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Old 01-09-11, 01:19 PM
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BarracksSi
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
 
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
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Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?

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I'd think that a good portion of the reason why vests don't help much is because most car headlights really don't shine that high. Headlight patterns have been made with a good horizontal cutoff for quite a few years now (of course that assumes that they're aimed correctly, but let's be honest -- MOST vehicles out there DO have correctly-aimed headlights), and they really don't illuminate very much above level -- which is maybe knee-level for cyclists.

Do an image search via Google to see what I mean; use "headlight cutoff" and you'll get plenty of results.

FWIW, I've been able to read street signs much more clearly with a helmet light or a bright handlebar light than I have with my car's headlights. Not because the bike lights are any brighter -- which they're not -- but because they have more glare.
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