A trick of the light.

[Pat "5mph"]

This afternoon at 5.30, 4 of us Belles on Bikes met at an outdoor cycling track for a wee spin.
The track was in complete darkness, not a problem, all of us had full commuter lights on the bikes.
Apparently, mine are too bright had to switch the front cateye off as it was dazzling the others, pointed it further down for the ride home.
Anyhow, round and round the track we go, I was getting a bit bored so started to search for my pals' lights in the darkness, there were no others on the track.
Their front lights, even though they could not have been more than half a mile away from me at any point, seemed to flash from the street across the park, quite a bit further away.
When they decided to stop (I was behind, the slowest as usual) I could see their rear lights very well, but took me maybe 5/8 seconds to register they were actually stationary.
That made me realize it must be hard for a driver to judge speed and distance of a cyclist ahead.
I don't drive, the rest of the group does, we all agreed this perception of light should not matter much in an urban street lit environment, but it is crucial to be extra alert at night, whether a driver or a cyclist, given that the new energy saving street lights emit more an orange glow than proper light.
Until tonight I was convinced more lights on the bike equal more safety, now I know this is not always the case.

 

[Crankarm]

Airzound.

 

[gaz]

Your cateye was too bright? That is madness!

 

[slowmotion]

That's an interesting point, Pat. On the rare occasions when I drive at night and come across an accident up ahead, I find it almost impossible to judge the distance between me and the blue flashing lights of police and ambulance vehicles. Flashing in utter darkness doesn't seem to be very effective as a warning.

( Bring on Fnaar )

 

[potsy]

Pat, the answer is always more lights

 

[buggi]

i have heard this before, that flashing lights make it hard to judge speed and distance, but tonight i saw a cyclist on a dark lane, when i was driving, and was able to judge his distance very well and he was flashing all over the place. Don't forget cars have much better lights which are often on high beam on a dark road, as a cyclist you don't have this advantage. Keep all your lights on Pat but just make sure you have a static one.

 

[Tyke]

Agree the static light helps with positioning flashing gets you noticed its good to have both.

 

[Crankarm]

How about a flashing orange light like wot the bin lorries or tractors have on them in addition to your normal lights? Could be helmet mounted or on a pole attached to the rear rack?

 

[classic33]

How about a flashing orange light like wot the bin lorries or tractors have on them in addition to your normal lights? Could be helmet mounted or on a pole attached to the rear rack?

Fitted one of those to the Brox, when I went through city centre. Don't think it helped me being noticed as much as what I was cycling on at the time though!

 

[buggi]

just another thought... You said their rear lights were good but not their front, and you were behind them, so i presume you were watching them from the other side of the track, or behind, not when they were directly behind you?? If so, could it be, bcoz you weren't directly in front of them, that is why they looked like they were flashing up the street (where the light hit an object). Front lights do tend to be naff from the side (mine have a cut out by the bulb but its still naff even though the beam is excellent). Also the better the light, the further the beam of light lands so its best to have two, one flashing to attract attention of those in front or in a side road looking at you approaching, and one static to see where you're going but also so the drivers can see the beam from the side (if they're bothering to look). Consider getting tyres with a reflective strip. My bike glows like something out of Tron when a car headlights hit it, which increases visibility from the side .

 

[potsy]

I agree with Potsy

What are you after?

 

[Spinney]

just another thought... You said their rear lights were good but not their front, and you were behind them, so i presume you were watching them from the other side of the track, or behind, not when they were directly behind you?? If so, could it be, bcoz you weren't directly in front of them, that is why they looked like they were flashing up the street (where the light hit an object). Front lights do tend to be naff from the side (mine have a cut out by the bulb but its still naff even though the beam is excellent). Also the better the light, the further the beam of light lands so its best to have two, one flashing to attract attention of those in front or in a side road looking at you approaching, and one static to see where you're going but also so the drivers can see the beam from the side (if they're bothering to look). Consider getting tyres with a reflective strip. My bike glows like something out of Tron when a car headlights hit it, which increases visibility from the side .

Like the analogy!

 

[Frood42]

I'm surprised they found a cateye to be too bright, my one is only good enough to be seen, and is useless on darker roads with no street lighting.
I have upgraded to a Hope 1 on the front.

I like it as it has a dual flash/steady mode, but also has an additional three steady brightness levels, so when in a not so well lit area I can turn the beam up higher.

I also have three lights on the rear of the bike, one cateye in the middle, and two smart lights on the seat stays, very hard to miss me from behind...

 

[Frood42]

You want these Pat, RevoLights:

Or maybe even MonkeyLectric wheel lights:

 

[snailracer]

Pedal reflectors are good because they give cues about distance and whether the pedals are turning or not (i.e. when stopped or braking).