In my part of Georgia, we tend to get some pretty thick fog in the Spring and Fall... especially around the many low lying creek beds. So it's important to use strategy to remain visible on a bike.

The main mistake that most riders make is that they rely only on lights to be seen. Wrong. People will spend tons of money on lights and blinkies... but they forget about their most useful safety tool. Reflective gear.

The best way to be seen is to use both lights and reflective materials to let the human brain identify you as a human on a slow moving vehicle. A single blinkie... no matter how bright... does not give the driver enough cues to allow their brain to instantly make that connection. They will see a blinking light and start to figure out what you are, but they are often very close to you by the time everything clicks in their brain and they make the identification.

So give the drivers some cues. Use lights and blinkies to grab their attention, and use strategically placed reflective gear to show them that you are a human on a bicycle.

I use a Planet Bike Super Flash as my rear blinkie because it puts out a retina searing flash and uses only two AAA batteries. The flash catches the driver's eye... but that's all that the flash is for. The flashing light doesn't allow the human brain to accurately establish distance... that's where the reflective gear comes in.

A good reflective vest highlights your torso and allows the driver's brain to QUICKLY identify you as a human. To see what constitutes a really good vest, look at what police and DOT road crews wear. They are brightly colored and have reflective stripes both horizontally and vertically oriented to show the shape of the human torso.

And the final piece of the puzzle... and the one that almost no rider wears... are reflective ankle bands. I consider these necessary... I'd give up my helmet before I'd give up my ankle bands. If I could use only one single piece of safety gear for night riding, it would be reflective ankle bands. When a driver sees these reflective bands bobbing up and down, it is obvious to their brain that it's a bicycle. And the bands are visible from a full 360 degrees.

And please don't use crappy reflective gear. If possible, buy SOLAS (Safety Of Life at Sea) reflective tape and clothing. SOLAS tape is available in adhesive and sew-on varieties... and it is good stuff. The adhesive tape sticks to cloth, vinyl, cordura, and metal. And that crap is BRIGHT! It's like shining a headlight right back at a car.

I was unable to find a SOLAS vest geared towards atheletes... most SOLAS vests are geared toward survival or motorcycle riding, far too heavy to wear comfortably while bicycling. So I bought a lightweight reflective vest at Home Depot ($4.00) and had a tailor sew SOLAS tape over the cheap tape that the vest came with. It's perfect.

So please... don't strap a cheap blinkie on your seat stay and think you're safe.