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.....which of course we all do. I mean I wouldn't dream of riding without shoulder checking four times a second to be aware of when something is coming up behind me at speed and therefore likely to overtake.

Then again, as I do like the look so much, I usually ride with a pirate eyepatch on one eye. A policeman did tick me off for this once, but I pointed out he was blaming the victim and should instead ensure that all drivers should have advanced anti-collision radar fitted to their cars and lasers to project their arrival onto the road ahead of me instead as it was none of my responsibility.

Tongue in cheek obv. But I'm a cyclist and a high mileage driver and my responsibility is to exercise the greatest care in both modes.

Hate over-legislation, and usually ride without a helmet (the roads are pretty quiet out here) but voluntarily restricting my ability to know what's going on around me seems to be all flavours of stoopid.

Great, so am I, such pithy statements are not going to garner great affection.

You don't look in your car mirrors 4 times a second, so you don't need to turn your heard 4 times a second. You're exaggerating for no reason. You judge how often you need to look behind based on traffic speed, just like you would in a car. Motorbikes filter past at 20mph higher than your speed, that doesn't mean you need your windows down and your eyes glued to the wing mirror to make sure you spot them and hear them the second they appear on the horizon.