Originally Posted by Frankie
Negatory on target fixation. I can see it being target fixation had he veered into the phone pole on his own, but he was riding above and beyond his ability. Being unsure of your bike and/or abilities will definitely take your turns wide. He hit the pole because he was taking a turn too wide, went into oncoming traffic, and locked up his brakes. That's not target fixation, that's taking a turn too hard and then being overcome by panic.
Your definition of target fixation couldn't be more wrong. I hate to say it...but even WIKIPEDIA tells it how it is! The definition is AS FOLLOWS:
Target fixation is a process by which the brain is focused so intently on an observed object that awareness of other obstacles or hazards can diminish. Also, in an avoidance scenario, the observer can become so fixated on the target that the observer will end up colliding with the object.
This is a common issue for motorcyclists. A motorcycle will tend to go where the rider is looking -- and if the rider is overly focused on an obstacle (puddle of oil, tree branch, patch of sand, small child, etc), the motorcycle can collide with that object simply because of the rider's focus on it, even though the rider is trying to avoid it.
Where are all of these cruiser crashes you've read about? They're pretty rare if you ask me. I've only seen two posted on here recently, and only one was at the fault of the rider.
Are you seriously asking that? I open the newspaper almost every single day and whenever there is a motorcyclist death article, it's more than HALF of the time a CRUISER. You know how I know? Because I ALWAYS look for those kinds of articles to make sure it wasn't someone I know. I immediately skip over it if the article states that it was a cruiser.
Now I know that isn't very nice but I don't know many people who ride cruisers and therefore I probably didn't know the rider who died.
One that I can specifically recall was a cruiser who was traveling down Gunn Hwy and the rider MYSTERIOUSLY drifted into the other lane of oncoming traffic. Gee I wonder what caused him to do that? The article even STATED that he had problems negotiating the curve!!!