No lights at night and wearing black

[freewheelwilly]

I had to pick the missus up from the station late last night in the rain and almost ploughed straight into some poor woman on her bike at a mini roundabout. Alarmed at not seeing her untill i heard a cry of ''AAArrrgggghhh, you idiot!'' and a flash of her in my headlights i pulled up on the otherside to appologise. The next couple of minutes i was bombarded with the usual tirade of abuse whilst i sat there all apologetic. It wasnt untill i noticed she had no lights that i spoke up and pointed this out to her. I then had to explain to her that she was invisible to me in these conditions. No lights and wearing black she was an accident waiting to happen. I often see riders like the one i mentioned above but last night really shook me up as i reaaly didnt see her as she came across from my right.

Food for thought...

(can the typo cops go through my post above please? thanks in advance...)

 

[Will1985]

Did you tell her that you were a cyclist? She probably wouldn't care anyway. If she was coming from the side, sounds as if there would be no chance of being seen even if she had reflectors. I notice around Birmingham that often cyclists have a barely functioning rear light, but absolutely nothing at the front.

Stupid ninja cyclists.

 

[mr Mag00]

i am amazed at how much cycling kit is black, esp winter jackets, not condoning her just raising a point

 

[GrahamG]

I really fail to understand that attitude - do you think she genuinely believes that lights are not required in the dark?

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

No, you just need to cycle the Cyclecraft way.

 

[freewheelwilly]

Did you tell her that you were a cyclist? She probably wouldn't care anyway. If she was coming from the side, sounds as if there would be no chance of being seen even if she had reflectors. I notice around Birmingham that often cyclists have a barely functioning rear light, but absolutely nothing at the front.

Stupid ninja cyclists.

I did have the bike racks on the roofrack but didnt want to enter the 'i ride too etc, etc etc...' debate

Thing is i would had seen her if she had lights. I'm always on the lookout for these ninjas. This was the 1st one that has caught me out and i felt awful

 

[freewheelwilly]

i am amazed at how much cycling kit is black, esp winter jackets, not condoning her just raising a point

Me too - i must admit in the past i prefered this stuff but experience tells you that the more lurid the colour the better off you are on the roads, especially at this time of year.

 

[BentMikey]

Not having lights was not the cleverest thing for her to have done, but I'm not sure the colour of her clothing would have made any difference at all.

 

[freewheelwilly]

Not having lights was not the cleverest thing for her to have done, but I'm not sure the colour of her clothing would have made any difference at all.

the clothing colour would have helped. it has done in the past with similar road incidents.

in fact it reminds me of an interesting observation by an old neighbour of mine whom i was driving home one night. he is a cyclist and does not drive. when he saw these 'ninjas' he was alarmed to see how hard it was to spot them untill quite late. i suppose when you ride and drive you are alert to these things moreso?

 

[mickle]

Moreso isn't a word.

 

[BentMikey]

The important part is her lights, or rather lack of them. The clothing isn't going to make any real difference if she has a set of proper lights. Otherwise, I guess it depends a lot on the background. Something like this morning when I passed, black would be an excellent colour, as the cyclist was against a low sun in my eyes, on a sun-lit road. Here's an example where hiviz yellow is useless:

I can recall one incident in the last few years where I too missed a cyclist and pulled out on him. It wasn't close luckily, and he did have lights, though they were very dim, and dark clothing. That was simple bad driving on my part - I just didn't take the time to look properly. I don't normally have any trouble spotting ninja cyclists when I do look, tbh.

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

On the way home over the last few nights I've started seeing a new cyclist. Well, I say "see". He's a proper ninja all in black with no lights. The first time I noticed him we were passing in opposite directions on a lit road and I spotted his reflector flashing in sync with one of my front lights. Which was in flash mode, funnily enough; I also run one steady light .. before i get comments. B)

I've seen him every night so far this week. Now I wonder how many times I've missed him in the past .. and that worries me.

Or has he only just started using the bike?

 

[freewheelwilly]

On the way home over the last few nights I've started seeing a new cyclist. Well, I say "see". He's a proper ninja all in black with no lights. The first time I noticed him we were passing in opposite directions on a lit road and I spotted his reflector flashing in sync with one of my front lights. Which was in flash mode, funnily enough; I also run one steady light .. before i get comments. B)

I've seen him every night so far this week. Now I wonder how many times I've missed him in the past .. and that worries me.

Or has he only just started using the bike?

 

[Twiggy]

I've actually heard someone explain why they wear matt black and camo gear whilst riding.

They reasoned that our brains see, register, and ignore big bright things, because they are big and visible so not a threat, but dark hard to see things are more dangerous, so our brains take notice.

Not too sure about the logic of it all though.

 

[4F]

Looking forward to User3143's contribution on this thread.