In light of recent events I am compelled to reiterate this on its own.

Yes I know its a safety topic but it applies here every time one of us gets on the bike.

You cannot have enough proof and/or evidence if you get hit.

I usually piggyback this on other more basic discussions.

I wear a helmet, run multiple lights, cameras front and rear and GPS, also helmet mirror as well, it is a big component of the setup

It does not matter whether you have to have these legally or not, the defense will make you out to be the bad guy and your fault if you don't.

They will spend any amount to win against you.

These have helped me plenty a couple of times.

Like I said, 24/7/365, period.

Thank you for the very good advice.

Would you mind showing us your setup? Specifically which cameras, lights, GPS you run, how it’s mounted/wired, and your preferred sources?

I ride with a helmet mirror, a rear Cycliq camera, and enough flashing lights that I could probably send a susceptible person into an epileptic attack. Memphis has especially bad drivers who love texting, and I have a hefty amount of paranoia.

I know it's not going to be popular, but I'm going to suggest that "flashy-flashy" as part of a "see me" prophylactic strategy makes one more likely to get hit. It's disorienting for drivers and other cyclists alike, in my opinion, and makes it more difficult to judge one's distance from the flasher. I believe (though I haven't looked it up lately) that in Germany, for instance, flashing lights are prohibited, for these reasons.

Obviously, the point merziac is making is valid; hear, hear.

I don't run lights (except in Idaho stop manner) I don't see antagonizing the local police beneficial for my safety (or freedom).

[QUOTE]I wear a helmet, run multiple lights, cameras front and rear and GPS.{/QUOTE]

And seriously, I wear bright clothes to be noticed. Solid yellow and orange jerseys usually. Try to run bright fenders (but man, do the fender companies make that hard! Where are ubiquitous white Blummels of 50 years ago?) Daytime, occasionally I'll turn my rear flasher on but usually don't.

I try to not run visible items that are in my eyesight as I ride. The less I see, the more I ride like I am invisible. Seems to work. I've been riding a while and I'm still here. (Bright sleeves are the obvious exception. But they are often covered with black arm warmers. And I'll stick with those black warmers as the don't show tool grease after sharing pocket space in my jerseys.)

Yep I forgot about the mirror, I run one too, big component of the big picture, literally.

I run the Cycliq cameras too, have had ok luck with them.

I only run the lights flashing in the daytime, have read multiple studies that parse this out, results are very mixed and highly subjective to methods and perameters.

You're welcome and I will get some pics, it is extensive, couple different configurations and not cheap, PITA keeping all batteries charged, etc, etc.

Also run a big JBL speaker and small Walkman with FM radio, oldschool C+V all the way, the speaker can be a power bank on the road.

Was just reading Grant Petersen’s book Just Ride and he said the same thing. Blinking lights at night can be mesmerizing and “attract” drivers to the point they veer toward the “beacon.” He gave example of Police vehicles flashing lights and accidents which occur when they are parked. Recommends instead to run with lights on continuously not blinking.

Yep, again I only run flashing in daytime and the night time thing is highly subjective depending on many, many factors that can be skewed to drive the results.

I’m east of NYC in congested Ling Island so deal with cars all the time. I run a Varia rear blinker and camera, Ravemen front white blinker and a bar end mirror. I’m calculating that most likely hit from a car is from the rear, thus I splurged on the Varia with the camera. Debating a front camera. The front white blinker was j scantly noticable that cars would hesitate to turn and left hook me or pull out of a strip mall, etc…, probably more useful then the rear red, but I run both,

look at cyclists and cars in even bright days going into shadow and you don't see them.

bright clothes, flashy flashy and reflective stuff for me

I have had more than one driver mention how visible I am at stop lights

flash at night is probably a different conversation..... use a mix at night of steady and flashing

whatever you do stay safe as you can

what bugs me more is blacked out windows so I can't make eye contact

And those tints are likely illegal so the driver is hiding and they can get away with crappier behavior for something that should be an instant impound if any infraction is in play.

Yes, to Squirt and Merz on the make eye contact b.s.
Maybe in some pocket of America this still applies, but not in my world for quite some time.
Who knows what's going on behind that black sheild?
Assume it is navel gazing, multi-tasking or bad intent.

I assume they don't care, try to avoid it, have malicious intent, are mad that you distracted them when they were supposed to be paying attention or just plain mad at you for being on a bike.

I saw over on the Paceline that France recently banned rear flashing lights, which apparently caught Garmin by surprise. Their Varia rear radar lights have a throb mode, but still revert to flashing when a vehicle is detected approaching from behind.

A topic that has been heavily contemplated by me. As warmer weather approaches I am planning much longer distance rides. Which will have me riding among the distracted drivers.

I’m looking forward to reading about other C&V-ers set ups. Other than a helmet and bright clothing I’m lacking in everything else mentioned.

Lest we blame too much on the drivers, let's pour one out for the traffic engineers who created the environment in which it's so easy to drive distracted and too fast. I heartily recommend the book, "Killed by a Traffic Engineer" by Wes Marshall. It's not bike-specific (so certainly not C&V bike-specific), but the foundation for the system of roads and highways we have today was laid long ago, well before any of us were born, so certainly within the C&V era.

RIP law/3speedslow

In case you don't know, merziac is referring to a forum member here who got hit on February 21 and died today as a resut. Great guy, too.

Oh boy, I lived in Memphis in the pre-texting while driving era. It took me several years after moving away to lose the habit of (driving a car mind you) looking both ways before accelerating from a green light. People did not GAF, wouldn’t accelerate, wouldn’t slow down, just drive on through red light without a care in the world. Pretty dicey on a bike too.

So I took a diversion class way back when I got my first ticket shortly after getting my license.

The instructor started by asking "who is responsible if you are driving through an intersection and another driver runs a red light and hits you?"

Defensive driving teaches that every accident is preventable so the person who had the green light is responsible for not preventing it, all accidents are avoidable or can at least be lessened.

I would encourage everyone not to assume someone isn't running a red light.

Yes, the post when Law was hit spurred me to revisit this in it's own thread as I firmly believe it makes a difference before and after any accident.

Spag,
I experienced the same-ish sht in Seattle in the late 80-90's, whenever the pesky phones arrived.
Commuting thru Seattle heading for the old town section of Pioneer Square, I experienced my first smiling idiot aiming their 2 ton vehicle at my small framed bike riding in the opposing direction.
That was 35 years back.
Seattle was a center of the tech boom starting about then.
Sht-Shw it has become, and the sht has piled up big time.
By

I took a cycling class at a local community college in the seventies , right after buying my first light weight 10 speed. My wife and I had decided to “park” our cars and ride bicycles for transportation , car free for a few years. The class , for both of us , was informative and heavily focused on safety , even back then . We didn’t have the distractions or safety features that we have today but some of the techniques still ring true . Visibility, hand signals , and eye contact when approaching intersection are all valuable tools . I have a Lumos helmet with built in flashing or always on lights (front and back) with turn signals that are controlled by a remote switch on the handle bar. Like squirtdad , I have been told at stop lights how beneficial it is to drivers to be able to see me and know if I am turning . I still use hand signals as well.