“I didn’t see you” is something you often hear drivers say after crashes. Yet, you are not invisible and they are not blind. So how does this come about?
There are several possible explanations:
They were not aware of their blind spots
All vehicles have blind spots. However, some vehicles have larger blind spots than others. Semi-trucks for example have massive ones due to their bulk. SUVs and modern pickups also have bigger-than-average blind spots. Other times it might be down to how a vehicle is loaded. For example, a driver with things piled high in the back seat may drastically increase the percentage of the road around them they cannot see. Drivers need to understand their blind spots and take extra precautions.
They did not look properly
Often, drivers just don’t look. They might throw a cursory glance at their mirrors, but they don’t look well enough to take everything in.
They were not expecting to see you
Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon whereby people miss seeing something in front of them because they are not expecting it. A driver’s brain is typically focused on searching for other cars. So they may not take in the cyclist or motorcyclist in front of them, because they were not expecting them to be there.
While it is possible that a driver not seeing you was partly down to something you did, such as if you were driving without your lights on at night, or traveling way faster than is legal, often they hold the majority of blame for not seeing you. Learning how to prove this could help you get the compensation you will need if injured.