Anyone living in the North West and who commutes in the car would probably have heard those annoying Sorry Mate motorcycle compensation adverts. The narrator goes on about a biker weaving through traffic on the right when a car suddenly turns and the biker collides with the car, the biker can suddenly claim compensation.

Well, it got me thinking after I nearly had a near miss with a prat on a moped. I was driving home along my street (residential area, not on a main road) with said prat on the moped close behind me. As I approached my drive I indicated to turn right and began to slow down. I began to turn, without stopping completely but slow enough in order I can get onto the drive with due care, when said muppet on two wheels decided to weave around me in the direction I was turning. I can't help but think he was lucky I didn't take to the drive any quicker, because he would have hit me had I not slowed down considerably.

But the description in the Sorry Mate advert got me thinking. If that had been a car behind me, I have no doubt the other driver would have been at fault. In fact due to the size of the vehicle that would have been behind me, they would have had to wait for me to turn completely before carrying on their journey. But would it be OK for an individual on two wheels behind me to go around me in the direction I was turning, and for me to be at fault if a collision had happened? I've seen motorcyclists go through traffic on the right loads of times so I'm not disputing that the practice is legal, but I can't help but think it's one rule for one and one rule for another in this scenario when a collision occurs.

Can I just throw three pennoth in ?

Humans have a field of vision that is ALMOST 180 degrees, get someone to test yours, its actually quite surprising what you can see to the side of you, I already know what both of my eyes are like for field of vision because I have it tested by my doctor every six months, but a simple test such as getting someone to approach from behind and then holding your hand up when you can see then should surprise you.

Further to that, your vision is also alerted more by moving objects, its an animal instinct sort of thing.

So, a moped approaching your car from behind won't be visible to you yet, but if you turn your head even just slightly then your 180 degree field should pick them up easily, especially if they are deviating from a static location in relation to your eye, in other words they are pulling out to overtake and moving across you field of vision.

What we really need is an almost 360 degree field like some birds do.