no blasted lights.

[Leodis]

Wow, that's some percentage, can you back that up with some excellent evidence?

You could take a look at the helmet law change in Oz, over 60% stopped cycling and its taken over 10 years for numbers to start increasing,.

 

[Mugshot]

You could take a look at the helmet law change in Oz, over 60% stopped cycling and its taken over 10 years for numbers to start increasing,.

I thought you said hi-viz.

 

[ianrauk]

Blimey.. All I wear on my commute is all black... makes me a prat apparently.

 

[Leodis]

I thought you said hi-viz.

My figure was based on safety equipment introduced and the affect on cycling numbers, does it matter if it is helmet or hiviz? Just asking like.

 

[I like Skol]

Blimey.. All I wear on my commute is all black... makes me a prat apparently.

Me too, and I ride a dirty grey/black bike. However, I do have a set of half decent lights. Cheap ones but 'light' years ahead of what was typically used 20yrs ago when LED lighting was taking off. I wouldn't go out after dusk without them, I'm not stoopid!

 

[HLaB]

The best route out of town for me is through Orton Mere, the path and then road are unlit you come accross some right ninja's there, fortunately the ones I have met so far have the sense to stop or slow down as they approach. There's been a few I've not seen till they've past, heard them before I saw them
There's another path I sometimes take and allthough its roadside is separated by a 5ft concrete wall which makes it pitch black I've coome across a fair number on it too and because its roadside you don't always hear them
I need to get back to cycling on the road more.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

The best route out of town for me is through Orton Mere, the path and then road are unlit you come accross some right ninja's there, fortunately the ones I have met so far have the sense to stop or slow down as they approach. There's been a few I've not seen till they've past, heard them before I saw them
There's another path I sometimes take and allthough its roadside is separated by a 5ft concrete wall which makes it pitch black I've coome across a fair number on it too and because its roadside you don't always hear them
I need to get back to cycling on the road more.

But it's the point of this thread that they are actually visible, it's your responsibility if you don't see them and something happens, and having them make an effort towards higher visibility will be like asking Australians to wear helmets

 

[shouldbeinbed]

You could argue all sorts of stuff, if your are happy with making up other people's opinions for them.

Where?

There is a good reason why you have never heard that argument, no one is arguing it.

Precicely so why the angst amongst some cyclists over making use of lights and hi-viz when appropriate?

 

[Markymark]

But it's the point of this thread that they are actually visible, it's your responsibility if you don't see them and something happens, and having them make an effort towards higher visibility will be like asking Australians to wear helmets

What if they're not visible until it's too late, even when driving with the legal speed limit?

 

[Leodis]

What if they're not visible until it's too late, even when driving with the legal speed limit?

Presumed liability You are the one driving 1.5 tones of alloy not the cyclist.

 

[Linford]

My figure was based on safety equipment introduced and the affect on cycling numbers, does it matter if it is helmet or hiviz? Just asking like.

The thing which affects cycling numbers is will to cycle. Ask people in the middle of winter if they want to use them, and most will say no, ask again in the middle of summer, and they will say yes.
Weather conditions and the quality of routes and road surfaces will make much more difference than compulsion.

 

[andrewpreston]

Two points. Firstly an insurer has already tried to get a pedestrian's damages reduced because they were not wearing hi-viz.

Secondly you are confusing failing to make oneself more visible with making onself harder to see.

Mea culpa. I shouldn't have implied that these people are deliberately trying to be invisible, they are just being irresponsible and breaking the law by not showing lights on a bike during the hours of darkness. Are you advocating a change in the law to allow the use of a vehicle at night without lights. Even horses are supposed to show a white to the front and a red to the rear after lighting up time.

 

[Koga]

the lights on cars and HGVs are designed to illuminate the road ahead, to enable them to see things that don't have their own source of illumination,,, they work very well. Even ninjas on bikes can be spotted using such a device.

Whilst I have lights and reflectors on my bike and person to increase my visibility ... i find it worrying to read posts along the lines of 'if i did knock them off it'd be my fault and that's wrong' ... at the end of the day, it's ones own responsibility not to ride/drive into things that are ahead of them.

I agree with you and I can not understand anybody not having decent lights (ideally with some reflecting things) on their bike for when it is dark. It is total irresponsible and not fair to other people on the road.

 

[Dan B]

What if they're not visible until it's too late, even when driving with the legal speed limit?

It's a limit not a target.

 

[Linford]

It's a limit not a target.

Fail to meet the limit Target on your driving test, and you will also fail your test.

Driving at a speed which you can stop within the distance you can see to be safe is also applicable, but I think you would find a conviction for hitting an unlit cyclist a hard one to make stick.