Velo_Tut

Too true. Here is a pic of the car I hit today going 24mph. I was traveling straight and had the right of way. The at fault vehicle pulled out in front of me attempting to cross the road.
Luckily I walked away with some bruises and bumps, but I really need to get my CAAD9 checked out.

Velo_Tut

^^ Rules of the road are the rules drivers are SUPPOSE to follow . . . it's not always that easy.

mechBgon

1) I ironed some iron-on reflective tape to the gloves in the photo I posted earlier. Easily done. The reflective stripes down the sleeves of the jacket are also intended to help arm signals show in full darkness. And obviously they really increase my effective reflective profile the rest of the time. I really need to cook up another Tron jacket.

2) I'm not sure if a lighted hand on the end of a nearly-invisible arm is going to register with the viewer as easily as a lighted or reflective arm, but companies like NiteIze and Nathan make flexible LED-illuminated reflective bands and things. So it would come down to rigging a switch of your own, and attaching it to your hand. But how to make it show from both the front and the rear, I dunno.

deep_sky

*snicker* Might want to do some research and then revise those numbers accordingly.

Drivers are trained to look for brake lights and turn signals on other cars, not on bicycles. A scooter registers as a small motorcycle to drivers, but a bicycle does not. Bicycles are simply too slow and too small to be useful for anything beyond very short range, which makes them all but useless. At night I do look for a rear and front light on a bicycle, along with reflective gear. Looking for a tiny blinking turn signal or the tiny increase in brightness on a blinkie would be tough to make out unless there is very little traffic. In that case all that extra crap isn't going to make much difference if there ain't much traffic in the first place, and an inattentive driver will run over a portable Sun.

moleman76

I bike in the dark, some. I drive a car when it's dark, more. When we're travelling in the dark, lights and reflectors help us discern other vehicles' positions, and often, what they are. Cars have taillights out near their rear corners -- gives you a clue about how wide they are. Trucks have different marker light patterns to show their size. Here in the US, the blinky has become the norm for bike lighting (though most states still require reflectors as the minimum). If I'm driving or riding at night and see a small, blinking light ahead of me, I know it's a bike.
When we see an illuminated turn signal on a car, truck, or even a motorcycle, that flashing light is perceived as something different from the taillight or marker light. For a bike, with perhaps a Planet Bike Super Flash, a flashing Dinotte, or other high-intensity flashing taillight, how would a turn signal light be noticed? It would have to be even brighter, a different color (yellow/amber, let's say), and spaced far enough away from the blinkie to be noticed -- maybe on stalks a foot or two long! Ridiculous. [ah, some may say, motorcycles don't have that problem -- true, but they use a constant-on taillight]
Reflective gloves, high visibility gloves, reflective dots, bands, or whatever on your arms, all help a lot. But, just like a car driver -- do you just signal and then turn or change lanes, without checking your mirror to see if you have a space to move into? (true, many motor vehicle drivers do just that, but don't be stupid)

Random rebuttals and comments:
Interesting that the intentions were known about the rider killed when he changed from the right side of the right lane, to the other lane, as he was about to be passed -- were those his dying words? Best way to not get killed in that situation would be to not change lanes.
Bikes are vehicles. Just putting lights on something doesn't make it a vehicle. If it did, Christmas trees could be vehicles. Now, just because the vehicle laws typically stop at reflectors to the rear, at night, with lights optional, doesn't mean not to put lights on, and turn them on, night or day.

cheers

CritEastwood

Hilarious!

The Human Car

A group of us are doing a 100 mile ride today, yep very short range.

CommuterRun

I see the point to this. I certainly am not going to spend half a day on a bike to run one errand. A century is fine if the purpose is just to ride a century, but it's not feasible for going somewhere for a purpose other than just to go for a ride. Likewise if I have multiple stops to cover in one trip that are miles apart or need to pick up something big and bulky.

Bikes are very useful for short trips that don't consume a lot of time and trips for picking up a few small items, but beyond that the cyclist is doing it that way because they want to, and that is what they want to do with their time. Not because it's the most feasible or most efficient way to get something done. Cycling is fun and better than driving for a variety of reasons, but there comes a point for everyone when the amount of time involved comes into consideration. I met a man last spring who had spent the last two years bicycle touring the East Coast and was heading west from here. That's fine if that's what he wants, but I think most of us have other things to do; other responsibilities to take care of.

Yeah, a house could be built using only hand tools. My time is more import than that.

electrik

Obviously never heard of these guys riding gear laden bicycles around the world!