F
Stephen Harding wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
> > Stephen Harding wrote:
> >
> >
> >>A small light glowing off the side of the road isn't enough
> >>to get the attention of at least 50% of the cars I encounter
> >>in my neighborhood (while walking myself and/or dog at night).
> >
> > I'm always amazed that some people find the world to be such a
> > dangerous place.
>
> Don't tell me there isn't an element of danger in one of my
> dog walk routes. I walk it extremely often, over years.
>
> I don't feel the world is an exceptionally dangerous place
> for walking or riding a bike. Generally people are pretty
> good and other than encountering the rare psychopath on the
> road, you'll be quite safe whether you even use a light at
> all during the night, overall. People aren't out to kill
> you.
>
> But...
>
> This stretch of road is wooded with turns; sparcely settled
> with a town park where ball games run into the night and
> some percentage of young people leave the part in varying
> states of inebriation. Add to that, they go too fast.
>
> You'd be a fool to just happily skip down the road in the
> belief there is nothing to be concerned about because the
> world is a very safe place.
In my mind, there's a difference between "an element of danger" and "a
dangerous place."
There's an element of danger in _everything_. I've read of cars
crashing into houses and injuring people sleeping in their beds. The
question, as usual, is "How much danger?"
For your walking case, I wouldn't have the attitude you describe in
your last paragraph above. First, I rarely skip these days. ;-)
More to the point, I seldom think there is _nothing_ to be concerned
about. I take precautions - but those don't involve blinding anyone.
So what do I do? I carry a small light, and turn it on and swing my
arm naturally when a car approaches. Works for me. If you're not
swinging your light as you walk, you remove an effective clue to the
driver. Try it.
Back to the bike headlight - I still maintain your headlight should not
be blinding, or even irritating, to other road users. It's not
necessary for safety, and it can cause harm.
BTW, I had the experience of passing a cyclist with a badly aimed
super-headlight on a short bike path. I had to shade my eyes with one
hand to keep from being completely blinded. And taking a hand off the
brakes to do that made me pretty unhappy. I think the guy is/was an
inconsiderate jerk.
IIRC, DOT has specs for auto headlights, designed to limit the
blinding of other road users. The logic is simple, and should apply to
bicycles as well.
- Frank Krygowski
> [email protected] wrote:
> > Stephen Harding wrote:
> >
> >
> >>A small light glowing off the side of the road isn't enough
> >>to get the attention of at least 50% of the cars I encounter
> >>in my neighborhood (while walking myself and/or dog at night).
> >
> > I'm always amazed that some people find the world to be such a
> > dangerous place.
>
> Don't tell me there isn't an element of danger in one of my
> dog walk routes. I walk it extremely often, over years.
>
> I don't feel the world is an exceptionally dangerous place
> for walking or riding a bike. Generally people are pretty
> good and other than encountering the rare psychopath on the
> road, you'll be quite safe whether you even use a light at
> all during the night, overall. People aren't out to kill
> you.
>
> But...
>
> This stretch of road is wooded with turns; sparcely settled
> with a town park where ball games run into the night and
> some percentage of young people leave the part in varying
> states of inebriation. Add to that, they go too fast.
>
> You'd be a fool to just happily skip down the road in the
> belief there is nothing to be concerned about because the
> world is a very safe place.
In my mind, there's a difference between "an element of danger" and "a
dangerous place."
There's an element of danger in _everything_. I've read of cars
crashing into houses and injuring people sleeping in their beds. The
question, as usual, is "How much danger?"
For your walking case, I wouldn't have the attitude you describe in
your last paragraph above. First, I rarely skip these days. ;-)
More to the point, I seldom think there is _nothing_ to be concerned
about. I take precautions - but those don't involve blinding anyone.
So what do I do? I carry a small light, and turn it on and swing my
arm naturally when a car approaches. Works for me. If you're not
swinging your light as you walk, you remove an effective clue to the
driver. Try it.
Back to the bike headlight - I still maintain your headlight should not
be blinding, or even irritating, to other road users. It's not
necessary for safety, and it can cause harm.
BTW, I had the experience of passing a cyclist with a badly aimed
super-headlight on a short bike path. I had to shade my eyes with one
hand to keep from being completely blinded. And taking a hand off the
brakes to do that made me pretty unhappy. I think the guy is/was an
inconsiderate jerk.
IIRC, DOT has specs for auto headlights, designed to limit the
blinding of other road users. The logic is simple, and should apply to
bicycles as well.
- Frank Krygowski
