Advocacy & Safety - Lights on at DUSK ! Ride in the correct lane position !!

I ride a lot at night. I examine my bike from all different angles at a distance to see what it looks like in the dark. I don't think this is very common. The point is, it makes me aware of the possibility of a hard to see cyclist or pedestrian at night when I'm driving. I don't think a non cyclist would be as careful.

Driving home at dusk the other day, I was going over a narrow bridge that had a sweeping turn to my left. The break down lane slowly disappeared as the center of the bridge became closer. The sky was light, but below the horizon or behind something was very dark. I was straining to see as much as I could.

As I got close to the narrow part of the bridge I spot a woman on a road bike standing up, sprinting up the hill and throwing the bike back and forth. I did not see her until I was right on top of her. There was absolutely no way I could have stopped in time, I'm talking like 20 feet in front of me. There was just enough room to pass. I would never have passed that close by choice.
If she had reflectors I would have seen her in time to slow and let her have the lane, all day if she wanted it. If she had a taillight and was taking the lane I would have seen her even earlier. She should have taken the lane earlier before it got so narrow.

~ But she needed illumination to do that properly.~

The bridge was narrow, the traffic was not fast 25 mph, but it was heavy- one car after another, I would have slowed to any speed she wanted, and blocked traffic for her from behind, until the lane opened up again and she gave me passing room. I would have stopped and let her in the lane !!

She made it almost impossible. Not even reflectors!

Later a cyclist crossed right in front of me with no warning and nothing to make the bike visible. I stopped in time. A few minutes after that a pedestrian did the same thing, A guy on crutches with only one leg! He took his time going across thinking that I could see him easily.
Try and put yourself in the drivers position and see what they would see.

Please use lights, reflectors, and ride in the correct lane position!! IT MATTERS.

Yikes!

I'll go a step further. Lights on all the time. Not everyone's got HID or even rechargeable halogen, but at least turn on your blinkies, and if you have a Catye Opticube or similar LED headlight, turn it onto the flashing mode. My experience is that they'll catch my eye from a range of more than a city block in broad daylight. And if you have a rechargeable light system, and it has enough runtime to use it in the daytime, go for it.

It's incredible how inexpensive red bicycle blinkies are. I probably spent close to $70 dollars just on blinkies alone and will NOT bicycle at night without at least two of them on my small back back. Even with that, I end up feeling very insecure and often ride on the sidewalks at slow speeds instead of becoming road kill.

I suspect someone will honk the living day lights out of this woman and she'll either get a rear blinky or stop cycling completely at night.

Yikes!

I'll go a step further. Lights on all the time. Not everyone's got HID or even rechargeable halogen, but at least turn on your blinkies, and if you have a Catye Opticube or similar LED headlight, turn it onto the flashing mode. My experience is that they'll catch my eye from a range of more than a city block in broad daylight. And if you have a rechargeable light system, and it has enough runtime to use it in the daytime, go for it.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing regarding rear blinkies. I just need to buy rechargable batteries!

I'm thinking of doing the same thing regarding rear blinkies. I just need to buy rechargable batteries!If you can by any chance afford a Niterider headlight system and the wicked Niterider tail blinkie, that would bolster your confidence on the rear visibility. I should do another demo movie of it compared to a "normal" blinkie...

About US$150-$160 would get you a basic Trail Rat 2.0 headlight system plus the NR blinkie. Too bad they don't sell a blinkie-only kit with a compact rechargeable battery...

It's incredible how inexpensive red bicycle blinkies are. I probably spent close to $70 dollars just on blinkies alone and will NOT bicycle at night without at least two of them on my small back back. Even with that, I end up feeling very insecure and often ride on the sidewalks at slow speeds instead of becoming road kill.

I suspect someone will honk the living day lights out of this woman and she'll either get a rear blinky or stop cycling completely at night.


I have seen blinkies hanging from backpacks that were aimed at the ground and nearly invisible. You have to be careful when hanging blinkies. I prefer mine mounted to something and aimed at where the drivers eyes will be myself.

Don't underestimate the lowly reflector. They never need batteries. You don't have to remember to turn them on. I keep the standard-issue reflectors on my bike in addition to adding lights. Plust reflector tape strips all over the frame.

. . .About US$150-$160 would get you a basic Trail Rat 2.0 headlight system plus the NR blinkie. Too bad they don't sell a blinkie-only kit with a compact rechargeable battery...
I've had the same thought. Companies are jumping all over themselves to make better headlights with long-lasting batteries. Why can't they do the same for rear lights? I'd love to have a strong rear LED attached to a small, tub-mounted NiMh battery.

If you get the NR taillight only, you can splice on a Radio Shack RC battery for really very little money



If you can by any chance afford a Niterider headlight system and the wicked Niterider tail blinkie, that would bolster your confidence on the rear visibility. I should do another demo movie of it compared to a "normal" blinkie...

About US$150-$160 would get you a basic Trail Rat 2.0 headlight system plus the NR blinkie. Too bad they don't sell a blinkie-only kit with a compact rechargeable battery...

I've had the same thought. Companies are jumping all over themselves to make better headlights with long-lasting batteries. Why can't they do the same for rear lights? I'd love to have a strong rear LED attached to a small, tub-mounted NiMh battery.

Have you read about slvoid's Nightrider taillight that he runs off of a AA pack that he built? It's here somewhere. I can't remember the name of the thread..

... The sky was light, but below the horizon or behind something was very dark. I was straining to see as much as I could.

... I did not see her until I was right on top of her. ... I'm talking like 20 feet in front of me.

Please use lights, reflectors, and ride in the correct lane position!! IT MATTERS.
I agree the cyclist should take to heart your suggestions, but if your headlights only illuminate out to 20 feet, YOU need to get them fixed. It also sounds like a set of prescription glasses may help.

Yikes!

I'll go a step further. Lights on all the time. Not everyone's got HID or even rechargeable halogen, but at least turn on your blinkies, and if you have a Catye Opticube or similar LED headlight, turn it onto the flashing mode. My experience is that they'll catch my eye from a range of more than a city block in broad daylight. And if you have a rechargeable light system, and it has enough runtime to use it in the daytime, go for it.

Excellent.

It works so well that there used to be many cars and motorcycles built with lights that stay on all the time. I think there still are a few. There are places (like construction zones) or other places where you must put your car headlights on. From driving a motorcycle in traffic and having exactly the same visibility problems as a bicycle for 30 years, I can say it
has worked for me. It probably saved my life a couple of times.

I agree the cyclist should take to heart your suggestions, but if your headlights only illuminate out to 20 feet, YOU need to get them fixed. It also sounds like a set of prescription glasses may help.

There was a sweeping curve to the left so that I could not see to the right hand side of the cars in front of me. The traffic was slowing down. She was visible briefly between the two cars in front of me for a second probably. But there was not much contrast to see her against a gray concrete wall to her right. So basically as I was slowing to almost a stop, I saw her as she came into sight as the car in front of me passed her. Also all the cars had their brake lights on adding to the glare factor. That may have added a faction of a second to the time when I could see her too. If she had a good blinker I could have actually seen her right through the windows of the cars. And If she had a good headlight I might have seen some glare on the wall through the windows of the car in front of me. It's hard to know all the factors, all a cyclist can do is add things that help. That's how I think about it, you can't control everything, but you can control what you have on your bike and body. If she had taken the whole lane and had either reflectors or a red blinker I could have seen her earlier as I looked up the row of cars. Being on the right was not very good. Plus if the car behind her matched her speed she would have been protected from the rear.

As for my vision.. she had a red road bike with white lettering, bladed spokes probably Ksyriums, a rack with a rack trunk, a white helmet, black tights, blue vest over a long sleeve jersey, and had a very nice figure~! :)

I was driving home from a 50 mile ride yesterday. 2 Lane interstate access road with heavy rush hour traffic in both lanes ... no shoulder, just a curb and there is a guy riding AGAINST traffic with a dim white blinkie with a black jacket on just after dark :rolleyes: I didn't notice a reflector and didn't see him till the last second. He was also riding one handed as he used the other arm to wave people towards the other lane.

I was driving home from a 50 mile ride yesterday. 2 Lane interstate access road with heavy rush hour traffic in both lanes ... no shoulder, just a curb and there is a guy riding AGAINST traffic with a dim white blinkie with a black jacket on just after dark :rolleyes: I didn't notice a reflector and didn't see him till the last second. He was also riding one handed as he used the other arm to wave people towards the other lane.


Maybe you can salvage some nice parts off the bike after the accident. :)

just kidding.

Pick up the Nashbar catalog. You can purchase a darn good battery powered headlight, and equally good red blinkie, for very cheap.

With this in mind, what are some of the various defenses being used for riding without lights? (Besides the "Nobody tells ME what to do!" bit.)