Visual Calibration

Time, Distance and Vision...

by R. Bruce Thomas

My hand hit the edge, my feet dropped and touched the bottom, I stood up and looked at the clock. I was happy with my time covering that 25 meters.

I'm not aiming for Olympic Gold Medal glory, so  Mark Tewksbury can rest easy. I swim after my early-morning gym sessions as a good aerobic exercise that is not too hard on my knees.

Staying in shape makes motorcycling more enjoyable, and riding is never far from my mind.

I turned around in the pool to swim another length and, with my recent time at the top of my mind, realized that the distance I was about to cover, while not medal-worthy, would take less than one second at highway speed.

It is widely accepted that reaction time is close to a second. This includes recognizing danger and changing from throttle to brakes, or vice-versa in certain situations. Actually stopping takes a lot longer.

So, what are you looking at while riding? How far ahead are you scanning? If it takes the length of a swimming pool to react to a situation, how many swimming pools are in your field of view?

How close are you following the vehicles ahead? Are you using your position in the lane to your best advantage?

While taking care to look where you have to in order to safely navigate the streets, don't forget to take into account the other drivers on the road. What do you think they may be looking at? Are they displaying signs of not being fully awake, or perhaps being distracted. Are they driving aggressively, following too close behind other traffic? These could all be signs that they might change lanes without due care and attention.

And don't forget, while all of the above seemed to focus on looking forward, it is imperative to spend as much time looking back and to the sides as well.

Those swimming pool distances disappear in a big hurry.

Ride responsibly, and often.