An accident waiting to happen

[Johnno260]

I see it more and more around my area, no lights, no reflective clothing and I think helmets are out of fashion near me as well.

The local paperboy I have nearly hit before as he refuses to light up and I have seen others almost hit him as well.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The local paperboy I have nearly hit before as he refuses to light up and I have seen others almost hit him as well.

I always used to light up when I was a paperboy. Early on in the round, mind, so my mum couldn't smell it on my breath when I got home.

 

[Drago]

I've often wondered what duty of care, if any, Newsagents have to ensure the paperboys and girls have lights on their bikes.

 

[mjr]

I've often wondered what duty of care, if any, Newsagents have to ensure the paperboys and girls have lights on their bikes.

Probably roughly feck all, like it's normally the drivers who get fined and pointed for speeding and parking offences effectively outsourced to them by unrealistic delivery schedules of some companies.

 

[biggs682]

I've often wondered what duty of care, if any, Newsagents have to ensure the paperboys and girls have lights on their bikes.

Do newsagent's still offer to deliver newspapers in towns ??

 

[JoshM]

Personally I wear light clothing/clothing with reflective clothing, and always have lights on if its gloomy enough that they make a difference. I believe that even if I have the right to wear dark clothing or not have my lights on, ultimately it's me that will pay if a driver doesn't see me and hits me. I'm aware that the precautions I take don't guarantee my safety but I can make it easier for drivers to see me and thus make myself (at least feel) safer. I don't need to do this, and drivers should be paying enough attention to see me regardless, but they are human and therefore not perfect, and if I can reduce the chances of me being hit why wouldn't I?

On one commute once unknown to me my back light failed, a driver overtook me, stopped and told me my light wasn't working. He then offered to drive behind my until we got into the better lit local town so that no one else would come up behind me and hit me because they didn't see me.I had a spare light with me so just swapped the light but I really appreciated the offer. I think its a shame we now seem live in a world where we fear to express our concern for others safety. Who knows what would have happened to me if that driver hadn't stopped. I hope that if you approach the subject from a place of concern and friendliness that most people will take your 'interference' at face value and even if they then ignore your concerns, will appreciate your concern. The driver who stopped for me could have sworn out the window at me for not being 'properly' lit up, and I'd probably have just given him the finger and ignored what he said, but because he was decent, I responded in kind.

I think how we say what we have to say matters far more than what we have to say. Perhaps if you see him again and its safe to do so, stop and explain why you're concerned about him.

 

[Markymark]

Personally I wear light clothing/clothing with reflective clothing, and always have lights on if its gloomy enough that they make a difference. I believe that even if I have the right to wear dark clothing or not have my lights on, ultimately it's me that will pay if a driver doesn't see me and hits me. I'm aware that the precautions I take don't guarantee my safety but I can make it easier for drivers to see me and thus make myself (at least feel) safer. I don't need to do this, and drivers should be paying enough attention to see me regardless, but they are human and therefore not perfect, and if I can reduce the chances of me being hit why wouldn't I?

On one commute once unknown to me my back light failed, a driver overtook me, stopped and told me my light wasn't working. He then offered to drive behind my until we got into the better lit local town so that no one else would come up behind me and hit me because they didn't see me.I had a spare light with me so just swapped the light but I really appreciated the offer. I think its a shame we now seem live in a world where we fear to express our concern for others safety. Who knows what would have happened to me if that driver hadn't stopped. I hope that if you approach the subject from a place of concern and friendliness that most people will take your 'interference' at face value and even if they then ignore your concerns, will appreciate your concern. The driver who stopped for me could have sworn out the window at me for not being 'properly' lit up, and I'd probably have just given him the finger and ignored what he said, but because he was decent, I responded in kind.

I think how we say what we have to say matters far more than what we have to say. Perhaps if you see him again and its safe to do so, stop and explain why you're concerned about him.

Excellent advice. When out walking you should wear lights, a helmet, high vis and carry a horn. Drivers aren't perfect and anything you can do when crossing roads helps right?

 

[Drago]

A good reason as any for having two lights at each end, and for periodically checking them during the ride.

 

[JoshM]

Excellent advice. When out walking you should wear lights, a helmet, high vis and carry a horn. Drivers aren't perfect and anything you can do when crossing roads helps right?

I personally feel that would be overkill, but if that makes you feel safer why not? I didn't say I expected others to feel the same way I do, or that I expect others to take the same precautions I do. I've made my own decisions about what makes me feel safe on the roads, I'm sure you have too. If you feel safe wearing dark clothing and no lights on a dark unlit road at night then that's up to you. I don't think its unreasonable that people would want to stop and express theirs concerns about your safety if you do though.

 

[mjr]

I personally feel that would be overkill, but if that makes you feel safer why not?

Because it helps encourage motorists not to look for walkers who aren't doing all those things and to get away with injuring them. Don't you care about other road users?

 

[Markymark]

I personally feel that would be overkill, but if that makes you feel safer why not? I didn't say I expected others to feel the same way I do, or that I expect others to take the same precautions I do. I've made my own decisions about what makes me feel safe on the roads, I'm sure you have too. If you feel safe wearing dark clothing and no lights on a dark unlit road at night then that's up to you. I don't think its unreasonable that people would want to stop and express theirs concerns about your safety if you do though.

So it's an overkill for pedestrians but not for cyclists? They both use the same roads (when crossing or cycling). Both are vulnerable to the same cars. Yet you apply the logic to cyclists and not to pedestrians of 'anything I can do to help'. Why is that?

Of course the problem with this is that cyclists will be deemed at fault for not being lit up like a Christmas tree and protected from head to foot in armour - something that only cyclists seem to have to do and nobody else.

 

[vickster]

Pedestrians don't tend to walk for miles on end on unlit roads (esp in cities, venturing into the carriageway when crossing the road, if there's no pavement or perhaps if blind drunk). However, if they do in the countryside, most in my experience will use some sort of reflective clothing and carry lights / a torch and walk facing oncoming traffic

I thought cyclists are legally obliged to use lights front and rear in the dark in order to render them visible to other users of the carriageway

 

[Markymark]

Pedestrians don't tend to walk for miles on end on unlit roads (esp in cities, venturing into the carriageway when crossing the road, if there's no pavement or perhaps if blind drunk). However, if they do in the countryside, most in my experience will use some sort of reflective clothing and carry lights / a torch and walk facing oncoming traffic

I thought cyclists are legally obliged to use lights front and rear in the dark in order to render them visible to other users of the carriageway

Was the op describing an unlit country road?

 

[mjr]

Pedestrians don't tend to walk for miles on end on unlit roads (esp in cities, venturing into the carriageway when crossing the road, if there's no pavement or perhaps if blind drunk). However, if they do in the countryside, most in my experience will use some sort of reflective clothing and carry lights / a torch and walk facing oncoming traffic

Maybe that's the case in most of the UK now with our car-sick culture, but I spent much of last week walking for miles in a place where very few roads had pavements or street lights - I think they were only along major routes in built-up areas and not even all of them. The only reflective stuff I wore was small patches on the back pocket and chest pocket of my black jacket and that was mainly because I'd taken a cycling jacket that packs down smaller than my heavy overcoat. I carried a cheap lantern on most nights (I think torches don't give a wide enough spread of light for walking, but I guess it's better than nothing when it's too dark to see) but I did switch it off when the moon was bright enough to see by. I saw other people walking with at most one torch per group and I saw no-one "express their concerns" (is that a euphemism for the usual British motorist abuse?)

Maybe it seemed to work fine only because it was a quiet fairly rural area where that seemed the done thing, so motorists expected it... but wouldn't you rather we headed towards that sort of liberating experience, rather than harassing people into feeling they should wear special clothes for walking and cycling? It's up to us not to be part of the problem by berating walkers IMO.

 

[vickster]

Was the op describing an unlit country road?

Could be, says it's a busy A road (e.g. One I've driven recently is the A4130 from Wallingford to Henley, unlit and thus dark after dusk), in the country those are not necessarily lit. The OP doesn't mention whether it has street lighting or not