SCIENCE OF BEING SEEN (SOBS)  SOBS - WHAT IS IT? A magician knows that the 'world' we see has been built entirely inside our brains. The magician knows that the audience about to attend the magic show understands that they are going to be fooled, yet still can't spot the tricks. When we ride a motorcycle or a scooter, we become the magician and the drivers and other road users all around us are our audience. One of our magic powers is invisibility, but there are a couple of extra deceptions involved. Yet the motorcyclist isn't aware that he / she is a magician and about to fool the audience. And the motorcyclist's audience of drivers doesn't know the biker is a magician either.  The 'Science Of Being Seen' (SOBS) presentation is an in-depth investigation of the most common motorcycle crash of all - the 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You' or 'SMIDSY' collision at junctions. We'll ask why drivers continue to fail to spot motorcycles, and why conspicuity aids have proven largely ineffective. We'll see how to use hi-vis clothing and day-riding lights more effectively, how to improve our night time conspicuity, and conclude by looking at pro-active riding strategies that reduce the risks of being caught out by someone else's error.  Based on decades of scientific research into these crashes, the webcast reveals the secrets of our very own motorcycling invisibility show. SOBS HISTORY - the 'Science Of Being Seen' (SOBS) presentation was originally  written over the winter of 2011/12 as a proactive accident prevention module for the pilot 'Biker Down' courses developed by Kent Fire and Rescue Service. 'Biker Down' has since been picked up by most fire services in the UK as well as the UK military, and a version of SOBS was used by many Biker Down teams until 2020 - I personally delivered SOBS for KFRS at Rochester until the COVID crisis in March 2020. ...Bruce E - ​All good thanks Kevin, read twice, seen twice, always learn each time! AWARD WINNING - our 'Biker Down' team in Kent was awarded a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award at the end of 2012 and a insurance industry award in 2013.   ...Paul C ​- Thank you Kevin. The books support the explanations you've given. Very enjoyable. GOING INTERNATIONAL - in 2018 and 2019 I took SOBS to New Zealand, as one of a team of international speakers on the nationwide Shiny Side Up rider safety initiative. We travelled around the country to visit over a dozen venues on each occasion. I reprised the role as a virtual speaker in 2021.  In 2020, SOBS was broadcast to viewers worldwide as one of the presentations featured on the US-based REVVtalks series of better biking webinars from riding experts around the world. SOBS was also a featured presentation in the spring 2021 RoadSafetyGB 'Powered Two Wheeler' safety week.  And of course, since 2012 I have been delivering SOBS to clubs and rider groups around the UK, both in person and most recently via Zoom. ...Paul In Shanghai - ​Excellent Kevin. As is often said, one never stops learning! SCIENCE-BASED - SOBS was created to solve a practical riding problem - the SMIDSY collision - but is based firmly on scientific research. SOBS is regularly updated as new studies emerge - the talk has been only recently been updated to reflect new studies on lighting arrangements and the 'looked, saw but forgot' theory that appeared in the literature as recently as 2018. Find all the latest news at the free-to-access website at www.scienceofbeingseen.org - each topic is supported by references to available research, a body of data extending back to the 1970s.  ...Clive - ​That was useful. Thanks Kevin. AIDE-MEMOIRE - there's a short paperback book to act as a reminder to the presentation - the cost is £9.99 . SOBS is also available as an ebook download. ...Brian M ​Thanks, Kevin found it very interesting, I have the book as well PRESENTER - Kevin Williams MSc - inveterate biker, serial writer, scientific thinker... rider coach, safety advocate, speaker, creator of 'Science Of Being Seen' (SOBS) - is an independent BTEC-qualified rider coach. With the benefit of a research-based Masters degree, Kevin's work to improve riding standards has always had a strong science background. Kevin has worked with thousands of riders since 1997, acted as a consultant to the TRL on rider training investigations, and served with several UK-based road safety projects, including Bucks County Council's 'Be a Better Biker' scheme, Somerset Road Safety Partnership's innovative multi-format 'Rider Skills' days at Castle Coombe circuit, and the KFRS 'Biker Down' sessions and their Brands Hatch-based 'Ride Skills' days. ...Julian S Really enjoyed the presentation, thanks SOBS receives no funding and remains entirely self-funded. All income from sales is ploughed back into website hosting, further research and writing.  This is YOUR CHANCE to see the ORIGINAL and FULL Science Of Being Seen presentation updated with the most recent research. TICKETS ARE JUST £5. Attendance is limited to 30 people per event. YOUR ACCESS CODE WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU APPROXIMATELY 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT.

'BRAKING IN BENDS' - avoid at all costs or essential skill?  In theory, we'd enter every corner 'at a speed that allows us to stop in the distance we can see is clear'. In reality, the situation ahead of us can change in an instant. And we're human - we make mistakes. And so sometimes, the ability to lose speed rapidly and under control in corners is an absolutely essential skills. Unfortunately, not every rider manages to slow down AND keep control - braking in corners leads to far too many crashes.  In this webcast, we'll look at how braking and steering inputs can work together without overwhelming tyre grip.  This is YOUR CHANCE to see a LIVE WEBCAST from the author of the 'Science Of Being Seen' presentation. TICKETS ARE JUST £5. Attendance is limited to 30 people per event. YOUR ACCESS CODE WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU APPROXIMATELY 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT. Schedule Time    Item 7:50 pm    Virtual doors open 8:00 pm    Presentation starts 8:45 pm    Question time (approximately) 9:00 pm    Presentation ends (approximately)  

The 'Science Of Being Seen' (SOBS) presentation was originally created by myself (Kevin Williams MSc) over the winter of 2011-2012 as the third 'accident prevention' module of Kent Fire & Rescue's pilot 'Biker Down' course. SOBS is an in-depth investigation of the most common motorcycle crash of all - the 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You' or 'SMIDSY' collision. The aim is to offer a better understanding of how, where and why these collisions happen, and to give riders some simple and practical strategies for staying out of trouble. ...Paul C ​- Thank you Kevin. The books support the explanations you've given. Very enjoyable. Science-based - SOBS was created to solve a practical riding problem - the SMIDSY collision - but is based firmly on scientific research into these crashes, a body of data extending back into the 1970s. The SOBS website is open to all, regularly updated and provides the background to the presentation, including offering full references for my work.  ...Paul In Shanghai - ​Excellent Kevin. As is often said, one never stops learning! Regularly updated - new studies continue to emerge and the talk has been updated regularly to reflect the latest thinking such as new studies on lighting arrangements to cope with the widespread use of day-running lights on cars, and the 'looked, saw but forgot' theory that appeared in the literature as recently as 2018.  ...Clive - ​That was useful. Thanks Kevin. Award-winning - as well as an insurance industry award for Biker Down, our team at Kent was honoured with a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award which we collected at the Savoy Hotel in London in November 2012. ...Bruce E - ​All good thanks Kevin, read twice, seen twice, always learn each time! Used nationally - As more and more fire services across the UK adopted Biker Down, a stripped-down version of SOBS has been used as the third module on many of these courses, right up to the moment courses were shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I personally continued to deliver SOBS to audience of motorcyclists at Rochester in Kent for KFRS until my final presentation in February 2020. ...Brian M ​Thanks, Kevin found it very interesting, I have the book as well Delivered to rider groups - I have personally travelled out to clubs and rider groups around the UK in person to deliver SOBS, and more recently I've been giving the presentation online as COVID restrictions have made meetings difficult. Going international - SOBS has also gained international recognition. In 2018 and 2019 I was one of a team of international speakers on the nationwide Shiny Side Up rider safety initiative in New Zealand, travelling around the country to visit over a dozen venues on each occasion. In 2021, I was a virtual speaker at Shiny Side Up.  Available as a book - SOBS is also available as a paperback book or an ebook download. All funds from sales are ploughed back into website hosting, further research and writing.  SOBS receives no funding - the SOBS project remains entirely self-funded.   WHAT IS SOBS? SOBS looks to explain why motorcycles aren't seen at junctions. The talk explores a range of problems:  'looked but COULD NOT see' collisions, where for various reasons - including 'beam blindness' and the 'constant bearing issue' - it was physically impossible for the driver to see the motorcycle in the run up to the crash 'looked but FAILED TO see' collisions, where the bike was in a place it could be seen but visual perception issues meant that the driver failed to spot the bike 'looked, SAW AND FORGOT' collisions where short term visual memory and workload issues meant that the driver was likely to have seen the bike but mentally lost track of it 'looked, SAW AND MISJUDGED speed and distance' collisions, which tend to happen on faster roads We'll also take an objective look at the effectiveness or otherwise of the usual 'passive safety' conspicuity aids - hi-vis clothing and day-riding lights (DRLs), before suggesting some general rules to make them more effective. And the talk concludes with an explanation of the concept of a 'Two to Tangle' collision where someone else makes the initial error but the motorcyclist fails to take evasive action, then offers some simple pro-active measures any rider can take to reduce the risks of being caught up in a SMIDY collision themselves.    This is YOUR CHANCE to see the ORIGINAL and FULL Science Of Being Seen presentation updated with the most recent research. TICKETS ARE JUST £5. Attendance is limited to 30 people per event. YOUR ACCESS CODE WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU APPROXIMATELY 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT.

DISCOVER THE SURVIVAL SKILLS 'ROAD MAP' APPROACH TO RIDING BENDS! Cornering crashes are unusual. They are rarely one single yet catastrophic error - we don't often turn left when we should have gone right, or arrive 50 mph too fast for a bend.  Instead, the vast majority of cornering crashes are a 'clusterfuck' - a sequence of small errors that occur one at a time, and add up - eventually - to a situation which is moving beyond our ability to correct it.  Typical 'bit by bit' mistakes include braking too late or ineffectually, running in to the corner too fast, turning in too early, apexing the bend too soon, running off-line in the second half of the bend, running wide on the exit and hitting the brakes, then target-fixating and run out of tarmac.  What we need is a cornering system that firstly AVOIDS the 'clusterf*ck' errors whenever possible, but at least as importantly gives the rider a chance to DETECT and CORRECT the errors when they happen. And that's the role of the Survival Skills system of cornering 'Reference Points' - 'entry', 'turn-in' and 'exit'. In this presentation we'll cover how we can...  * learn the key reference points in a corner * recognise the reference points as we negotiate a corner * use the reference points to time our machine inputs - slowing, steering, and accelerating * link the reference points gives us a reliable line into, through and out of, a corner * recognise that we're too quick or off-line and what we can do to correct our error In short, the Survival Skills 'reference point' approach to corners offers a ROAD MAP for riding bends.  This is YOUR CHANCE to see a LIVE WEBCAST from the author of the 'Science Of Being Seen'. TICKETS ARE JUST £5. Attendance is limited to 30 people per event. YOUR ACCESS CODE WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU APPROXIMATELY 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT. Schedule Time    Item 7:50 pm    Virtual doors open 8:00 pm    Presentation starts 8:45 pm    Question time (approximately) 9:00 pm    Presentation ends (approximately)  

The 'Science Of Being Seen' (SOBS) presentation was originally created by myself (Kevin Williams MSc) over the winter of 2011-2012 as the third 'accident prevention' module of Kent Fire & Rescue's pilot 'Biker Down' course. SOBS is an in-depth investigation of the most common motorcycle crash of all - the 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You' or 'SMIDSY' collision. The aim is to offer a better understanding of how, where and why these collisions happen, and to give riders some simple and practical strategies for staying out of trouble. ...Paul C ​- Thank you Kevin. The books support the explanations you've given. Very enjoyable. Science-based - SOBS was created to solve a practical riding problem - the SMIDSY collision - but is based firmly on scientific research into these crashes, a body of data extending back into the 1970s. The SOBS website is open to all, regularly updated and provides the background to the presentation, including offering full references for my work.  ...Paul In Shanghai - ​Excellent Kevin. As is often said, one never stops learning! Regularly updated - new studies continue to emerge and the talk has been updated regularly to reflect the latest thinking such as new studies on lighting arrangements to cope with the widespread use of day-running lights on cars, and the 'looked, saw but forgot' theory that appeared in the literature as recently as 2018.  ...Clive - ​That was useful. Thanks Kevin. Award-winning - as well as an insurance industry award for Biker Down, our team at Kent was honoured with a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award which we collected at the Savoy Hotel in London in November 2012. ...Bruce E - ​All good thanks Kevin, read twice, seen twice, always learn each time! Used nationally - As more and more fire services across the UK adopted Biker Down, a stripped-down version of SOBS has been used as the third module on many of these courses, right up to the moment courses were shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I personally continued to deliver SOBS to audience of motorcyclists at Rochester in Kent for KFRS until my final presentation in February 2020. ...Brian M ​Thanks, Kevin found it very interesting, I have the book as well Delivered to rider groups - I have personally travelled out to clubs and rider groups around the UK in person to deliver SOBS, and more recently I've been giving the presentation online as COVID restrictions have made meetings difficult. Going international - SOBS has also gained international recognition. In 2018 and 2019 I was one of a team of international speakers on the nationwide Shiny Side Up rider safety initiative in New Zealand, travelling around the country to visit over a dozen venues on each occasion. In 2021, I was a virtual speaker at Shiny Side Up.  Available as a book - SOBS is also available as a paperback book or an ebook download. All funds from sales are ploughed back into website hosting, further research and writing.  SOBS receives no funding - the SOBS project remains entirely self-funded.   WHAT IS SOBS? SOBS looks to explain why motorcycles aren't seen at junctions. The talk explores a range of problems:  'looked but COULD NOT see' collisions, where for various reasons - including 'beam blindness' and the 'constant bearing issue' - it was physically impossible for the driver to see the motorcycle in the run up to the crash 'looked but FAILED TO see' collisions, where the bike was in a place it could be seen but visual perception issues meant that the driver failed to spot the bike 'looked, SAW AND FORGOT' collisions where short term visual memory and workload issues meant that the driver was likely to have seen the bike but mentally lost track of it 'looked, SAW AND MISJUDGED speed and distance' collisions, which tend to happen on faster roads We'll also take an objective look at the effectiveness or otherwise of the usual 'passive safety' conspicuity aids - hi-vis clothing and day-riding lights (DRLs), before suggesting some general rules to make them more effective. And the talk concludes with an explanation of the concept of a 'Two to Tangle' collision where someone else makes the initial error but the motorcyclist fails to take evasive action, then offers some simple pro-active measures any rider can take to reduce the risks of being caught up in a SMIDY collision themselves.    This is YOUR CHANCE to see the ORIGINAL and FULL Science Of Being Seen presentation updated with the most recent research. TICKETS ARE JUST £5. Attendance is limited to 30 people per event. YOUR ACCESS CODE WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU APPROXIMATELY 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT.

The 'Science Of Being Seen' (SOBS) presentation was originally created by myself (Kevin Williams MSc) over the winter of 2011-2012 as the third 'accident prevention' module of Kent Fire & Rescue's pilot 'Biker Down' course. SOBS is an in-depth investigation of the most common motorcycle crash of all - the 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You' or 'SMIDSY' collision. The aim is to offer a better understanding of how, where and why these collisions happen, and to give riders some simple and practical strategies for staying out of trouble. Science-based - SOBS was created to solve a practical riding problem - the SMIDSY collision - but is based firmly on scientific research into these crashes, a body of data extending back into the 1970s. The SOBS website is open to all, regularly updated and provides the background to the presentation, including offering full references for my work.  Regularly updated - new studies continue to emerge and the talk has been updated regularly to reflect the latest thinking such as new studies on lighting arrangements to cope with the widespread use of day-running lights on cars, and the 'looked, saw but forgot' theory that appeared in the literature as recently as 2018.  Award-winning - as well as an insurance industry award for Biker Down, our team at Kent was honoured with a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award which we collected at the Savoy Hotel in London in November 2012. Used nationally - As more and more fire services across the UK adopted Biker Down, a stripped-down version of SOBS has been used as the third module on many of these courses, right up to the moment courses were shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I personally continued to deliver SOBS to audience of motorcyclists at Rochester in Kent for KFRS until my final presentation in February 2020. Delivered to rider groups - I have personally travelled out to clubs and rider groups around the UK in person to deliver SOBS, and more recently I've been giving the presentation online as COVID restrictions have made meetings difficult. Going international - SOBS has also gained international recognition. In 2018 and 2019 I was one of a team of international speakers on the nationwide Shiny Side Up rider safety initiative in New Zealand, travelling around the country to visit over a dozen venues on each occasion. In 2021, I was a virtual speaker at Shiny Side Up.  Available as a book - SOBS is also available as a paperback book or an ebook download. All funds from sales are ploughed back into website hosting, further research and writing.  SOBS receives no funding - the SOBS project remains entirely self-funded.   WHAT IS SOBS? SOBS looks to explain why motorcycles aren't seen at junctions. The talk explores a range of problems:  'looked but COULD NOT see' collisions, where for various reasons - including 'beam blindness' and the 'constant bearing issue' - it was physically impossible for the driver to see the motorcycle in the run up to the crash 'looked but FAILED TO see' collisions, where the bike was in a place it could be seen but visual perception issues meant that the driver failed to spot the bike 'looked, SAW AND FORGOT' collisions where short term visual memory and workload issues meant that the driver was likely to have seen the bike but mentally lost track of it 'looked, SAW AND MISJUDGED speed and distance' collisions, which tend to happen on faster roads We'll also take an objective look at the effectiveness or otherwise of the usual 'passive safety' conspicuity aids - hi-vis clothing and day-riding lights (DRLs), before suggesting some general rules to make them more effective. And the talk concludes with an explanation of the concept of a 'Two to Tangle' collision where someone else makes the initial error but the motorcyclist fails to take evasive action, then offers some simple pro-active measures any rider can take to reduce the risks of being caught up in a SMIDY collision themselves.    This is YOUR CHANCE to see the ORIGINAL and FULL Science Of Being Seen presentation updated with the most recent research. TICKETS ARE JUST £5. Attendance is limited to 30 people per event. Your access code will be emailed to you shortly before the event. 

'Crash Course' - the top 3 spills are junctions, corners, overtakes. A no-blame investigation into the causes with positive suggestions on how to recognise and correct errors with a look at the value of 'Insight Training' as the future of rider training.