Cyclists without lights

1886

I'm a cyclist, although I drive to work, and there's very few things that make me more angry than seeing cyclists on the road in the dark and with no lights.
There's a business park that I pass on the way to work, if I'm on an early and it's winter I pass at least three cyclists each morning in the pitch black wobbling along in the road with no lights. I actually want to scream at them, DO YOU NOT VALUE YOUR LIFE?

These people are so stupid that the thought of having lights on their bikes never enters their minds

mikey72

1886 wrote: »

I'm a cyclist, although I drive to work, and there's very few things that make me more angry than seeing cyclists on the road in the dark and with no lights.
There's a business park that I pass on the way to work, if I'm on an early and it's winter I pass at least three cyclists each morning in the pitch black wobbling along in the road with no lights. I actually want to scream at them, DO YOU NOT VALUE YOUR LIFE?

These people are so stupid that the thought of having lights on their bikes never enters their minds

We've a good stretch of long straight country road. Can easily get up to 80 if you want to. A well lit cyclist can be seen miles away. even a decent reflective sash or yellow jacket stands out. A ninja cyclist in black in the dark mornings must come close to being blown into the hedge if they're lucky.

Dave_C_2

mikey72 wrote: »

We've a good stretch of long straight country road. Can easily get up to 80 if you want to. A well lit cyclist can be seen miles away. even a decent reflective sash or yellow jacket stands out. A ninja cyclist in black in the dark mornings must come close to being blown into the hedge if they're lucky.

Again.I'm not condoning cycling at night without lights, but the national speed limit for a single carriageways is 60 mph.
Whilst lights and reflectors are a legal requirement for cyclists, the yellow jacket or sash isn't.
Also yellow fluorescent jackets alone are no good at night, as there is no ambient UV light to make the jacket fluoresce. What is needed is scotchlite or a similar self-reflective strips. To be fair most cycling tabards do have the reflective strips built-in, but some sashes do not!

As I've said all through this thread, get some lights on your bike at night!

Dave

mikey72

Dave_C wrote: »

Again.I'm not condoning cycling at night without lights, but the national speed limit for a single carriageways is 60 mph...............

It is.
A very good reason why you should never, ever rely on me to look after you.

Tilt

But the incident highlighted in this thread happened on a dual carriageway.

It may interest some on this thread that while out tonight at a bar overlooking a main road, I counted 12 cyclists without lights over an hour period. During the same time, I counted 2 with lights.

Obviously the message is far from getting through.

Billy-no-Money

I have a stepson who for about three years used a bike to get around, mostly at night. We got lights for him, which he must have used about twice - uncool you see.

He also only ever wore black, anything else wouldn't be cool. Anyway, it didn't matter he said because he used the pavements....and in those three years he was NEVER stopped and never knocked off, including when riding home drunk from a night out.

He eventually got a driving licence and a car; he now has a year's accident-free driving record and gave me a lift last week. Near misses, late braking, and regular 50mph in a 30 limit.

He's never been stopped, never hit anything.

Some people are just stupid, and the fact they don't get caught just reinforces their view that what they're doing is OK. There's next to no road policing that'll catch people like him (they don't bother with cyclists, and of course he does 29mph past speed cameras).

One thing he does do though - moans about cyclists without lights!

(Edit: the only thing I'm confident about is he doesn't drive after drinking - that message seems to have got through)

tom999_2

As both a cyclist and a driver myself, I'm pretty amused by other riders who think it's Ok:
- to ride in the dark with no lights
- to ride on the pavements with no care/concern for pedestrians
- to go through red lights at a road junction.
- for mummy/daddy not to wear a helmet but their 5 year old must wear one!

interstellaflyer

tom999 wrote: »

As both a cyclist and a driver myself,
- for mummy/daddy not to wear a helmet but their 5 year old must wear one!

I have too fess up as being guilty of this, I insist my daughter wears her helmet, yet don't own one myself, mind you we are not urban cyclists, we live in a quiet village and most of our cycling is done at sedate pace on very quiet roads with soft verges.

Idiophreak

interstellaflyer wrote: »

I have too fess up as being guilty of this, I insist my daughter wears her helmet, yet don't own one myself, mind you we are not urban cyclists, we live in a quiet village and most of our cycling is done at sedate pace on very quiet roads with soft verges.

Shouldn't really make a difference. It just gives your child the message that they won't need to wear a helmet when they grow up...and there's just no reason not to wear one. You only need to slip once (mechanical faults can often cause this) and fall into the road - and you'll feel the bonk you get on your head...

Dippypud

interstellaflyer wrote: »

I have too fess up as being guilty of this, I insist my daughter wears her helmet, yet don't own one myself, mind you we are not urban cyclists, we live in a quiet village and most of our cycling is done at sedate pace on very quiet roads with soft verges.

and hard tarmac, of course you'll be hit by Spongebobs vehicle too...:cool: