On Nov 5, 6:05 pm, "David L. Johnson" <
[email protected]>
wrote:
> Sir Ridesalot wrote:
> > Many drivers do not look for cyclists on the roads around here.
> > Because they are not looking for them these drivers simply do not see
> > a dark clothing wearing cyclist on a bicycle that is not lit by active
> > lighting.
>
> Of course they don't, but let's be clear, here. This is not the
> drivers' fault. Most of you are drivers. Don't try to tell me that you
> would look for a person on a bike, with no lights or reflectors, wearing
> black. You might say "What the hell is that?" as you run into it, but
> we cannot assume that drivers are clairvoyant, or have super x-ray
> vision. As sad as any traffic death is, the driver is not at fault
> under these conditions.
>
> I recall last Fall driving along, in the rain, and just barely avoiding
> an idiot riding, without lights, without reflectors, wearing black, at
> night, in the rain. Now, natural selection should weed this out of the
> gene pool, but until that happens it's gonna **** me off. Had I hit the
> guy, I would have felt like **** --- even though there was no way I
> could have prevented it. As it was, that guy is alive through dumb luck.
>
> Most bikes come with reflectors, **** though they are. He had to go out
> of his way to remove them, then had the idea of wearing black on a rainy
> night.
>
>
>
> > I urge all my friends to have a permanently mounted front and rear
> > blinky as a mininum for riding *IN CASE THEY GET CAUGHT BY DARKNESS*
> > especially during the shorter day-light days we are moving into.
>
> Absolutely.
>
> --
>
> David L. Johnson
>
Hi there.
I most definitely did not mean to imply that I blame the drivers in
either of these two accidents. What I was trying to say is that many
drivers are not looking for bicyclists when the driver looks to see if
there is another vehicle. If the bicyclist is wearing dark clothing
and does not have an active light of some sort that bicyclist can be
invisible to the driver.
Another thing that I notice about many "Stealth Bicyclists" riding
habits is that they ride on the sidewalks (still with the dark
clothing and no lights or even passive reflectors) which makes them
even more invisible when they suddenly decide to a) continue into an
intersection without stopping or b) exit the sidewalk onto the road
without even checking for any approaching vehicle.
I am not surprised that these stealth bicyclist get hit. I am
astounded that there are not more of them struck.
I have decided to approach the local paper to see if they are
interested in writing a short article on safe bicycling at night.
Peter