Advocacy & Safety - Seriously considered getting rid of the lights altogether...

Well, last night's ride home just about did it for me. If there is a creature anywhere in the entire known universe stupider than the Gold Coast motoring primate I have serious doubts about their future ability to avoid extinction.

Last night I was the target of two blatant and quite deliberate murder attempts on the ride home - one of them in my home street. This does not include the blatant reckless behaviour from these idiots that I get every day. I am seriously not convinced that there's any real benefit in being visible to motorists around here.

The fact is, I can see perfectly well if I have no lights - my vision is fine. The only reason I use them is as a courtesy to other road users. Last night I wondered if their abuse of that courtesy made it no longer worthwhile.

For the record, on sober reflection (i.e. getting home and putting some Alex Lloyd on the CD player - a bit of Lloydie never fails) I have decided to stick with the lights... for now. I am still not convinced, however.

What overweights, those that avoid hitting you by seeing the lights, or those that cause problem for the same reason?

Originally posted by Inoplanetyanin
What overweights, those that avoid hitting you by seeing the lights, or those that cause problem for the same reason?

At this stage, I really don't know anymore.

Chris, what happened in details? Can we gain some practical experience from these your encounters?

Before I started the Internet search - who is Alex Lloyd?

One tosspot who specifically waited for me to ride past the driveway before accelerating at great speed onto the road. My instict told me something was up, so I was prepared for it and adjusted my speed accordingly. The second one was some idiot in my home street who quite deliberately veered across to the wrong side of the road (oncoming traffic). Again I saw it coming and got out of there.

I think the only experience we can gain out of this is to be alert virtually all of the time. One of the reasons I posted my "how do you ride your commute" thread was to mention that by "riding slightly within myself" I still have some acceleration left in the tank when I need it. In truth, my comment about "not using lights" was probably made in the heat of the moment when I was filled with anger. Having calmed down, I now realise that this doesn't happen all that often, so riding with lights is still the most sensible option.

BTW, Alex Lloyd is an Australian singer who I particularly like. I don't know of any web links do download any of this music - I just listen to Triple J. I'm sure the sites are out there somewhere.

I had once the problem during dark hours.

I was riding with blinkers up. When I was passing along the standing car with some youngsters inside, they shouted at me alltogether trying to jump-frighten me.

I was not frightened too much and did not jump, because I expected something of this sort. I know what sh@t is driving in cars in the evening for fun.

ever thought of getting license plates and calling the police? just a thought.

I've been hit 3 times by cars. Each time it was in daylight. One driver took off after he hit me but the other 2, I managed to talk to. The first thing I asked them was if they saw me (an easy out - the most common defence is "I didn't see him) and both said the saw me but they still continued on to hit me. Both had no excuse as to why they didn't stop, slow or try to avoid the collision.

This past winter I tried out not wearing reflective bands on my ankles that I have worn for years (in addition to my lights) in the dark and in the rain to see if there would be any difference to the space drivers give me. It didn't make a bit of difference.

Everyone should have front and rear lights but to what extent I think is an individuals call.

Chris,
if you know the guy; you should have him up on charges. You should be talking to the police.

Originally posted by VegasCyclist
ever thought of getting license plates and calling the police? just a thought.

Normally I would (and have done in the past). However, there are a couple of other factors to consider here:

1. the police won't actually press charges without an "accident". They'll phone him up and give him a lecture, but unless I sustain some kind of injury, there isn't a lot they can do.

2. I was too busy taking evasive action to really focus on the number plate. It didn't help that the morons had their high beam lights on (also illegal in urban areas). It was rather difficult to pick out the #.


Originally posted by Late
if you know the guy; you should have him up on charges. You should be talking to the police.

I don't know them personally (something I should probably be glad of). Just that one of the incidents happened in my home street.