Originally Posted by
Maelochs
never feed posters living under bridges.
Jim from a major Northeast urban center has already posted that mirrors do not stop cars. And even if one sees the car, one might not be able to escape.
High-vis socks help the driver see the bike. If the driver sees the bike, maybe the driver will avoid the bike. A mirror only helps a very limited amount ... and if the driver sees the rider and takes evasive action, the mirror is moot. But some posters don't do logic, they do spite and ridicule.
FACT---both posters have probably cycled a couple thousand miles a year or more for a couple decades. Obviously Both have developed ways to ride and survive. For one to say the other's system is faulty is prima facie incorrect.
High-vis is for the driver. Mirror is for the rider.
But I rode fierce urban traffic in the cycling fatality capitol of the nation for well over a decade ... without a mirror. Now I use one sometimes. it is Not necessary, and is more for convenience. In any situation where the driver is simply stupid, Nothing offers safety.
My last Really near miss was the classic "riding past a car on a side street which pulled out at the last second" situation where a mirror wouldn't have helped, and neither would a pair of high-vis socks. This guy ignored my searing headlight beam.
So ... are you guys both wrong? or is it a much more complicated environment and no panacea can make it safe?
I mean, continue the petty p1$$1ng match if you so desire ... it's a free virtual country ... but seriously?
As far as it goes, I am a Big proponent of reflective tape on shoes. Clipless pedals don't have room for reflectors and science (as in people actually doing tests and logging results) have found that lighted pedals or shoes are the absolute best indicator of "That's a bicycle" and the best (as far as I can recall) way to catch a driver's attention, because of all the motion and the fact that it is not in the same zone as a car headlight or a roadside mailbox reflector.
High-vis socks might matter during the day, not sure. But the basic idea---make the moving parts highly visible ---is Science.
I just did what is a pretty typical ride for me. 40 miles of which only 6 were on public roads. I had 4 cars approach me from behind. That was pretty manageable without a mirror. I still want to get one. I won't always be riding in my current environment, so it'd be better to get used to one in favorable conditions before I'd ever really need it. I encountered a guy on the levee path wearing blaze orange socks. They stood out pretty good. As I have started paying more attention, I think high vis yellow and green do better than orange.