Motorcycle accidents often involve another road user who claims not to have seen the motorcyclist until it was too late to avert a collision. Such accidents are thought to happen because motorcycles are less conspicuous than other vehicles. This laboratory experiment contrasts traditional conspicuity factors (for example headlight use, distance of the motorcyclist from the viewer and complexity of the motorcyclist's background) with one stable psychological feature of the subject: cognitive style (field independence/field dependence). Subjects viewed 23 broadcast quality video clips of a road intersection, some of which contained motorcyclists. The motorcyclist was located at varying distances from the viewer, against a background that was either complex ("cluttered") or plain ("uncluttered"). The motorcycle's headlight was either on or off. Reaction times to detect the motorcyclist were measured with a two-way decision box. Subjects then completed an Embedded Figures Test (Witkin, Ottman, Raskin & Karp, 1976). Results agreed with previous motorcycle conspicuity research, that headlight use, distance and background complexity affect subjects' reaction times. In almost all conditions cognitive style had no significant effect, however when the motorcycle was at the greatest distance and appeared against a complex background without lights, field dependent drivers took significantly longer to detect it.
Abstract