Frightening ....
- Thread starter Camgreen
- Start date
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Chamfus Flange
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Woking, Surrey
If they've no lights, helmets aren't going to help them.
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phil_hg_uk
I am not a member, I am a free man !!!!!!
Sounds like about 90% of cyclists I see round ere, or should I day dont see until the last minute round ere 
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
A helmet isn't going to help them even if they do have lights. Lights are a legal requirement at night, but helmets are not, and rightly so.
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
Cycling back from Wellington last night (10 miles 7 on unlit roads) I was amazed. 2 in Wellington - no lights. 4 on unlit roads, including country unclassified and the A38 - no lights, and 3 in Taunton although 1 had a front light only.
None of these had reflective or hi vis clothing either.
There were more other cyclists around who had good lights, reflective clothing etc. As it was peeing down with rain for most of the trip there were less cyclists than I'd normally expect but the proportions about the same.
It's very sad if these people get hit, but my sympathies would lie more with the driver than the cyclist if it happened.
None of these had reflective or hi vis clothing either.
There were more other cyclists around who had good lights, reflective clothing etc. As it was peeing down with rain for most of the trip there were less cyclists than I'd normally expect but the proportions about the same.
It's very sad if these people get hit, but my sympathies would lie more with the driver than the cyclist if it happened.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
Davidc said:
Which would put you in the wrong. What happened to driving at a speed at which you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear ahead of you?
Camgreen said:
The helmet thing is a red herring.
But Hills Road? What, you mean out between the city centre and the railway station or down over the bridge towards Addenbrokes?
You're right, its dark by then, and you're also right that they should have lights. But as its basically a constant, never ending stream of cycle traffic around that time its not really unsafe; illegal, but nothing like the accident blackspot you may expect if the practice of riding without lights (under bright streetlights as one of a gazillion other cyclists) were really all that dangerous.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Cyclists cycling after dark without lights and wearing black/dark non reflective clothing are prime candidates for Darwin Awards IMHO. Most in Cambridge are students anyway. You would have thought they would have more brains. They are a menace to all road users whether they are pedestrians, motor vehicles or other cyclists. I find it intensely annoying that these selfish muppets just vindicate what the unhinged anti-cycling brigade habitually rant on about that cyclists are a lawless bunch of idiots who RLJ, cycle on pavements and cycle without lights. But the same thing happens every year about this time. Another 12 months and it will be coming around again.
The number of cars with only one headlight working is also very noticeable at this time of year as many drivers have made little use of them over the summer. The police call them winkers I believe which is similar to the word I use
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The number of cars with only one headlight working is also very noticeable at this time of year as many drivers have made little use of them over the summer. The police call them winkers I believe which is similar to the word I use
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wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
The most frightening one I've seen in Cambridge was the cyclist with a red light on her handlebars...
Cab said:
The lights at the station to Addenbrookes in particular was what I was referring to. Yes there is always a steady stream of cyclists, within that group you have the odd idiot who not only has no lights but also weaving in and out either side of the slow moving traffic without any apparent observation of the current driving conditions. Not saying that some of the car drivers are any more competent, but in deteriorating light you have to admit it's a potentially lethal combination.
Okay the helmet thing is a bit of a red herring.
Camgreen said:
Potentially lethal? Well, that all depends. In amongst decent street lighting and the constant glare of headlights in the more or less static traffic on Hills Road, I'll wager that a bigger risk to that cyclists safety is poor road position and bad roadcraft. Obviously they should have lights and be reflective, but here in Cambridge any motorist on that (or any) road can't use the excuse that they weren't expecting an unlit cyclist, and where the lighting is decent the excuse that the cyclist wasn't visible is, at best, dubious.