How to protect yourself when riding in the night time?

[Pearl]

I always finish my class around 7-8 p.m. So, I have to ride a bike in this time. Please sharing the way to protect yourself when you riding in the night time.

 

[ianrauk]

Reflective's and lights.

 

[AndyRM]

 

[Pearl]

Maybe it's too hard to find a gun to protect myself, especially the gun like your picture, but anyway thank you for sharing.

 

[AndyRM]

Maybe it's too hard to find a gun to protect myself, especially the gun like your picture, but anyway thank you for sharing.

Maybe one of these would be safer, and easier to get hold of? Ian's answer is the one by the way, leaving only poor, poor jokes for the rest of us.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'll just add that Pearl is female and based in Thailand and her first language is not English the British sense of humour may not come across well @AndyRM

Pearl - is it going dark around that time? I haven't yet ridden in Thailand so am not aware of when it is going dark and are you talking about protecting yourself as in being seen or protecting yourself physically?

 

[Ganymede]

Maybe it's too hard to find a gun to protect myself, especially the gun like your picture, but anyway thank you for sharing.

Ignore him, Pearl - he's showing off!

As a woman who cycles in the dark, I wonder what you feel you need protection from? I understand all too well (as a woman myself) that it can feel very unnerving to be out alone at night, but if you are worried about being attacked, think about your route and if there is any way you can improve it - do you cycle along residential streets, or in a town? If so I think your fears will be proved to be groundless, but you might have to just be a bit brave and try it out. Being on a bike means you can get away more easily from any situation you're not happy with - after all, you can always just turn round and cycle back the other way for a bit if you see anything dodgy.

I cycle along dark lanes through woods - it can feel a bit spooky - but I know the lanes well and to be honest I know if I feel a bit spooked it's more because of being brought up on tales of creepy-crawlies than actually being threatened by humans.

 

[KneesUp]

Do you mean protect yourself from being attacked or from traffic?

If the former - I stick to main roads at night. After an (in all honesty really pathetic) attempt to mug me in the park, I don't use that cycle path after dark even though as a middle aged and reasonably fit male on a bike there are undoubtedly easier targets.

With regard to traffic, there are some tremendous LED lights now for not much money. I'd suggest at least two at the back in case on fails (you won't notice) Also wear bright colours and be assertive with your road positioning - for example on part of my way home the road goes under a bridge. It's only just wide enough for two cars, and it's on a bend so you can't see if there is another car coming. If there is a car behind me before I get to it I get in the middle of the road so the car cannot overtake me before the bridge, so if there is another car coming it doesn't end up with two cars and me in a space only big enough for two cars.

 

[AndyRM]

I'll just add that Pearl is female and based in Thailand and her first language is not English the British sense of humour may not come across well @AndyRM

My apologies @Pearl, hadn't realised!

 

[ColinJ]

If you meant safe from attackers, then avoid dark, quiet streets.

If you meant safe from traffic - LED lights are now very cheap and powerful; I would put 2 on the front of your bike and 2 on the back, one each end on steady and one flashing. If the batteries on the steady one go flat then you have the other for backup.

Wear light coloured/reflective clothing. You can also get adhesive reflective strips to stick on your bike, helmet, bags etc.

Try and choose well-lit roads with safe traffic conditions. (You don't want lots of fast-moving vehicles bearing down on you if you can help it.)

 

[Pearl]

I'll just add that Pearl is female and based in Thailand and her first language is not English the British sense of humour may not come across well @AndyRM

Pearl - is it going dark around that time? I haven't yet ridden in Thailand so am not aware of when it is going dark and are you talking about protecting yourself as in being seen or protecting yourself physically?

In 6 p.m. in Thailand is quite dark. I have a bicycle light, but I don't think it's safe enough.

 

[Pearl]

Maybe one of these would be safer, and easier to get hold of? Ian's answer is the one by the way, leaving only poor, poor jokes for the rest of us.

It's not a poor joke. I know it's a joke. Maybe my English is quite poor and I don't know how's your culture answer this joke.

 

[AndyRM]

It's not a poor joke. I know it's a joke. Maybe my English is quite poor and I don't know how's your culture answer this joke.

No need to answer, and your English is far superior to my Thai!

In an attempt to offer something constructive (rather than coming across as a total buffoon), making yourself as visible as possible is vital. Lighting and reflectives are key here, more so than light clothing IME. Unfortunately, you can't cater for other road users, so you could be as bright as a light bulb but an innattentive fool could still take you out.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Reflective ankle bands, or reflectors on your pedals work very well. They will pick up the lights of the traffic around you and the movement is easy to spot and suggests to people it is a bicycle (nothing else moves like that).

Again something nice and reflective on your body is good, it's a big area to be seen and their lights will make it visible.

Two rear lights, one flashing, one solid and fairly bright. This is your protection against people with poor lights. Two because one might fail. Flashing for the movement, solid so you are always lit.

I use two lights on the front, one flashing to be seen and one a beam to see by. Again part of that is if one fails you have another one to hand although at least with the front you can tell.

Some lights are rechargeable with a USB socket, personally I don't like them as I prefer to be able to put new batteries in if the lights go low. This is because I'm likely to forget to charge them at some point. Lights with a warning indicator when the charge is low help get round this.

Finally, as mentioned, ride defensively, give yourself room to move out of the way if someone is bearing down on you. I don't know what the road traffic laws/expectations are in Thailand, but it is worth knowing what you are allowed to do, and taking in to account what other road users are likely to expect.

 

[Ganymede]

Reflective ankle bands, or reflectors on your pedals work very well. They will pick up the lights of the traffic around you and the movement is easy to spot and suggests to people it is a bicycle (nothing else moves like that).

Again something nice and reflective on your body is good, it's a big area to be seen and their lights will make it visible.

Two rear lights, one flashing, one solid and fairly bright. This is your protection against people with poor lights. Two because one might fail. Flashing for the movement, solid so you are always lit.

I use two lights on the front, one flashing to be seen and one a beam to see by. Again part of that is if one fails you have another one to hand although at least with the front you can tell.

Some lights are rechargeable with a USB socket, personally I don't like them as I prefer to be able to put new batteries in if the lights go low. This is because I'm likely to forget to charge them at some point. Lights with a warning indicator when the charge is low help get round this.

Finally, as mentioned, ride defensively, give yourself room to move out of the way if someone is bearing down on you. I don't know what the road traffic laws/expectations are in Thailand, but it is worth knowing what you are allowed to do, and taking in to account what other road users are likely to expect.

Pearl, this is really good, comprehensive advice!