Lights, how much is a life worth?

[LinchPin]

If the purpose of lights is to stand out against the background, and the background consists of other people/cars/objects with lights on, it can only end one way

The trouble is roads have a habit of having different amounts of traffic at different times, also one doesn't usually cycle down exactly the same sort of road all the times.
Perhaps we need adaptive clothing that changes from black/reflective/yellow depending on the environment.

 

[LinchPin]

Ah the forewarned delusion. First cousin of the illusion of attention.

Can I recommend you a great book...
The Invisible Gorilla.

Our intuition deceives us.

I guess in the video one is concentrating on the ball so misses the Gorilla. I'd suggest that when driving at night cars are looking for the lights(ball) and missing the unlit cyclist(gorilla).
Then again if as you said you were illuminated like a Xmas tree and still had an altercation then what do we learn, perhaps if you weren't illuminated he'd have killed you; then again perhaps the lights made him think you were a fast moving car and he misjudged your speed so you'd be better off being unlit.
Or perhaps a previous almost killed you but saw you because of your lights.
Or perhaps ... ad infinitum

 

[Drago]

Even if all other road users were banned I'd be dead within a mile if I rode my commute with no lights. At the mid point I'm 4 miles from the nearest streetlight. In bad weather the problems even worse - I've ridden in fog so thick I couldn't see the road surface passing beneath me.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I saw a woman(middle aged and quite normal looking) cycling on the pavement yesterday,she had a red light on the front of her bike! Is it possible to be that numb or do you have to practice at it?
From my personal experience i find that cars(in the dark or poor visibility)approaching the road i'm on seem to brake/slow down swiftly when my reflective well lit bike and body come into view. I don't think they'd brake so swiftly if i was wearing hard to see clothing and sporting a poxy flickering candle power light!

 

[mustang1]

I'm not rich by any means hence my post about going work at 5am!

I'm poorer. I go to work at 4:59am. (Shrugs)

 

[Tin Pot]

Whilst I would encourage the use of lights by cyclists during sunrise/sunset and at night I would also discourage the use of dipped beams by drivers on lit urban roads - side lights provide enough without blinding/obscuring the vehicle shape.

 

[winjim]

Whilst I would encourage the use of lights by cyclists during sunrise/sunset and at night I would also discourage the use of dipped beams by drivers on lit urban roads - side lights provide enough without blinding/obscuring the vehicle shape.

Until recently I was firmly of the belief that sidelights were for parking only and that you had to have your dipped beams on when actually driving. I've only just learned that you can drive in built up areas with just sidelights, so I think it's not well known. Also, a lot of cars these days have automatic lights, which I don't think are clever enough to differentiate.

 

[Tin Pot]

Until recently I was firmly of the belief that sidelights were for parking only and that you had to have your dipped beams on when actually driving. I've only just learned that you can drive in built up areas with just sidelights, so I think it's not well known. Also, a lot of cars these days have automatic lights, which I don't think are clever enough to differentiate.

Quite true, but I can still dream...

 

[mjr]

I'm poorer. I go to work at 4:59am. (Shrugs)

Bah, I'm poorer. I have to leave before I get home </fourth-yorkshireman>

 

[totallyfixed]

Whilst I would encourage the use of lights by cyclists during sunrise/sunset and at night I would also discourage the use of dipped beams by drivers on lit urban roads - side lights provide enough without blinding/obscuring the vehicle shape.

No, this is wrong. On the continent driving on side lights is illegal. Older people find it difficult to cross roads safely [not all obviously], they cannot judge the speed of an approaching vehicle nor can those with failing eyesight see cars with only sidelights illuminated, the problem here increases if one of the sidelights is not working because the vehicle can then be mistaken for a bicycle and therefore thought to be moving more slowly.
This morning we have dense fog here in Rutland and we witnessed the usual poor driving that is now so common everywhere. To illustrate the above comments, we saw a car [before I get the inane comments, I am alert to these brainless fools] on sidelights in the semi dark fog. No doubt he / she had thought it fine to drive in town on sidelights but had not switched to dipped headlights in the countryside.
You will find that older drivers are the ones most likely to use sidelights because back in the day headlights put a strain on the battery especially when they are left on after turning the engine off, unfortunately this class of driver is also likely to have relatively poorer eyesight and slower reactions.

 

[Tin Pot]

No, this is wrong.

Lol. I love Internet forums.

 

[winjim]

This thread is screaming out for some evidence. Or maybe Helmets & Headphones should be extended to Helmets, Headphones and Headlamps.

 

[Drago]

No, it is correct. Inappropriate use of headlights during the day has been shown to break up the outline of the vehicle, so as the vehicle nears and its size changes in relation to its background the brain is deprived of a mechanism for judging its speed.

If its dark or visibility is seriously compromised due to poor weather then use headlamps. If it isn't, don't. Even in the days before DRLs Volvo and SAAB fitted a dim-dip system, they didn't just wire the headlamps to stay fully on.

 

[Tin Pot]

This thread is screaming out for some evidence.

Surely anecdote and strong opinion can suffice?

 

[mustang1]

No, this is wrong. On the continent driving on side lights is illegal. Older people find it difficult to cross roads safely [not all obviously], they cannot judge the speed of an approaching vehicle nor can those with failing eyesight see cars with only sidelights illuminated, the problem here increases if one of the sidelights is not working because the vehicle can then be mistaken for a bicycle and therefore thought to be moving more slowly.
This morning we have dense fog here in Rutland and we witnessed the usual poor driving that is now so common everywhere. To illustrate the above comments, we saw a car [before I get the inane comments, I am alert to these brainless fools] on sidelights in the semi dark fog. No doubt he / she had thought it fine to drive in town on sidelights but had not switched to dipped headlights in the countryside.
You will find that older drivers are the ones most likely to use sidelights because back in the day headlights put a strain on the battery especially when they are left on after turning the engine off, unfortunately this class of driver is also likely to have relatively poorer eyesight and slower reactions.

When I was a kid I recall people used to drive with just side lights on and only used headlights when they needed to see clearer. I also recall there was less light on the streets back then. These days there is a lot of light out there, street lights are brighter, more traffic lights, advertising, just seems to be more light in general. Therefore you need the headlights on to standout from all the other light.

Or I could just be imagining all this stuff.