SMIDSY is an admission of guilt

[GrumpyGregry]

Unless you hit a moron night riding on black bike wearing black clothes and no lights. We get a lot of those round my neck of the woods and when one gets hit I think a SMIDSY is a reasonable excuse and the rider idiot deserves little sympathy.

Camrider, you are aware that hi-viz (flourescent fabric) renders the wearer almost invisible under sodium street lights?

 

[fossyant]

Let's say I 'nearly' flew off the handle when the motorist said 'smidsy' to me 3 years ago. I pointed to the bike lying in the road 20/30 feet away, with all it's lights still on. 6 lights on the bike and 4 on my rucksack. 'How many xxxx (swear word) lights do I need ?'.

No excuse. Driver did not look.

 

[BentMikey]

The single most important thing we could do to make cyclists safer is address driver behaviour, not cyclists'.

Everybody should like Dawesome's post above.

 

[subaqua]

Camrider, you are aware that hi-viz (flourescent fabric) renders the wearer almost invisible under sodium street lights?

but the reflective stripes don't dissapear they reflect light back at the source.

 

[cd365]

The single most important thing we could do to make cyclists all road users safer is address driver all road users behaviour, not cyclists'.

That is my take on it.

 

[goo_mason]

That is my take on it.

Nice one. Totally agree with that.

 

[ferret fur]

What cat?

Quite....


There is a cat there, it is just not terribly conspicuous, even though it is sitting out in the open in broad daylight. Ninja cyclists are not literally invisible, but to query the point is just being facetious because we all know what is meant. Trying to spot a dark rider in night time conditions is not easy and you cannot assume that a driver would do so. After all, le's not forget that carrying lights is a legal requirement and while I take the point about driver behaviour it does not excuse cycling like a moron. I'm with cd365

 

[Dan B]

As far as I'm aware there is no legal requirement on sheep, cows, moose or fallen trees to wear lights and hi-vis when they are in the middle of the road, and they are often moving at considerably less than 10mph

That doesn't mean I won't xmastree-up when I'm out on my bike at night, but that's compensating action for people whose standard of driving falls below the acceptable, not because I think that the current driving standards are acceptable. My sympathy is entirely with the sheep

 

[BentMikey]

Quite....


There is a cat there, it is just not terribly conspicuous, even though it is sitting out in the open in broad daylight. Ninja cyclists are not literally invisible, but to query the point is just being facetious because we all know what is meant. Trying to spot a dark rider in night time conditions is not easy and you cannot assume that a driver would do so. After all, le's not forget that carrying lights is a legal requirement and while I take the point about driver behaviour it does not excuse cycling like a moron. I'm with cd365

A cat in the picture of the field? There are a couple of other photos on that flikr stream with cats that aren't immediately obvious.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

but the reflective stripes don't dissapear they reflect light back at the source.

hence why I wear black with reflective stripes and eschew flouro as it doth offend mine eye.

But you know what? If they ain't looking they won't see you.

No.matter.what.

 

[lb81]

Hi,

When I ride back from work at about 20.30 I use a LED Lenser H7 head torch which when on full power lights up to 600ft in front of me, coupled with two LED on the back - one constant the other flashing with the same on the front and dark clothing with reflective strips. Even with all of this including a torch that is easily equivalent to a dipped car head lamp, I still regularly get drivers that fail to see me until the last moment....

 

[Wankelschrauben]

Unless you hit a moron night riding on black bike wearing black clothes and no lights. We get a lot of those round my neck of the woods and when one gets hit I think a SMIDSY is a reasonable excuse and the rider idiot deserves little sympathy.

Thank god you are here to tell me that it was the colour of my clothing and bicycle at fault and not the driver of that Mercedes who crashed into me...

...Damn if only I knew back then that a flourescent pink bike and matching clothing would have prevented him from wheelspining uncontrollably into my side, perhaps I wouldn't have been left laying on my back to be called gay by the passenger of a following vehicle who found it particularly funny to see me in such a predicament.

Perhaps the fact that passing motorists found it funny to see me rolling around on my back trying to detach my feet from the pedals would suggest that people could infact see me.

 

[Camrider]

There does seem to be a line of thought here that however idiotic a cyclist is, its always the drivers fault which is patently wrong. I agree that drivers should be aware of and take every precaution to prevent injury to other vulnerable road users, but cyclist also have a responsibility for their own safety and must share the blame if they fail to do that. Unfortunately if a ninja rider gets taken out by a careless driver, the driver will probably get off lightly because they will be able to shift at least some of the blame to the cyclist.

Living in Cambridge we see large numbers of cyclists with suicidal tenancies so probably the vast majority of us drivers around here take extra care. Luckily all 3 collisions I've had with a cyclist have happened when I've been on my own bike (2 cut straight across me and the other fell off just as I was going to pass) but I've had some near misses in the car either with someone cutting across my bows, or when some ninja comes up your inside when you are clearly turning left or overtakes you when you are turning right.

 

[Camrider]

Thank god you are here to tell me that it was the colour of my clothing and bicycle at fault and not the driver of that Mercedes who crashed into me...

For goodness sake my comment was a general one and nothing to do with any specific incident. If you think night riding in stealth clothing with no lights is a good idea then feel free to attack me again.

 

[BentMikey]

but the reflective stripes don't dissapear they reflect light back at the source.

Except even with drivers, the light source isn't always pointing in the right direction, and there isn't always a light source. Think of a driver at a side road - they won't see your hiviz at all under sodium street lighting, neither the fluo nor the reflectives.