Tourist- old motorcycle rider here as well as well as lifelong cyclist. Assuming you are invisible pretty much sums up how you must think when on 2 wheels isn't it? Your comments about being seen in diff conditions are spott on, sometimes even more so with motorcycles as we are moving faster.
The two approaching 18 wheelers situation touches on the importance of any kind of rear view mirror to have a heads up of when its better for everyone for us to take to the shoulder.
Let's face it, mirrors and bright clothing are often looked down upon, for a whole bunch of reasons. Risk assessment and such vary with diff people depending on many factors. As a lifelong 2 wheeler, I apply my experience to it and no problem with a mirror and brighter clothing to, as one of you stated, get any advantage I can. For myself and my family its worth it.
I use a Third Eye brand mirror that clamps onto my helmet visor.
Originally Posted by
nancy sv
For the record, I think white is the best color for visibility. I came to that conclusion because my husband's white shirt was what I could see the best when he and my son were far ahead of my on their tandem. They had a large tandem with a BOB trailer with a bright yellow dry bag strapped to the top of the BOB and a couple of brightly colored flags. My son generally wore other color shirts - sometimes red or orange or other highly visible colors. Even though my son was behind my husband on the tandem, it was hubby's white shirt that I could see. They could be so far away that I couldn't make out anything else - no bike, no BOB, no son, nothing. But I could see that white shirt.
Both white and the yellowish green color that construction workers use are good.
I used to work with a bunch of engineers that worked on highway construction. One of them came out of a meeting and had to go out on site and did not have time to change out of his white shirt to the yellowish green one. He later said that several people told him that he was more visible with the white shirt but he still got written up for violating safety rules.
I think the yellowish green is better on overcast days, white may be better on bright sunny days. I have a couple white jerseys but I prefer the color that construction workers use because I think that drivers see that color and their brain goes into construction zone mode.