Saw three cyclists on my way home tonight...none of them had lights
All of them were on mountain bikes-one guy was crossing a 4 lane road (not at an intersection either) on a full suspension bike he was riding on the sidewalk until he decided to cross. Do these people just not care about being seen by cars? This was around dusk BTW so lights were definitely needed. I had my Dinotte headlight on blink and my Planet Bike Super Flash on the rear. I could see my headlight reflecting off every street sign 40-50 yards before I got to it. :D
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Nyp.
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Hey, I also ride in San Diego... at night on some occasions. I have noticed that not too many people have lights on where I commute. Most extreme case was a person going down a fairly steep hill full speed on his/her mountain bike with no lights through an intersection. And if they do have lights, it's usually just a blinky on the back (though the law requires at least reflectors and an actual headlight in the front).
I may be cheap, but I at least slapped on my mini maglite onto my bicycle for the rare cases I actually do go out at night. I guess it's just that cool to be a ninja bicycle rider. (actually, it may because of daylight savings, but if it was fairly late, it's probably safe to call them stupid.) |
Originally Posted by lil brown bat
(Post 5588045)
Nyp.
New York Post? New York Philharmonic? Nanyang Polytechnic? |
Originally Posted by option.iv
(Post 5588064)
Hey, I also ride in San Diego... at night on some occasions. I have noticed that not too many people have lights on where I commute. Most extreme case was a person going down a fairly steep hill full speed on his/her mountain bike with no lights through an intersection. And if they do have lights, it's usually just a blinky on the back (though the law requires at least reflectors and an actual headlight in the front).
I may be cheap, but I at least slapped on my mini maglite onto my bicycle for the rare cases I actually do go out at night. I guess it's just that cool to be a ninja bicycle rider. (actually, it may because of daylight savings, but if it was fairly late, it's probably safe to call them stupid.) Oh yeah, there's that whole it's the law thing too. :D |
as long as no one tells them it's not safe, they will continue to be people on bikes.
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Originally Posted by SDRider
(Post 5588070)
Your post confuses me...
New York Post? New York Philharmonic? Nanyang Polytechnic? NYP as in "not your problem", I guess. I also encounter other cyclists who are poorly lighted, and if one of them were to run into me, that would make it my problem. |
Originally Posted by AEO
(Post 5588140)
as long as no one tells them it's not safe, they will continue to be people on bikes.
Those three cyclists definitely saw me riding my sweet road bike with my backpack so maybe they'll be inspired to go out and buy some lights...and a road bike. :D |
Originally Posted by velopilot
(Post 5588154)
NYP as in "not your problem", I guess. I also encounter other cyclists who are poorly lighted, and if one of them were to run into me, that would make it my problem.
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Originally Posted by AEO
(Post 5588140)
as long as no one tells them it's not safe, they will continue to be people on bikes.
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Originally Posted by velopilot
(Post 5588154)
NYP as in "not your problem", I guess. I also encounter other cyclists who are poorly lighted, and if one of them were to run into me, that would make it my problem.
I know it's not my problem. I just thought it strange that, out of the relatively few people I saw on bikes tonight, none of them had lights. I also find it strange that none of them felt the need to make themselves seen while riding on the streets. Don't they market some of the most powerful lights for cyclists toward people who ride mountain bikes? I guess these guys must have been posers. :D |
What's worse than riding a bike at night with no lights or reflectors...
Riding a bike at night with no lights or reflectors on the wrong side of the street. |
I had the opposite happen last night (first post DST ride). At the start of my ride I come up to a limited vision T where I turn left onto the MUP. I take it very slow but try to stay clipped in. As I came up to the T, lighting up the area with my overvolted high wattage DIY lights, another bright light shone in from the right. It was great to know where an approaching cyclist was!
I also had the regular lot of ninja cyclists - the only light being reflected from my headlights. |
I don't bother telling anyone that they're doing something wrong unless they're going to cause problems for me, like going the wrong way. I just don't care, like the police here. :D
Thing is either most people don't know that they're supposed to or required by law to have lights from dusk to dawn. Think of how dumb the average person is, then know the fact that half the world's population is dumber than that. Then know the average schmuck on a bike doesn't know it's considered a vehicle and is supposed to obey (most) traffic laws. Smart people already have lights. The people you see who don't are either too lazy, don't know or don't care. |
See a lot of that in the city. They're ignorant. And most of the time I refer to them not as bicyclists but as people riding a bike. Those are the people who are most likely riding a stolen bike, something they picked up just as a ride from point A to point B or it may even be their little sisters bike. They ride where ever - on the right side, the wrong side - switch back and forth between lanes and sidewalk - jut into traffic between cars, etc. And here they mostly wear a winter parka and some old boots - lots of time there's only one pedal on the bike too .... so lights? Never had them, never will.
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Originally Posted by Tude
(Post 5589767)
See a lot of that in the city. They're ignorant. And most of the time I refer to them not as bicyclists but as people riding a bike. Those are the people who are most likely riding a stolen bike, something they picked up just as a ride from point A to point B or it may even be their little sisters bike. They ride where ever - on the right side, the wrong side - switch back and forth between lanes and sidewalk - jut into traffic between cars, etc. And here they mostly wear a winter parka and some old boots - lots of time there's only one pedal on the bike too .... so lights? Never had them, never will.
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Originally Posted by SDRider
(Post 5588009)
All of them were on mountain bikes-one guy was crossing a 4 lane road (not at an intersection either) on a full suspension bike he was riding on the sidewalk until he decided to cross. Do these people just not care about being seen by cars? This was around dusk BTW so lights were definitely needed. I had my Dinotte headlight on blink and my Planet Bike blinkie on the rear. I could see my headlight reflecting off every street sign 40-50 yards before I got to it. :D
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Originally Posted by AEO
(Post 5588878)
I don't bother telling anyone that they're doing something wrong unless they're going to cause problems for me, like going the wrong way. I just don't care, like the police here. :D
Thing is either most people don't know that they're supposed to or required by law to have lights from dusk to dawn. Think of how dumb the average person is, then know the fact that half the world's population is dumber than that. Then know the average schmuck on a bike doesn't know it's considered a vehicle and is supposed to obey (most) traffic laws. Smart people already have lights. The people you see who don't are either too lazy, don't know or don't care.
Originally Posted by Tude
(Post 5589767)
See a lot of that in the city. They're ignorant. And most of the time I refer to them not as bicyclists but as people riding a bike. Those are the people who are most likely riding a stolen bike, something they picked up just as a ride from point A to point B or it may even be their little sisters bike. They ride where ever - on the right side, the wrong side - switch back and forth between lanes and sidewalk - jut into traffic between cars, etc. And here they mostly wear a winter parka and some old boots - lots of time there's only one pedal on the bike too .... so lights? Never had them, never will.
My, how brightly your light shines! You can see everything about all those other cyclists/lowlifes even from way up there on your high horse, eh? :rolleyes: "Smart people" like you :rolleyes: are the ones to tell other cyclists right from wrong? No thanks. |
If they were all on MTBs then it's possible that they just don't enthuse about bikes, and figure the default reflectors are enough. They may or may not learn better. Eh.
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Hmmm...
I saw 4 cyclists this morning and all were lit up like Christmas trees. 2 MTB, 1 roadie, and a folder. One dude on a MTB put me to shame with my one rear blinkie, he had three. :p However, 1 mtb and the folder were riding on the sidewalk but that matters not IMHO. |
Bunch of reasons I can think of that so many cyclists don't use lights, applicable to varying amounts depending on the person:
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Originally Posted by JohnBrooking
(Post 5590442)
Bunch of reasons I can think of that so many cyclists don't use lights, applicable to varying amounts depending on the person:
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Next time you see them again yell "Immagracion Policia, quero candela?", I'm sure that will get them their attention. I have seen too many "undocumented workers" ride without lights at night here in Atlanta.
Originally Posted by SDRider
(Post 5588009)
All of them were on mountain bikes-one guy was crossing a 4 lane road (not at an intersection either) on a full suspension bike he was riding on the sidewalk until he decided to cross. Do these people just not care about being seen by cars? This was around dusk BTW so lights were definitely needed. I had my Dinotte headlight on blink and my Planet Bike Super Flash on the rear. I could see my headlight reflecting off every street sign 40-50 yards before I got to it. :D
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From what I've seen of the riders around here, I'm probably the best lit bike by a wide margin. I think a lot of the roadies tend to become weight weenies when it comes to lighting for some reason. Their rear blinkies are adequate for the task, but their front lights, IMHO, are fairly pathetic. At this time of year, I'm not really interested in speed records, just riding safely at the only time available to me to ride, and I want a light that will absolutely not affect my ability to right at whatever speed I deem appropriate.
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
(Post 5590237)
My, how brightly your light shines! You can see everything about all those other cyclists/lowlifes even from way up there on your high horse, eh? :rolleyes:
"Smart people" like you :rolleyes: are the ones to tell other cyclists right from wrong? No thanks. See, if you want to be seen at night, be smart, get some lights. If you want to be ninja, go ninja and lose all sorts of ways to be seen. Some people get stuck out at night, but you know, think ahead a bit and attach some reflectors or reflective tape on the bike, it's not that hard. I don't bother telling them they're doing something wrong unless they are hazardous to my well being. Wouldn't you yell at someone for committing a mistake that gave you a scare? I just don't care and mind my own business otherwise. People who run out of batteries during the ride... I guess either get at least 2 head lights or carry some spare batteries. |
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