The accident happened just before noon on a clear day as I was returning from the grocery store along a major road. I saw the car stopped 40 feet away at the exit of the fried chicken place. I was right on top of the car when it pulled out hitting me from the right (destoying the front wheel and bending the drive side pedal and crank). The impact projected me over the car and I found myself on my back in the middle of the lane of the road I was traveling. I have a cut on my right leg and a sore neck but I seem to be getting better every day and am thinking about riding this weekend. I had a Niterider Classic on the bike and I wish I had it on because maybe this could have been avoided. I few people suggested a lime green vest and if I go out this weekend I will be wearing mine.

I would take her to small claims court AND make a claim to her insurance company and wouldn't sign any release forms, as being thrown over the car and landing square on your back to hard pavement just might have some lasting pain or cause a new pain as time goes on. At least making a claim instead of her "paying you off" would raise her insurance rates and hopefully teach her a lesson.

I routinely ride my roadbike with a front flashing light, but don't bother with the rear unless it is less than full daylight. Danger from inattentive drivers seems to come from the front much more often than the rear.

My solution is a small 1AA cell light (Fenix L1D - you can find a vendor with a Google search) running on a rechargeable AA cell attached to the handlebar with a Twofish Lock Block. This is a very small and light setup that gives on the order of 1.5 hours continuous or 3 hours flashing light. If I'm going to be on the road longer than that I carry an extra cell.

I don't use my lights during the day, just at night, dusk and dawn. If I was going to I would go with a Dinotte rear light and an amber one. I have really bright Lupine headlights and a couple PB Superflashes, but I don't use them at all during the day.

If you want to be conspicuous on the road, nothing beats riding a recumbent. ;) Sometimes I feel almost too conspicuous.

That said, it certainly can't hurt to try running daytime flashers. see how it goes.

Some parts of Australia are trialing having cars run their headlights in the daytime, for the same reasons.

If you want to be conspicuous on the road, nothing beats riding a recumbent. ;) Sometimes I feel almost too conspicuous.

That said, it certainly can't hurt to try running daytime flashers. see how it goes.

Some parts of Australia are trialing having cars run their headlights in the daytime, for the same reasons.

Here at home, we have a safety corridor that requires motorists to have their vehicle's headlights on. One day, one of my co-workers forgot to do so, and was kindly reminded by an LEO to the tune of a 168 US dollars.

Daytime lights are a great idea, anything to annoy motorists and get their attention.

Of course, my presence is annoying enough... ;)

It has been a week since the accident and I commuted four days. Except for a persistent stiff neck the injuries have mostly healed. For daytime riding I now wear a green Illuminite reflective vest, Dinotte amber flashing headlight, and Cateye opticube flashing taillight. A car waiting to pull out at an intersection actually backed up to give me more room. She was not even in the way and this is the first time that has ever happened. I also noticed how many cars and trucks have their lights on during the day as well.

I also noticed how many cars and trucks have their lights on during the day as well.

I often drive during the day with my lights on, whether just the parking lights or with headlights as well. I usually decide depending on how little traffic there is, especially in my neighborhood with lots and lots of parked cars. The idea is to stand out from the multitudes of parked cars: their lights are off, and if mine are off as well, my car might look like it's just another parked car.

Some parts of Australia are trialing having cars run their headlights in the daytime, for the same reasons.

From what I recall about daytime running lights being added on cars in the US, the reason was that on long straight stretches of road, it was easier to determine the closing speed of a vehicle with it's lights on than without. I may be wrong, but I don't remember any of the reasons including drivers completely overlooking other vehicles.

FWIW, I have a Cateye EL220 headlight (thanks again, Bek, for the recommendation) on both the bikes I commute on that I run on flashing mode whenever it's near dusk or dawn or really overcast/raining. Another commuter I often see has a similar light and the flashing mode does draw a lot of attention when it's dark enough to see it. In bright daylight, I can't say it adds anything to the visibility of a cyclist. I've put the light on and walked a few hundred feet away from my bike and you really don't see much happening. If you use rechargeable batteries though, the cost is minimal so if you feel better about constantly using a flasher, run it (just don't forget to turn it off and keep tabs on your battery life so they don't run out when you really need them).

I support daylight running lights for autos, not for the day, but for the early pre-sunrise hours when half of drivers don't bother to put them on because its light enough to barely see the end of their driveway.
At 6:20am this morning, still quite dark (6:45 am sunrise), I encountered about a dozen drivers with no lights on. On a bike this is not good as you want to see cars approaching from a distance instead of when they are 100' from you.

Al

An acquaintance of mine was in a parking lot with a TriNewt, a MiNewt X2, and numerous other lights, and a car still pulled out in front of him.

Lesson is, even if a person is looking right at you, they might not see you.

"learned this riding motorcycles"