Advocacy & Safety - Observations from some real-world "Static-Lane-Positioning" testing

So it's Saturday night and the stars are coming out. I'd just finished sticking some reflective tape to the rims of my Cannondale loaded-touring bike, and decided heck, I want to ride up Highway 195 to Spangle tonight.

:)

I grabbed most of my visibility arsenal.
Bright-colored jacket with white sleeves
ANSI Class III reflective vest
Reflective legbands, two of which are LED-illuminated
Reflective wristbands
Self-illuminating reflective belt
BOTH of my NiteRider light systems, the HID and the dual-beam halogen
A single Planet Bike SuperFlash on the rack bag (strobing)
My NiteRider superblinkie on my chainstay (steady-fire)
My new Planet Bike Blinky 5 on my helmet's RocLoc crossband (flashing)
And of course the Nova on the rear rack, running quad-flash. w00t!
...plus the bike's fenders are coated with DOT Class 2 Conspicuity Tape like you see on semi trailers, and it has two big DOT rear reflectors, and the new reflective tape on the rims.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/arsenal.jpg
a flash shot by my trusty Canon

Summary: dork city :) But whatever, I'm old enough not to care. I also packed a peanut-butter sandwich (creamy) and a Thermos of coffee, because this was a 37mi / 60km ride.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/bar.gif
The Ride, Part 1: Divided Highway
Highway 195 is a divided highway going up the grade towards Spangle. There are two traffic lanes on each side of the divided highway, plus a full-lane shoulder. It's mostly straightstretches separated by gentle corners, so sight distances are great. Going up the grade, I decided to observe the general reaction to my rather spectacular visibility equipment while riding at the rightmost edge of the full-lane shoulder. Motorists were overtaking me with probably a 50mph / 80kph speed differential. Because of my extreme-right position on the shoulder, a car going up the center of the right lane would be something like 5-6 meters to my left. On this part of the ride, I was probably passed by ~100-150 cars.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/divided.jpg
my, Grandmother, what big shoulders you have!

Results on divided highway
I didn't keep precise stats, but I'd estimate that over 90% of overtaking motorists changed from the right traffic lane to the left lane well in advance of passing me. That's despite my already being waaaay over at the right edge of a huge shoulder, where some people would say I'd be "irrelevant." For some of the motorists, I counted the approximate seconds between their lane changes and their passing me. Generally they were changing lanes between 15 and 30 seconds back, which would be around 350-700 meters back, but some even further.

Of the motorists that didn't change lanes, it seemed there were two trends. (1) they had a short line-of-sight to me {I stopped in a corner to see how the reactions might change**, or (2) they were following another motorist who hadn't changed lanes to pass me either. Some were boxed in and couldn't change lanes. Of those that didn't change lanes, most of them did edge over to the lane marker, and a few were observed to move partway over the lane marker.

Almost none of the motorists seemed to slow down, as best I could judge from engine noise as they came up the grade. One car did slow down to about 35mph AND change lanes; I think it was old folks.

My off-the-cuff conclusions
This really shoots holes in the idea that a significant percentage of motorists mentally fail to "compute" stuff on the shoulder (or bike lane) as "relevant" because of it being located on the shoulder; or to put it another way, because it's not definitely in their vehicle's physical path. >90% "confirmed-kill" ratio, as evidenced by them changing lanes to get an additional lane between themselves and something on the furthest edge of the shoulder, pretty much clinches it. The fact that it's an unusually-powerful visibility system is beside the point; they're moving over, despite it NOT being in their vehicle's physical path, and despite it being on the shoulder. Of the remaining ~10% that didn't do an actual lane change, most did move away from me.

It also underlines what I've been saying around here: particularly in the dark, a good visibility solution can be effective at very long range, waaaay longer than the range at which a motorist can get visual confirmation that yep, it's a bicycle and it's definitely in my own lane. Using center-of-lane positioning would be pretty pointless, because by the time the motorists get to me, they've been in the other lane for 1/4 to 1/2-mile already. To get into their vehicle's path, I'd have to pull into the left lane myself.

From the fact that the motorists didn't seem to be slowing down, I doubt I was being viewed as a hindrance.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/bar.gif
The Ride, Part 2: two-way highway
After Highway 195 gets up onto the plateau, it eventually merges into two-way highway with one lane in each direction, plus a somewhat-narrower shoulder varying mostly from 2 to 3 meters wide. I kept riding near the right edge of the shoulder and kept observing motorists.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/2way.jpg
two-way highway just outside Spangle

Results on two-way highway
After the divided highway merged into two-way highway, almost none of the motorists made a lane change into the oncoming lane in order to pass me. That's despite my being a bit closer to them, due to the shoulder getting a bit narrower. I kept on up the highway past Spangle, then stopped for a snack break.

My thoughts on these results
Notice the contrast. Given two lanes in their direction, motorists changed lanes. Given just one lane in each direction, they didn't. Nothing else really changed... same visibility equipment, same overall group of motorists. My conclusion: you can't always judge whether you've been seen by what the motorists do with their cars. I'm sure just as many of them saw the Nova, etc, from just as far away, but almost none of them gave the previous reaction because of the lack of another traffic lane to move into.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/bar.gif
The Ride, Part 3: The Snack Break
I stopped and took a posed photo of the Good Ship Cannondale, then ate my peanut-butter sandwich and had some coffee before heading back.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/snack_break.jpg
slow-shutter shot with some flashlight illumination to show the reflective tape

Results of the snack break
Peanut-butter sandwiches never go out of style. And a full Thermos of coffee can remain sufficiently hot, even after riding for a couple hours at night, that it's NOT a good idea to spill it on your leg!

My conclusions from the snack break
Next time, I'm going to bring TWO sandwiches and be a little more cautious with that coffee.


And then I rode back the way I came, and kept observing the motorists on both the 2-way and divided highway, and rode up the dangerous Hatch Road climb along with the folks heading home from a Saturday night on the town.

So take that for what you will. It's real-world data that must be accounted for by any hypothesis hoping to graduate to a theory.


http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/resting.jpg
The Cannondale on the chargers after its big adventure. You can see most of its visibility features here. Note the NiteRider superblinkie on the chainstay, I stuck it down there for this ride to give additional vertical "spread" between the lights.

If the post was just a little bit longer, I would have something to contribute............

I have long noted that at night when we're properly "lit up" we seem to get more space then we do during the day in similar circumstances. This is probably because at night a bright "lit up" cyclist is more unusual and more "relevant"... more inherently noticable... than a cyclist during the day.

If nothing else, because it's dark, there is less visible "noise" out there for us to compete against, so our relatively small size does not work against us nearly as much at night as it does during the day. As such, it may be true that the differences in conspicuity in various lateral positions does not make as big a difference at night (for a "lit up" cyclist) as it seems to during the day.

Your test confirmed all this. Thanks.

Excellent test and report, Mech.

I, too, have found that many drivers will move to the left to at least some degree in passing. This is when I'm riding the paved shoulder of a two lane highway, 60 mph speed limit. A few won't. Most will slow to some degree. A few won't. Some don't do either even if there's no on-coming traffic. These are the ones to watch out for. This is a situation where the cyclist has to play to the lowest common denominator and why I ride in the center of the traffic lane to ensure being seen when there are no close vehicles approaching from the rear. However, when being approached from the rear I will extend them the courtesy of shifting to the right to expedite their passing, if it's safe for me to do so.

It's hard for me to say if they move or slow more at night than during the day, because there are so few cars on the road when I do my morning commute. One morning I got passed by eight motor vehicles, once in a while I get passed by none in an eight mile commute.

I do think at night I might be given more room, because with the lights I have a much larger visible "footprint". I am noticeable much earlier, from as far away as they can see down the road, with very little ambient light (8 street lights, one convience store and one country club on the 6 mile highway portion of my normal route) any additional lighting cannot, not be seen. In speaking with a co-worker one morning recently, he was able to see my taillights from over a mile away. The first thing that caught his attention was the flashing bank of the Cateye TL-LD1000.

What I have found riding this route, is that closer passing happens much more often on the 3 mile stretch with paved shoulders, when I'm on the shoulder, than on the 3 mile stretch of two-lane, NOL, 55 mph speed limit when I'm in or to the left of the right tire track.

Very nice mech.

A favorite route takes me over a bridge, I must have ridden over it 100 times in the dark by now and more than 100 during the day.
I started experimenting with taillights just for this bridge. One lane each way and enough space for a cyclist beside the cars. Speed limit ? It's easy to see there are no cops on this bridge......no one cares.....
mostly 40 mph ? But it is a good place to speed without getting caught.

Almost all the time I get more space when a car is passing at night. More often than not at night, drivers will slow down and move over before they get to me. During the day most drivers do not slow down or move over. I can see what the drivers are doing in my helmet mirror way behind me day and night.

My experience from driving over the bridge at night and approaching a cyclist with a good taillight is much higher than a hundred times. Compared to seeing a bike during the day it is much easier. One can not really tell how wide this "thing" in the road is, if you're not a cyclist it's not clear what it is at first. It might be workers on the bridge, an accident, a cop, who knows? The only thing you can do to be safe is slow down and move way over. Also at night there is not a steady stream of cars coming the other way, so it is easier to move over.

I can never be 100% sure why I get more room at night, but I am much less likely to be passed too close or sideswiped at night. I am 100% positive there is more contrast and it is easier to see me at night.

Also a flash photo of one of my bikes with the lights turned off.

... at night a bright "lit up" cyclist is more unusual and more "relevant"... more inherently noticable... than a cyclist during the day. ...

Bicycle illumination technology has come a LONG way in 35 years, but even back in my humble German generator - American reflective tape - French strap-on arm and leg light days, and even on well-lighted Los Angeles streets, people commented that I was more "visible" (noticed?) at night than by day.

So much for the "never ride at night" safety admonition. Having said that, I have equipped only the mountain bike and the Peugeot UO-8 beater with lights, because I feel a bit safer and more in control on wider tires, should I fail to notice a pothole or other road hazard in the dark. I suppose a lighting system which intensely illuminates the roadway itself would address this concern.

Cool test. I do wonder how much of the drivers standing way off on the divided highway was a 'what the heck is THAT' deal?

But when night riding, I really don't care if motorists know what I am, as long as they know I'm there.

Wow....I just lost a bet.
I bet I would never find ANYTHING useful in A&S !!
:roflmao:

Really though...great stuff !
I have found cars give me more room in the fall when Im all
lit up too....When one is approaching from front or back I weave
a little and find they slow down out of curiosity not knowing what is
attached to the wiggly light until they get closer.....
Of course you risk getting 3000 watt, hi-beam scorched too, :cry:

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to reject these findings out of hand due to your use of creamy peanut butter for the sandwich. If you managed to do that, goodness know what other terrible mistakes you may have made during your experiment.

Heh. Good stuff, but next time, use crunchy.

*mechBgon talking to himself (in photo) *

OK..OK this is perfect...

I know I can get this light on my bike before they come back..yeah..perfect....:)

Thanks, mech. This is really helpful.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to reject these findings out of hand due to your use of creamy peanut butter for the sandwich. If you managed to do that, goodness know what other terrible mistakes you may have made during your experiment.

Heh. Good stuff, but next time, use crunchy.
Creamy peanut butter is good for something. It works great as bait for mouse traps.

Mech: Your incompetent use of the wrong P-B indicates you are in need of further training by those who are expert in the subject. Other than that faux pas, good posting!

BTW aren't time exposures fun?

Thanks for the test and report Mech! I probably wouldn't have tried that on a Saturday night - your extreme visibility may not save you from a drunken motorist.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to reject these findings out of hand due to your use of creamy peanut butter for the sandwich. If you managed to do that, goodness know what other terrible mistakes you may have made during your experiment.

Heh. Good stuff, but next time, use crunchy.D'oh! There goes the Scientific American article deal :(


Creamy peanut butter is good for something. It works great as bait for mouse traps.

Mech: Your incompetent use of the wrong P-B indicates you are in need of further training by those who are expert in the subject. Other than that faux pas, good posting!Maybe the creamy peanut butter is why the motorists didn't change lanes on the 2-way section of the highway? That, and I had no coffee creamer either! :o


BTW aren't time exposures fun?Nice! :D


Thanks for the test and report Mech! I probably wouldn't have tried that on a Saturday night - your extreme visibility may not save you from a drunken motorist.Near the far end of the excursion, I did see a pretty close shave... two cars were overtaking me, and one pulled out to pass, head-on at an oncoming car coming towards us. The oncoming car had to pull onto the opposite shoulder to avoid getting hit. Yikes. But if you think this ride was dangerous, envision the same highway at 28°F in the evening rush hour in winter, with a 4-inch snowfall in progress. That's when it gets fun :)

http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/commute/hwy195_2.jpg
no, I'm serious.


I have long noted that at night when we're properly "lit up" we seem to get more space then we do during the day in similar circumstances. This is probably because at night a bright "lit up" cyclist is more unusual and more "relevant"... more inherently noticable... than a cyclist during the day.

If nothing else, because it's dark, there is less visible "noise" out there for us to compete against, so our relatively small size does not work against us nearly as much at night as it does during the day. As such, it may be true that the differences in conspicuity in various lateral positions does not make as big a difference at night (for a "lit up" cyclist) as it seems to during the day.Actually I often get the same result in daylight up there, particularly from pro truckers: lane changes from very long range on the divided highway, despite my riding on the shoulder as I've done on that highway since the late '80s.

Anyway, it's good to see you don't believe that being on the opposite side of a white line arbitrarily makes cyclists irrelevant. :) Some people around here seem to think it does.


*mechBgon talking to himself (in photo) *

OK..OK this is perfect...

I know I can get this light on my bike before they come back..yeah..perfect....:)Aaack, The Voices are ratting on me! :p

Don't let the crunchy peanut butter nazis get to you. Creamy peanut butter is the way to go. Goes good by itself in a sandwich, with concord grape jelly in a sandwigh, on Ritz crackers, on celery, and with bananas. Lets see crunchy do all that.

I vote for creamy too--useful as emergency chain lube, while crunchy gets stuck in the bushings.

Great report mech!

I vote for creamy too--useful as emergency chain lube, while crunchy gets stuck in the bushings.

Great report mech!



:roflmao: Just watch out for the squirrels trying to get the chain ! :)

:roflmao: Just watch out for the squirrels trying to get the chain ! :)
Actually, squirrels prefer the chunky.

Don't let the crunchy peanut butter nazis get to you. Creamy peanut butter is the way to go. Goes good by itself in a sandwich, with concord grape jelly in a sandwigh, on Ritz crackers, on celery, and with bananas. Lets see crunchy do all that.Between the Crunchy-Peanut-Butter nazis and the Genuine Maple Syrup nazis, I live in constant fear :eek:

Actually, squirrels prefer the chunky.

:roflmao:



Between the Crunchy-Peanut-Butter nazis and the Genuine Maple Syrup nazis, I live in constant fear


Food? What Food? Where? You got FOOD !? where is it ?

Food? What Food? Where? You got FOOD !? where is it ? I shipped it more than a week ago, Bailey, honest! :eek: Try using that tracking number, it was sent pawprint-on-delivery.

I shipped it more than a week ago, Bailey, honest! :eek: Try using that tracking number, it was sent pawprint-on-delivery.

:roflmao: :roflmao:

---------------------------------------

You wouldn't lie to me, would you? You know I can sense fear, right?

Awwww, cute doggie... :love:

Don't let the crunchy peanut butter nazis get to you. Creamy peanut butter is the way to go. Goes good by itself in a sandwich, with concord grape jelly in a sandwigh, on Ritz crackers, on celery, and with bananas. Lets see crunchy do all that.
Don't tell me, you aren't one of those spandex heathen who buys/steals Peter Pan Brand or some other weasel preferred P-B? Real men eat only Skippy.

Awwww, cute doggie... :love:


slurp,slurp ...woof.....

Don't tell me, you aren't one of those spandex heathen who buys/steals Peter Pan Brand or some other weasel preferred P-B? Real men eat only Skippy.
Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan, it's all good as long as it's creamy. :)

:roflmao:





Food? What Food? Where? You got FOOD !? where is it ?

I knew when peanut butter was mentioned, Bailey the Adorable would infiltrate the thread somehow. :D

Real men eat only Skippy.

Real men grind their own. :p

If it's not Adams, It's not peanut butter.... those other brands are just brown crisco. :D :D

Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan, it's all good as long as it's creamy. :)
Only if prepared with WD-40.

I knew when peanut butter was mentioned, Bailey the Adorable would infiltrate the thread somehow. :D


:roflmao:


He's a lot more interesting than I am. :o

Laura Scudders is the best commercial peanut butter. Otherwise, I prefer Trader Joe's or I grind it myself at the health food store.

mech:

I am confused by the placement of the lowest (white) bottle in your bike photo. Is that really attached when riding? I wouldn't have thought there would be enough space. But it looks like it is there in the "slow shutter shot" as well.

Does it ever get in the way?

mech:

I am confused by the placement of the lowest (white) bottle in your bike photo. Is that really attached when riding? I wouldn't have thought there would be enough space. But it looks like it is there in the "slow shutter shot" as well.

Does it ever get in the way?Here's a photo from the side view. With big tires, big fenders, and the biggest bottle available, there isn't a lot of clearance left, but still enough that I can remove and replace the bottle on-the-roll in the dark since I've had practice (the fender does get nudged by the bottle in the process). This Profile Kage has two sets of mounting holes, letting me mount it more rearwards than some cages would allow.

Hope that helps :)

Oh, and I can also fit a small jar of peanut butter down there instead :D I wonder if I can still add a peanut-butter preference poll to the thread...

Real men grind their own. :p
With their teeth, then spit it back in the jar for later.;) :)

Oh, and I can also fit a small jar of peanut butter down there instead :D I wonder if I can still add a peanut-butter preference poll to the thread...

You can fit a small jar of peanut butter down where???

You can fit a small jar of peanut butter down where???Is that a jar of Skippy, or are you just happy to see me? :roflmao:

(I meant, I could fit a small jar of PB in my underneath waterbottle cage)



Note to self: in lieu of a sticky, just bring up peanut butter in one's thread and it's guaranteed to stay on the first page :)

Is that a jar of Skippy, or are you just happy to see me? :roflmao:

(I meant, I could fit a small jar of PB in my underneath waterbottle cage)



Note to self: in lieu of a sticky, just bring up peanut butter in one's thread and it's guaranteed to stay on the first page :)


Now let's see if I have this right....

for good visibility at night you need to put peanut butter on your chain and in your pants. Then ride to a lighthouse to get away from the squirrels. Then feed the dog maple sugar and peanut butter.

And it's a good idea to put peanut butter on the threads for the bottle cage bolts, then they are guaranteed to stay on.

I got it ! :)

This really shoots holes in the idea that a significant percentage of motorists mentally fail to "compute" stuff on the shoulder

Well sure, even the blind would notice a lit up.christmas tree riding on the shoulder.

Seriously though. do you worry about electrocution if you get caught out in the rain with that setup? Mebbe you should drag a ground wire.

-D

Nice post, Mech.
There's been some action over in the LD forum on lighting setups. I've got my own personal system working - but I'm going to be adding some items from the last few posts I've read of yours.

Anyone have any luck / use for EL sheets / cables?

I think he should worry more about hungry dogs with all that peanut butter. I can hear it now, the slop, slop, slop sound of big dog tongues with peanut butter stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

I think he should worry more about hungry dogs with all that peanut butter. I can hear it now, the slop, slop, slop sound of big dog tongues with peanut butter stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

This thread is making me laugh so much it hurts ! :D :) :eek:

i was noticing similar results during the DAY today, mechbgon, on my ride back from the Cascade hills. cars were giving me a WIDE berth, even when i was in the shoulder. i was wearing an ANSI vest, runing a Superflash, and a Slow triangle, on highway speed roads, curvy, with sun and shade obscuering the view of the road.

i never had to take the lane except when necessary, and the cars STILL gave me a wide berth.

Of course, I was running crunchy.

Great data and pic's Mech. It confirms my road experiences also.

Laura Scudders is the best commercial peanut butter.

Scudder's and a trike. You have some good taste!

Laura Scudders is the only brand of peanut butter that has actually impressed me. It was like suckling at the teat of peanut...

EDIT: Oh, yeah; mech's lights are pretty, too. :D

I think he should worry more about hungry dogs with all that peanut butter. I can hear it now, the slop, slop, slop sound of big dog tongues with peanut butter stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

Don't forget the cats. My own feline monster never shuts up unless I share my peanut butter with her. Never had a cat before, and I never imagined they would be so enamored of peanut butter.

i was noticing similar results during the DAY today, mechbgon, on my ride back from the Cascade hills. cars were giving me a WIDE berth, even when i was in the shoulder. i was wearing an ANSI vest, runing a Superflash, and a Slow triangle, on highway speed roads, curvy, with sun and shade obscuering the view of the road.

i never had to take the lane except when necessary, and the cars STILL gave me a wide berth.

Of course, I was running crunchy.

Thanks for pointing out the Superflash. I like em.

i was noticing similar results during the DAY today, mechbgon, on my ride back from the Cascade hills. cars were giving me a WIDE berth, even when i was in the shoulder. i was wearing an ANSI vest, runing a Superflash, and a Slow triangle, on highway speed roads, curvy, with sun and shade obscuering the view of the road.

i never had to take the lane except when necessary, and the cars STILL gave me a wide berth.

Of course, I was running crunchy.That sounds like how I'd go about it, too. Much wiser than deluding myself that I'll NEVAR overlook an overtaking vehicle, particularly ones that don't stop too hot (dump trucks with trailers, for example), followed by more vehicles that don't stop too hot and can't see past the leader either. Yes, I think you display common sense. :) Good to hear the motorists were giving you respect.

Did you take your LHT? I was scoping those out, but our QBP catalog being older, I don't know if they're still as depicted. Someone said they don't have downtube shifter bosses anymore? Not that it's a bad thing, I was just wondering.


I think he should worry more about hungry dogs with all that peanut butter. I can hear it now, the slop, slop, slop sound of big dog tongues with peanut butter stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/aieeedogs.jpg
touch my peanut butter ONE MORE TIME, dog...

touch my peanut butter ONE MORE TIME, dog..


:roflmao: :roflmao: