wear something white at night

Strider590

bigjl wrote: »

One thing that always confuses me.

Why do huge numbers of Londons cyclists think that the safest clothes to wear are black or very dark, many of them also have no lights and go up the left at lights like this.

When I first road motorbikes in London wearing high vis or clothing with reflective sections was very rare.

People rarely used their lights during the day.

I got knocked off a few times, sometimes when somebody pulled out in front of me or turned right into my path.

But I was also knocked off a fair few times when filtering, usually at too high a speed for drivers to react. But one thing I would never do even then was go up the left of an LGV or Bus at lights.

I was lucky and never got seriously injured.

But cyclists really need to risk assess things.

Wearing conspicuous clothing is a life saver as are the front lights that blink. Though some of the LED ones are a bit too bright when not aimed correctly.

It only really saves you from the people who aren't paying attention, but from what I can make out there are another group of drivers (the predatory nutcases) who think cyclists should shy away into the gutter and when they see a cyclist in high vis gear with lots of bright lights, they feel the need to exercise that old saying "the nail that sticks out gets hammered".
It's almost "animal instinct" and what would you wear if cars were predators, urban camo gear or high vis?

As for pedestrians, i've stopped on numerous occasions to tell a pedestrian they are practically invisible, usually on dark country lanes and usually one of the local old boys walking back from the pub.

C_Mababejive

On a similar note,,PLEASE can people put their %%&&&$$$£ numbers on their front door in readable clear numbers, and preferably, if you have a front garden,put the number on the front wall...There is nothing worse than prowling a dark street trying to spot a house number from a vehicle..

Pyxis

Strider590 wrote: »

It only really saves you from the people who aren't paying attention, but from what I can make out there are another group of drivers (the predatory nutcases) who think cyclists should shy away into the gutter and when they see a cyclist in high vis gear with lots of bright lights, they feel the need to exercise that old saying "the nail that sticks out gets hammered".
It's almost "animal instinct" and what would you wear if cars were predators, urban camo gear or high vis?

But cars aren't predators!
They're more like lumbering elephants who just don't notice you, and so tread on you!

facade

Strider590 wrote: »

As for pedestrians, i've stopped on numerous occasions to tell a pedestrian they are practically invisible, usually on dark country lanes and usually one of the local old boys walking back from the pub.

If they simply walked so that they faced the traffic you would at least get a chance to see their eyes, if not their faces, and they might get a chance to dive into the hedge if they thought that you were about to hit them.

Pyxis

C_Mababejive wrote: »

On a similar note,,PLEASE can people put their %%&&&$$$£ numbers on their front door in readable clear numbers, and preferably, if you have a front garden,put the number on the front wall...There is nothing worse than prowling a dark street trying to spot a house number from a vehicle..

Yes, this is another of my pet peeves.

Shopping streets are even worse, as virtually no shop displays their number.

dannyrst

What if it snows?

facade

dannyrst wrote: »

What if it snows?

Then Hi-Viz is your/their friend

dannyrst

facade wrote: »

Then Hi-Viz is your/their friend

If you have hi-viz, that would make more sense in the dark than white.

GTE_Boy

dannyrst wrote: »

If you have hi-viz, that would make more sense in the dark than white.

Hi viz is for daylight. The reflective strips are for night.

dannyrst

GTE_Boy wrote: »

Hi viz is for daylight. The reflective strips are for night.

and...generally speaking hi viz has both.