Originally Posted by
BarracksSi
Not saying that they don't work for you, and I figure you have lights anyway, but I'm just thinking about these...
1) Will lights help better than reflectors here? What I mean is, as traffic is merging (can't quite picture what you're describing) or going in and out of parking lots, their light isn't shining on you until you're in front of them; but lights will make you visible when you're to their side, where they would see you by looking out a side window or in mirrors for other traffic.
Maybe this Google Maps link will show the right spot for once:
link See where W. 2nd Avenue angles downward and becomes S. Sunset Boulevard. This half-mile section of my commute is a bit... intense. Because of the angle of approach, yes, their headlights are aimed at me. The people merging in from the right at 1650 W. 2nd are facing towards potentially two lanes of oncoming automotive headlights coming slightly uphill at them. I'll take all the visibility I can get
2) and 3) What's the benefit of being seen from the side at an intersection or in a median? The traffic that might hit you from the side shouldn't be pointed towards you, so you wouldn't be a hazard anyway. When you cross, too, the cross traffic should be stopped or has enough of a gap where you can get through safely and not surprise them.
Think about all the times you've been in an intersection, trying to turn across oncoming traffic, and there's no gap. Light turns yellow, the oncoming people SPEED UP. Light turns red, and there you are, finally able to complete your turn... with cross-traffic rolling out on their green lights on both sides of you.
In the case of turning off the highway, the people trying to enter the highway have to sweep a 180° field of view to monitor four lanes of 60mph traffic for a gap. If I don't already have all my lights on, they're definitely turned on for this, but I am sometimes backlit by traffic and might blend in. If I do make it to my turning position, now I'm directly in front of people getting ready to tromp on it and get through the median and into their gap.
4) If you have decent lighting, drivers will see you before you swoop across their field of view. By the time you get into their headlights, they'll already know you're there.
Hopefully that's the case, but if you're on a busy divided highway, one bicyclist's headlight might not register from 500ft. range against a backdrop of oncoming motor vehicle headlights as everyone heads home from work. Odd hoops of light flying across the field of view, on a bike evidently ridden by Tron himself
might get recognition.
I think my point is that reflectors are only good where headlights are pointed, and that's really pretty limited. Plenty of accidents happen where at least one party is nowhere near being lit up by headlights, and reflectors won't help there -- but lights do.
I completely agree, and have a
whole web page devoted to the subject of passive lighting's shortcomings. Heck, I've seen people driving down Highway 195 with their lights turned OFF in complete darkness, figure that one out
Still, in the situations where reflective stuff works, I think it can help motorists "connect the dots." Not everyone will want to go as overboard as I do, but some of the best options don't cost much to implement, like reflective legbands and maybe $10 worth of DOT Class II reflective tape.