Moving flashing lights and reflective clothing

[Once a Wheeler]

I found motorists were generally better behaved around me at night when I wore an offside rear-facing red light strapped just below the knee. My impression was that it did not make me much more visible but that the up-and-down motion and occasional snippets of free-wheeling interrupted people's expectations and so made them consciously aware that someone was present. Anecdotal, but it seemed to work.

 

[oxoman]

I used to see a guy in lycra with reflective skeleton on it, very effective.

 

[cyberknight]

3 rear flashing lights for the commuter , one on each pannier gives me a wider appearance i like to think in the dark along with the pannier rack being plastered with reflective stickers along with the helmet .
Cant remember the last time i had a close pass in the dark .

 

[PaulSB]

During winter I and one of my buddies always wear either orange or yellow overshoes. I favour yellow. Moving feet are very visible. My other regular cycling companion wears knee length socks with a highly reflective strip on the back.

I never wear hi-viz but always wear a bright solid coloured jersey or jacket, patterned or black kit is difficult to make out in dull conditions.

Decent lights and I'm set up for all visibility conditions.

EDIT: I need to add, I don't ride at night. If I did I would probably look at a jacket/jersey which turns "white" in lights.

 

[ColinJ]

During winter I and one of my buddies always wear either orange or yellow overshoes. I favour yellow. Moving feet are very visible.

Ha ha - yes!!

I was grunting my way up a short stretch of 10% in my 42/15 grunting gear. Two little boys were sitting at the side of the road at the top. I just got up there and one called out...

Boy #1: "Nice shoes, mister!"

ColinJ: "I want to make sure that drivers see me..."

Boy #2: "They WILL!!!!"

View attachment 712420

 

[slowmotion]

Avoid flashing retina burning back lights. Any other sensible road user will hate you too.

Head torches likewise.

 

[Dogtrousers]

We can probably all agree that a rear light or reflector is better than no rear light or reflector.

And I think we can get a similar consensus that a light is probably better than just a reflector with no light.

I am of the opinion that two rear lights are better than one, because they can and do fail or fall off and this could go unnoticed by the rider. I think there may be a majority in favour of that. At very least it's not a hugely unpopular view.

But beyond those points we are all in the dark and guessing, and there is no consensus.

Flashers good, flashers bad, bright lights good, bright lights bad. High Vis good, high Vis bad. There are loads of opinions, but they are all just guesswork, sometimes backed by arguments like "it stands to reason, dunnit". Nobody knows.

I wear a reflective band on my right ankle in winter, or for night riding year round. I just do. It's my little foible. I don't recommend it to others, they can do what they like.

 

[roley poley]

I have a wide red retro-reflective strip down the full length of the rear mudguards ,ankle bands of yellow ,clip on strips of white on the front wheel spokes and red on the rear spokes and yellow high viz jacket, two led lights to the rear with a good headlight and beam pattern...I know i stand out in headlights but can not be responsible for a drivers inattention ...I feel i have to try to boost the odds no matter how small people say they are

 

[fossyant]

We can do as much as we can to be visible, but if a driver doesn't look, then you are getting run over. I've had two major accidents where a driver didn't even look, just drove through me. At least with a row of lights and bright visible clothing, you can say 'go to spec savers'.

 

[PaulSB]

I was about a mile from home on Saturday, wearing bright red, daylight, damp, dreary and running a Garmin Varia in flash mode. My next door neighbour passed me. When I got home she was unloading her car. I asked if she'd noticed my light and how bright was it.

She replied she'd seen a cyclist but didn't notice a light.

☹️

 

[Drago]

We can do as much as we can to be visible, but if a driver doesn't look, then you are getting run over. I've had two major accidents where I driver didn't even look, just drove through me. At least with a row of lights and bright visible clothing, you can say 'go to spec severs'.

This is it.

Calls from unwashed masses for riders to don armour and glow like a faulty Russian submarine is both a distraction from the real problem and a form of victim blaming.

 

[Sea of vapours]

She replied she'd seen a cyclist but didn't notice a light.

I'd speculate that that is more indicative of the nature of her attention to driving, rather than of what aspect of you on the road was more noticeable. At least she noticed a cyclist and went around, rather than through, you. Plenty of people - most people in fact - when driving cars, manage not to drive into things but cannot describe those things afterwards; quite often they cannot remember the thing being there at all. Whilst that's not a good thing at all, and shows lack of 'full attention', it doesn't mean that the flashing light did not contribute something to her awareness of 'thing to drive around'. At least she recalled a cyclist, specifically.

What it does, unfortunately, suggest is that she, and many people, respond to a cyclist using the road in much the same way as to a lamp post: something not to hit but not sufficiently important to actively think about :-\

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I think bright and/or hi-vis on moving bits work really well on a bike, so obvious place is lower legs and feet.
Boardman retro-reflective gillet/jacket, but it's a bit boil inthe bag unless it's proper freezing or I'm taking it pretty easy.

l have one of those too, for dark commutes, it travels to work in the pannier-bags
At the present time, late-turns see me finish at 20:00, when all the visitors are leaving
l agree about the 'boil in the bag' syndrome, unless worn as a gilet, which is self defeating, as it doesn't help (hand) signalling the intention to turn

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I was told to dress like a Christmas tree. I do find the baubles and fairy lights a pain when cycling though. Plus I get some funny looks when I walk into the pub for a pint of Rudolf’s best.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

A remember, of course, that standard yellow hi vis can actually have a camouflage effect in good sunlight in a rural environment, hence mountain rescue wearing red, etc.

The article indirectly raises a point so obvious that it goes over most people's heads - something done in intuitively in the name of safety rarely actually brings a sefty benefit, and can often make things worse (pver bright day time lights, for example.) If its not been unequivocally proven to keep you safer, it most likely won't no matter what the ingrained public perception may be.

Agreed on the visibility aspect, in my Kodiaq, I have an orange (sleeved) hi-viz vest in the pocket of the seat, ready to put on

Re; the yellow v orange debate

I have
5 x rear-lights
2 x rear refectors
Reflective mud-flaps (Raw)
Spoke reflectors
Reflective side-wall tyres (Marathons)
3 x front lights
Front reflector

'Snappies' on ankles (pink & yellow)
Boardman '360/all-round reflective) jacket, those are damned good

The only lateral difference between the defunct CGR & the present Spa Abisque, is no reflective frame tape on the Spa