Let he who is with orange pedal reflectors cast the 1st stone.
that'll be me then.
I get and fully agree with the arguments about the responsibility of the big nasty dominant predator to look out for the little vulnerable squidgys, but responsibility is not a one way street, it never has been it never will be. There is an element of personal responsibility in assisting, not usurping or abdicating them from, those with far grater killing or maiming capacity in their duty of care to the rest of us.
Lights after dark; for those vulnerables routinely in the road with the big nasty's - including pedestrians if they know that they'll be walking along unpavemented roads; are quite clearly IMO part of that personal responsibility, as they invariably show up from further away than the range of a dipped beam headlight, clearly identify that there is *something* out there to be aware of and so allow the bigger more dangerous element plenty of
extra time to consider & differentiate what they are approaching and negotiate it in a mutually safer and more controlled manner.
Better than some last minute before they're *clearly* seen (@
User13710 et al) 'oh s**t there's a bike/person there' moment and sharp overtaking manouvre; even when travelling within the legal speed limit (or worse make them make a value judgement of what to hit if the other carriageway is full of vehicle too) just to prove a point on who should take responsibility,
You could argue that in @
Adrian world where the vehicle is totally responsible for your safety, that you don't need to indicate your intentions, listen for engine noise closing or look over your shoulder before turning particularly right as they bear responsibility for anticipating your every whim and possible manouvre.
I've yet to hear any cyclist argue that looking over your shoulder is victim blaming or part of the 'them' conspiracy to skew responsibility for safety disproportionately onto our shoulders.
).
