for older drivers in the UK.  Mandatory vision screening every 5 years might be a great idea.

Cycling police officers have called for mandatory driver eye testing every five years after one in 20 people pulled over in an operation targeting drivers who overtake cyclists too close failed roadside eye tests. Those who failed the test were mainly over the age of 60.

West Midlands Police officers Mark Hodson and Steve Hudson pioneered close pass cycling operations, where plain clothed officers on bikes are used to detect poor overtaking. Hodson says with most Birmingham drivers now aware of the operation, they are increasingly stopping drivers who either don’t see the officers on bikes, or are drunk or on drugs.

Hodson wants families to report unfit drivers before they crash, putting cyclists and pedestrians particularly at risk. Many drivers the officers stopped were unable to read a number plate at 7.5m, around a third of the required 20m. 

‘I would like to see mandatory eye testing every five years for every driver,’ says Hodson, adding that an ageing population and more and younger people being diagnosed with type II diabetes, which can affect vision, was ‘a recipe for disaster’ when it comes to safe driving.

‘They will kill someone eventually. The only reason they will stop driving otherwise is when they have a bump. It can’t go on any more.’

I sent that to my buddy, Prince Phillip. I hope he takes it to heart.

 

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1 minute ago, 2Far said:

I sent that to my buddy, Prince Phillip. I hope he takes it to heart.

I believe it made INTERNATIONAL NEWS that he gave up his drivers license (at age 97).  Seriously, it is a messed up world when I hear/read about some husband of a queen in a foreign land getting int ocar accidents.  Just awful waste of humanity's bandwidth :(

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FWIW, It's called "Inattentional Blindness". We don't see what we don't expect to see. Ask the former skipper of the USS Greenville.

As cyclists we see it in action all the time. Riding down the road, car pulls to a stop at at driveway or cross street. LOOKS RIGHT AT US. And then pulls out. Yet, as cyclists when we're driving, we always see them.

 

Another test:

 

 

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2 minutes ago, 2Far said:

FWIW, It's called "Inattentional Blindness". We don't see what we don't expect to see. Ask the former skipper of the USS Greenville.

As cyclists we see it in action all the time. Riding down the road, car pulls to a stop at at driveway or cross street. LOOKS RIGHT AT US. And then pulls out. Yet, as cyclists when we're driving, we always see them.

 

Another test:

 

 

It was Lady Smythe regardless!

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3 minutes ago, 2Far said:

FWIW, It's called "Inattentional Blindness". We don't see what we don't expect to see. Ask the former skipper of the USS Greenville.

As cyclists we see it in action all the time. Riding down the road, car pulls to a stop at at driveway or cross street. LOOKS RIGHT AT US. And then pulls out. Yet, as cyclists when we're driving, we always see them.

That was actually where the first video came from - an article on that sort of thing.  But what is scary about the new study (small as it is) is that it shows we aren't trying too hard about the things we can fix - ie semi-blind folks driving - as well as the scary drunk/drugged driving still going on (in the AM as well as PM).  Insanity.

My mind was pulled to this after reading the news bot story about the Italians pros pushing for daytime light use (on bikes) and better Italian laws.

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5 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

My mind was pulled to this after reading the news bot story about the Italians pros pushing for daytime light use (on bikes) and better Italian laws.

I see quite a bit of day time blinky use around here.

Re the old people, I wonder if it's a kind of the longer we drive, the more we drive on autopilot. Or, maybe they are more fixated on one thing & lose situational awareness momentarily. Dunno.

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1 minute ago, 2Far said:

I see quite a bit of day time blinky use around here.

Re the old people, I wonder if it's a kind of the longer we drive, the more we drive on autopilot. Or, maybe they are more fixated on one thing & lose situational awareness momentarily. Dunno.

Could be a bunch of stuff, but the EASILY testable is the eyesight thing.  Let's knock of the low hanging fruit like poor eyesight and driving while impaired (two no brainers) and get to work on the tougher stuff like scatterbrained or autopilot.  Or just get us REAL AUTOPILOT ASAP!  Take these decisions out of human hands :D

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3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Could be a bunch of stuff, but the EASILY testable is the eyesight thing.  Let's knock of the low hanging fruit like poor eyesight and driving while impaired (two no brainers) and get to work on the tougher stuff like scatterbrained or autopilot.  Or just get us REAL AUTOPILOT ASAP!  Take these decisions out of human hands :D

W3RD!

Quote

Take these decisions out of human hands

I've been think a lot about this lately. Everything we do is designed to keep the worker from making a decision. OSHA rules, ANSI standards, Client rules, our rules, etc. But at sometime, the wokrer is going to have to make a decision about what he's going to do next and we've had a bunch of STUPID decisions over the last tow years.

We had a guy last year, in Florida, on a 15 degree day, in a plant where they run the safety showers & eyes washes to keep them from freezing, decide to slide down the ice covered concrete between points A & B. He didn't fall but wrenched his back trying not to.

A guy on uneven ground is walking backwards.

A guy who doesn't unplug the grinder while changing cutting discs.

By taking away most of the decisions they have to make, are we left with someone who just makes random ones when the time comes to actually make a decision?  Dunno.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, 2Far said:

We had a guy last year, in Florida, on a 15 degree day, in a plant where they run the safety showers & eyes washes to keep them from freezing, decide to slide down the ice covered concrete between points A & B. He didn't fall but wrenched his back trying not to.

A guy on uneven ground is walking backwards.

A guy who doesn't unplug the grinder while changing cutting discs.

Do you have video of me?

 

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