RonH

Tonight (about 7:15 pm) I was travelling west on a busy highway. There was a cyclist travelling east wearing shorts and a white T-shirt with a dark colored backpack. He didn't have a headlight, taillight, or blinkie. It was dark (the sun set about 6:40 pm tonight) and cloudy and the clouds blocked the "last rays of daylight".

Does this guy think he is safe? It was so dark that drivers couldn't see him until they were on top of him.
I just don't understand some people!
But I sure hope he got home OK.

I have a spare blinkie. If I see him again I think I'll give it to him.

JonR

Not a week goes by that I don't see something similar here in KC. Then now and again I see somebody with blinking taillight and a halogen headlight and bright yellow or white upper garment. But the invisible guys are more numerous, sorry to say.

I put those reflectors back on my mountain bike (the kind that you wedge between two spokes) after I saw on others' bikes what a difference they make in visibility at night. I hate them and think they look awful, and don't like messing with my wheels, but they're too effective to leave off.

John E

Don't forget the darkly-clad, lightless bozos who cycle on the wrong side of the street, because they are just bright enough to fear being hit from behind by a motorist who does not see them.

ahuman

I cant talk.
the other day on the way home a little later then normal (duo to work). I got a flat. it was ok becuase I have a extra tube.
but that made it even later. about two miles from home got another flat had to patch this one. now its really dark and my ligths go out first the front then the back. I wear reflective gear but thats all I have.. for two miles I was that guy you are talking about... (riding with the traffic)
murphy's law say's "if it can happen it will happen..."
the one i like best is "***** happens"

K

Gus Riley

I sometimes think this could be a way of naturally thinning the herd. It's almost the same as the people who don't wear seatbelts, drive like idiots (tail gate while roads are iced up) while talking on their cell phones. All while thinking "it just won't happen to me".

LittleBigMan

What can I say? Ignorance is dangerous.

I read about a woman who was cycling on the proper side of the street at night, with a light, who ran head-on into a lightless, wrong-way cyclist, who killed her.

AndrewP

It's not just cyclists - there are plenty of pedestrians with dark clothes. They think that if there is enough street lighting for them to see where they are going, there is enough light for everyone else to see - however faster traffic needs higher light levels. If they arent in the headlights beam they cant be seen, and it may be too late when they walk into the headlights beam.

Weasel

I occassionally drive a car. If I happen to see one of these brain-dead numbties then I pull up alongside, wind the window down and tell him to get off and push the thing on the pavement.

Naturally all I get is a blank look or raging expletives, but if we don't tell them who will? The police try and do their bit but they are fighting a hopeless battle, there are far too many to make a difference.

The thing that really p!sses me off is that these plonkers give the handfull of decent cyclists a bad name. We are all then tarred with the same brush - just because we happen to ride the same type of machine - even if you are one of the few who are lit up like a christmas tree.

I personally have so many reflective items of clothing on me as well as reflective strips plastered all over my bike, plus 2 rear lights and a 5W front light, that anyone who pulls out in front of me or cuts me up and then claims that they didn't see me- then I argue that they are not be fit to drive.

My wife and I have some very conservative and extreme views on this - ranging from giving the police powers for extreme on-the-spot-fines. Those unable to pay there and then would then have to pay more at a later date. Bikes could also be confiscated on the spot and only recoverable against a hefty fine - depending on the circumstances, etc, etc. If it is a child riding without lights then the parents should be made to pay. Most of the bikes that kids ride have no lights on them so it might make parents actually sit up and perhaps care for their childs safety once in a while. The parents are to blame, so sting 'em - hard.

Sorry, but I get really wound up about this.

JonR

Well, ahuman, at least you had reflective gear. That probably was adequate, but of course I'd feel antsy too if my lights failed. I only had my Nightsun light fail once, and that was around dusk and I was almost home. It was still a bad feeling.

(I no longer use Nightsun because I won't pay that kind of money for a replacement battery. I have a generator light that is very bright and spread out but my thighs really know when it's on!)

Richard D

I'm just glad we've now got lighter mornings, so I don't have to pass all the kids delivering papers without lights. At least the delivery bags tend to be fluoro.

MichaelW

Last night at dusk I met to 15 year old bozos who were trying to ride little scooters on the road. They were all over the place. When I came through on the correct side of the road, with bright lights and reflective gear, they shouted "Oi watch where you are going". Attitude.

If your lights do fade out, the reflective gear will show you from behind. Its cars entering /exiting junctions ahead that cant see you. If you realise that, then yoiu can probbaly make it home in one piece.

Ive seen lightless cyclists ride so recklessly as to endanger highly visible road riders. They just tear out into the road without even looking.

Dutchy

The other problem is with the "blinkie" that is going flat. I have seen a number of cyclists with a blinkie barely working as the batteries start to fail. I always check my rear light if I think I may getting home after the sun has set. With fresh batteries these things are amazingly bright. The other thing I have noticed is that some people put their blinkie on their back pack which is OK while standing but when they use the drops the blinkie is almost invisible due to the angle of the back pack. While I'm at it. Many cyclists use the white blinkie for the front light, which is for cars to see you. These things are only useful in total darkness, if the road has some light the blinkie becomes useless as they aren't bright enough to compete with other light sources. The best thing is to use is a proper light system that can illuminate the road in front of you. I have been using a Vista-lite 15w+10w combo and these things are amazing, very bright and cars can actually see me. These lights are expensive but are worth every cent if it helps me to see well at night.

CHEERS.

Mark

john999

Yellow blinkies are *useless*.

What colour are the street lamps ? - yellow.

I can tell you that for another cyclist or driver, these cyclists are *invisible* - your mind automatically registers the lights as of no significance, it doesn't even register.

roadbuzz

Hmmm. Ya know, around here probably the biggest bike commuter population are the latin Americans. They typically ride heavy ole' salvation army bikes. No helmets, reflective gear, or anything remotely high tech. And the rules of the road are whatever it takes to negotiate what I would consider uncommutable roads. I imagine they're pretty hard to spot when the leave their dishwashing jobs, or whatever, at 1:00 AM.

It ain't a good thing, but my helmet's off to 'em.

Rich Clark

Don't get me started about wrong-way cyclists. I consider them the single biggest hazard to me as a vehicular cyclist, and the saddest failure of "bike safety education" in the US.

We teach them that safety equals wearing a helmet, and never tell them not to ride the wrong way on a one-way street in the dark with no lights.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

RichC

PaulH

This might be a good civil or church charity for cyclists to start. A few bucks for helmets, blinkies and lights, plus some basic safety instruction and route information/maps might be very helpful to these families. It would probably also do their self-esteem some good to realize that cycling to/from work is not nescessarily a mark of poverty.

Paul

hunterseeker

A few months ago, there was a debate on the list of a local cycling advocacy group about lights. One of the people had made a comment along the lines of "Please, please tell other cyclists that they need to use lights when they ride at night". This person or others in agreement with this person suggested cyclists on the list should encourage fellow cyclists to be properly equipped, that this would be safer and would also encourage motorists to be more respectful of cyclsits. Some also suggested that more enforcement of the law would be helpful.

The interesting thing was that one of the most prominent activists in this group wrote a rather long argument *against* taking measures to encourage people to use lights at night, despite the fact that a headlight and red rear reflector/light are required by law. His argument was that doing so would tend to discourage people from cycling. If I remember correctly, he cited inconvenience as one issue; he also argued that requiring lights creates a barrier for those with low incomes, and that requesting greater enforcement of lighting laws for cyclists would just be more unnecessary harrassment.

Oi. Hearing that sort of argument makes me weary, because it stems from the conviction that one can do no wrong as a cyclist, because the cyclist is always on the side of good. Incompetence, irresponsibility -- these things mean little in such a moral universe, as long as one is choosing to do the right thing: that is, ride a bike.

Myself, I would hope that those who aren't ready to take the minimum appropriate and responsible safety precautions would abstain from driving, whether they drive a bicycle or a motor vehicle. Sure, I know there may be times when you'll be caught halfway home with a burned out light, but I hope that we would want riding lightless to be the exception, not the accepted, and that anyone who ends up in this situation realizes the potential consequences and chooses accordingly. Those who drive in the dark without lights are a danger to themselves and to others, and I don't care what they drive -- the vehicles of the virtuous or no.