GFish

Not true.
https://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/pedestrian.html

Nothing disturbs me more, then when pedestrians and cyclist wear dark clothing at night. I absolutely hate it. How dare they threaten my future by their inconsiderate choice when walking or riding in very close proximity to traffic. Take responsibility for your own safety, wear appropriate colors and reflective clothing if you choose to be on the road at night.

Two years ago, a mid-fifties man driving a truck killed a pedestrian along a 55 mph highway. The victim was wearing an all black hoodie and walking near the white line. I travel this road daily and it's very dark in this location. I have no doubt the driver didn't see the victim or saw the person to late.

Rowan

The discussion started about wearing black at night. The colour worn at night is irrelevant. It's the reflective material and lighting that counts. The trouble is, some riders think having lights on their bikes gives them a circle of complete safety; often they fail to check the brightness of their lights, ergo, whether their batteries are up to snuff, and the direction their lights are shining.

I wear jerseys and jackets that are black, or grey, or blue or red. All those colours are arguably difficult to see in low-light conditions. When randonneuring, we are required to wear a reflective vest/bandolier/sash, but even their effectiveness on the bike is moot. I wear yellow jerseys and jackets, too, but not exclusively.

The best idea for mine is to continue to behave predictably as expected of other road users, maintain constant vigilance (ie, scanning ahead for possible perpetrators of the crime of invisibility) and ensure your own bike is adequately equipped with lights and reflective material. Be prepared to take evasive action, looking for possible escape routes along the way. I remember being almost taken down last year by a car at an intersection that had stopped, but obviously hadn't seen us less than 15 feet away on the tandem, and started to move off in our direction.

I like riding at night, especially around where I live, but also in the cities. The traffic environment is much subdued, often the winds have died down, and really, I haven't had issues with unlit peds and cyclists except on MUPs (which tells its own story). I've been startled by peds wearing non-black clothing walking on highway shoulders in broad daylight, and my surprise is my own fault for not paying enough attention to scanning ahead while I ride.

Dudelsack 

Not one hour ago I saw a hipster on a very busy street at night wearing black with nary a blinkie, reflector or reflective gear on.

Everyone is welcome to their opinions on this. I side with those on this thread that say he's a fool and he gives us all bad names.

I lectured my wife on this and she doesn't even ride a bicycle

jdon

incorrect. Color is very difficult to differentiate in low/no light. You need reflective gear and lighting to be seen.

recumbenttoad

I wear dark clothing quite a bit when I ride, but I also use lights. If a car hits me it's not because they didn't see me. The last thing you want to see me wearing is white spandex (or spandex at all for that matter).

B. Carfree

I guess we come from different worlds. I am not bothered at all by pedestrians or even cyclists who choose to go ninja. (For the record, I light up like a solstice tree and never ride without my ANSI class 3 reflective vest/jacket and reflective ankle bands, even in broad daylight, even for a short trip to the market.) When I am driving a motor vehicle, which is often a commercial rig weighing in at 80,000 lbs (and occasionally 105,500 lbs) , I take responsibility for driving safely and legally. That means that I don't drive at a speed that would prevent me from avoiding a black-clad pedestrian or cyclist at night. That "55 mph highway" you refer to does not have a 55 mph minimum speed; that's the maximum speed limit under PERFECT conditions. When it is dark, one must often slow down for safety. That is a motorist's responsibility. If there was a three-foot-wide two-foot-deep pothole in the roadway would you hit it? Well, it's a lot easier to see a black-clad cyclist going fifteen mph than it is to see a pothole.

I find it interesting that we currently have a thread on how much our vision has deteriorated as we have aged alongside a thread about how much trouble we are having seeing other road users. Really people, if you are having trouble seeing pedestrians (or cyclists) at night then it is time to self-restrict your motoring habits to daylight hours. It's the civilized thing to do.

GFish

It's not about differentiating between colors, it's about illumination and some colors ability to reflect light.

Since most winter clothing is dark colored, this really makes little difference. I agree about using reflective accents and lighting, it's a must for riding at night. I only wish the people riding bikes who've had their license pulled, for various reasons, would head this advice.

FrederickH

The title says it all.

smoore

I was all set to buy a black jersey last year 'cuz I like the look. However I was driving on a well known bike route one day and following a rider about 150 yards in front of me as he rode from the well lit part of the road into a large shaded area about 50 yards long. Even though I was watching him the entire time, he totally disappeared after he entered the shaded part of the road. At that point...I decided a black jersey might not be a great idea even when ridden in the day time.

jdon

Well while you geezers are still driving, just keep an eye out for those of us in black. The front of my jersey may be yellow but you wont see that side.

Bronze Potato

Dear Lord, Please save me from those trying to save me.

Thank you

BP

Bronze Potato

May I buy a beer please?

Awesome.

jmccain

I thought about this thread last night. As we were driving, a college age man flashed in front of us wearing all black (or dark blue) on a BMX bike looking down at his phone (apparently texting). The only thing that could be clearly seen was his pasty white face lit by the phone.

He crossed the road at a diagonal, in the middle of the block, entering the road between two parked cars. We had to both brake and steer to miss him - it was very close

He didn't even look up...

No driver of any age, with any type of visual acuity would not have endangered his life. I believe that one of his peer group would have probably nailed him.

As they were looking at their awesome texts.

jimc101

Not seeing what the problem with black cycling gear is, most of it avaliable today has piping / patches which are refective and stands out at night whenever it is caught by a light source. However I do see a big issue with people wearing non-cycling clothing which is black, due to the lack of reflective stips, normally the people I see wearing this sort of gear, have poor to dangerous condition bikes, no lights etc.

As for wearing bright high vis gear, nowadays you just blend in with the background, as everyone wears is, from seeing news from the US, it isn't a UK / Euro problem anymore, so it isn't as effective as it was a few years ago.

dbg

I'm not sure I agree but I have thought about exactly how visible is the high-vis stuff. I switched to High-Visibility yellow after the following observation: In a car I approached a very confusing intersection with lots of truck, a busy main road with a parallel access road, and weirdly obtuse crossing points from all directions. I remember thinking how totally confusing this was going to be. One thing caught my eye first and most obviously. It was a bicyclist with a canary yellow hi-vis jacket. He totally stood out in the grey, dusk, industrial confusion. He was the one thing you couldn't miss seeing.

gcottay

Be careful, friends. This kind of thinking is even more dangerous than ninja cycling.

jimc101

Get what your saying; the problem with so many people wearing hi-viz jacket gear now is that they can blend in with the enviroment especially in town / city environments; also a problem with them, is they don't lasts with washing, as the fluorescent degrades and the refective strips loose their reflectivity if they are not replaced regulary, they become less useful.

10 Wheels

Dudelsack 

When you are in the shadows you are hard to see.

But you look good.

tarwheel 

Reflective piping and stripes is not enough. The problem is that a lot of stupid drivers don't use their headlights at dawn and dusk. I often see drivers who forget to turn on their lights when it's totally dark outside. All the time.

IMHO, cyclists who wear black and other dark colors -- even during daylight -- are just not using common sense. Dark colors just do not show up well, even in daytime if you are passing through shadows (as shown in the photo above). If you live in a hot climate, it's doubly stupid because you are making yourself a solar heat collector. I wear yellow and neon yellow-green jerseys, jackets and vests almost exclusively when commuting. For daytime recreational rides, I have a collection of jerseys in other colors -- all bright ones.

As a year-round bike commuter, I am riding in the dark for many months out of the year. Trust me, you guys in black are not very visible, even when using the obligatory small blinkie light. On the other hand, when I see a jogger or cyclist wearing neon yellow-green, I can easily spot them 1/2-mile away. There is a reason why nearly all highway crews wear neon vests these days.

Bob Ross

I had a very elucidating experience on a group ride ~6 years ago: It was mid-October, & all the leaves on the trees were at their most vivid Fall colors. I was in a group of 8 or 9 cyclists, everyone wearing various colored red, green, blue, yellow kits...and one in HiViz Yellow.

At one point we were climbing a gentle rise, mid-afternoon sun at our backs, heading towards a much taller mountain covered with gorgeous foliage. I was in the back of the line, looking up ahead. As each rider crested the hill, where they then had only that foliage-covered backdrop, they all completely disappeared. It was uncanny, as if they had intentionally worn camoflage. The moment their sihouette got proud of the the asphalt background and was visible (sic) against the colored leaves, they ceased to be visible. Didn't matter what color their kit was, they instantly disappeard, as if someone had thrown a switch and engaged a Star Trek cloaking device

...except of course for the one rider in the HiViz windbreaker. She was still vividly discernable against that multihued backdrop.

GFish

+1

The picture above illustrates why darker clothing can create visual problems for drivers. If a driver fails to recognize a cyclist early enough, this greatly reduces reaction time. Nobody wants to be surprised, not the driver or the cyclist.

10 Wheels

Find the high vis.

Digital Gee

The photographer?

Rowan

And trust me... it makes not an iota of difference to the speed and behaviour of the majority of motorists unless they are under strict traffic control procedures.

The trouble with this thread is... everyone is preaching to the choir. The thread started out talking about riding with dark clothes at night and implying no lights. Yes, it is difficult to see people in that situation, if you are riding and your lights are also deficient and you aren't paying the attention that the conditions warrant. Have the right lighting system on your bike, and you can wear whatever clothing you like.

There are issues with daylight riding in severe shadows cast by trees and buildings in strong sunlight. Among the most significant of them is the inability of the iris in many people's eyes in adjusting quickly enough to see into the shadows. It's not only black that disappears in those conditions, but blues and reds and greens, and whites and even the neon colours.

Then there is riding into the setting sun when no colour can be seen through the glare, made worse by a dirty windscreen. Most riders don't even give it a second thought, although I am acutely aware of it because a friend of mine was killed by a passing vehicle that didn't see her, supposedly because of the shallowness of the sun.

And finally, to me it's odd that everyone talks about the colour of the tops worn when riding, but no-one suggests we all wear neon coloured tights or pants or shorts or socks or shoes (reflective ankle bands excepted). And if anything will catch attention, is it the legs moving up and down.