Unusual question, experiences wanted...

[kaceyk2]

Guys, I know this may seem a tad strange, but I am being totally serious, and request your experiences to add to my own in this matter..
It concerns accidents, accidents on motorcycles that involve something strange happening...

The "slowing down of time to an almost stop" and the ability to be able to see many possible "Futures"
More, the ability during this strange phenomenom to be able to "choose" one of those "Futures"
(Usually the one that will do you the least damage)

If this has ever happened to you, will you tell me about it please? and if it hasn't, or you dont know what I am talking about, please just ignore.

I am trying to collect as much evidence as possible, and am at odds with "scientific types" on another forum who claim it doesn't happen.

Thanks.

[UK Pete]

Kacey, i have had a couple of accidents one quite bad , the bad one was really strange in the fact that there was what seemed to be about several minets of thoughts and life experiences that flashed through my head, but in reality it all happened in a fraction of a second as the accident was taking place, while all this was happening i threw the bike on its side doing about 60mph and then every thing went blank, and i woke up about an hour later badly injured
i think the brain works at a speed not yet recognised as posible , this is probably some kind of survival thing, and now  think of it laying my bike and me down probably saved me
Pete

[kaceyk2]

Thanks Pete, thats exactly what I was talking about, I am glad you were Okay!
For some it seems to go further, like  in that "nano-second" of "time stop" some folk have seen many possible outcomes (depending on how they curl up, whether to let go or not etc) and have "chosen" an outcome that gives them the least damage..
I believe that is what happened to you laying down the bike (before it went dark)
magic, thanks.

[Bryanj]

Being ancient i have departed company from my bike too many times to remember and whilst i can not remember visualising different scenarios i can say that on some occasions i have clung on for grim death to see a car drive over where i would have been and also thrown the bike away with some force to watch the tank seat and bars get creamed under a car, in all cases had i taken the other action serious injury would have occured

[florence]

The brain is able to speed up massively in stressfull situations as a survival tactic, which is probably shared by all mammals and is as a direct result of the action of adrenaline on one's system.  Different people react in different ways when their life is threatened, some freeze, some act and of course these various actions are appropriate to different situations.  We only get to hear about the actions which were successful.

I am very surprised that some people are sceptical about this.  My understanding is that this is a very well documented and universal phenomenon known well to the scientific and medical community.

[K2-K6]

Oooooooooooh that big hit of adrenaline when something scares you is really powerful and you can feel it subside throughout your body afterwards, makes everything work faster.

It always facinates me when I hear somebody that's watching a computer do something and describes it as amazing when in comparison to their brain it's functions are fairly rudimentary but just carried out at speed. It's limited by it's programming and just remembers were it left everything that's relevant.

Relevant to this thread though, I raced motocross for a while and the skills I learnt from doing this seemed to give me significantly more options/understanding on road bikes when things got close to going sticky side up. I just feel that you build up a bigger library to scan through when it all gets a bit scary.

Saw a road accident years ago of two other vehicles (I was walking and not under threat) and could all but replay it in slow motion indicating that visual is captured somewhere.

[kaceyk2]

Ah Florence, I just read some "scientific" experiments... here is what they did. I believe it was a "flawed experiment"  They got some people and strapped these things on their arms, what these things did was display numbers that flashed quicker and quicker, the Idea being in "normal time" they would flash way  too quick for anyone to be able to read.
Then, they got these folk and dropped them from a great height, but dig this; onto a safety net
The folk that were dropped had to look at their wrists to see if they could read the fast numbers.

But of course the folk that were dropped were never really in fear of mortal danger, they knew they were ultimately safe.  So, when they reported back that time did not "slow down for them" and they could not read the quickly flashing numbers, the scientists concluded that it doesn't happen !!

I understand the adrenalin thing, dont get me wrong, chemical changes in the body do have powerfull effects, but that (to me anyways) still doesn't explain how in that "nano second" of time stop, some folk see many possible options of what to do, can see them all played out, and choose one that will cause the least damage. It's this "seeing future events" thing that has me totally intrigued..

I just got sent a book, in it an air force pilot describes how taking off from an aircraft carrier one day, at the very last moment of "Throttling back" he knew something was totally wrong.....
As the aircraft left the carrier at much less than the required speed, he details the next eight seconds.
The next "eight seconds" involved such life saving complexity, that it took him 45 minits to relate it.
Imagine, what must have happened in eight short seconds to take 45 minits to explain it?

[K2-K6]

Pilot is a classic case of intense training for coming eventualties and managing a potential crash situation.

Recently the guy (was it chesley? somebody) that put the airliner down on the Hudson river NYC after a double bird strike took out both engines and even during unpowered decent, could've been dark also, was doing things like closing under-fuselage vents to prevent the aircraft sinking after the water landing and saving all passengers/crew is a good illustration.

Read about another large passenger plane flying atlantic and had a "miss-fuel situation" (ran out to you and me) and had to glide into an island. Of course the nature of it is that you only get one go at this controlled crashing.

I know they have slightly longer than a nanosecond but each and every decision/action would have to be pretty well spot on to make it work.

Pip pip.

[Bryanj]

That Atlantic one wasn't a "misfuel" it was a numpty putting the wrong fuel pump on a Rolls engine when replacing same causing a massive fuel leak and the pilots the followed the book instead of thinking about it.
The island they glided to was Ireland!!

[ST1100]

Had only one serious bike crash (knock-knock) and it was amazing how calm and objectively one reacts on realizing 'you're not gonna make it'...
And while reacting to the threat your found yourself in, you're fascinated about being so calm, checking out your odds, deciding what to do and re/acting appropriate to that, like you have all the time on earth to solve your thing there...

Had 'time freezing' experience during the very first car crash I got into many years ago (mind that we drive RHS).
Entering an intersection, car comes from left, stops right in front of me, no where to go...
Like in those high-speed camera footages, I still remember how the side wall of the other car slowly folded in, the bonnet of mine crinkled up till the hinges snapped, wiper arms whirling off... then very slowly the generator control gleamed up, felt like 5 to 10 seconds till also the oil check lit up just as slowly... next was the hard push of the seatbelt...

But its not always the same, a few yeares ago an opponent comming vehicle pulled into my lane on a country road, saw her comming, knew its gonna happen, next was darkness due the airbag deploying followed a harsh pull by the seatbelt... no further visual memory on this...

[Spitfire]

Years ago I was plodding along on my D7 Bantam and a car pulled out in front of me (Triumph Herald). time did slow down for me, it was amazing, I was catapulted up and over the car, it seemed like an age, I was looking down at the car roof slowly going by under me. Things got back to normal speed when my head hit the ground on the other side and I slammed into the ground on my back though. A very odd experience.

Cheers

Den

[K2-K6]

The miss-fuel I read about (some time ago and slightly vague) I think was from Canada and stated as booking fuel in Kilos / delivered in lbs so less than half full payload, thought it went into assencion? and described as real seat-of-pants stuff with aircraft not airworthy after event.

I guess any air emergency would put you on the spot a bit!

As Florence stated there are the cases that go wrong from the reactions made though, Concorde-Paris and Kegworth-UK so all the reactions may not be correct.

[kaceyk2]

Thanks guys these are excellent real life accounts, just the sort of thing I was looking for..
It is a very odd and strange phenomenom, and very interesting, I guess it shows a very much unexplored and not at all understood part of what the human mind can and does do.
thanks.

[ST1100]

Would be interesting to know how this works.
Is it only related the adrenalin rush?
All senses are fully sharpened, nerves and brain 'overclocked' at peak capacities...
One might experience slightly similar 'time stretching' while avoiding an 'almost accident'...

This 'function' does make sense for survival, I think it kept our ancestors alive due preventing being overwhelmed and seized by panic during attack of a predator or while hunting already 2 million years ago.

Probably partly the 'kick' some seek in bungee jumping and such...

[K2-K6]

That's an interesting point you make there ST1100 about bungee jumping, I guess even though you are not making any decision to control it the effect is severe enough to convince your senses that you are seriosly at risk and so trigger that part of brain activity.

I raced for a while a 250 Yamaha motocross bike and had a reasonable control, tried out a friends 500 Honda a couple of times and the bike was way more violent than my experience and seemed to keep me in a almost constant state of impending peril. Exciting though.

I guess if you practice something enough it becomes more of a core response, possibly leading to a further search over and above that which you feel comfortable controlling to put you back into that thrill area.