Visibility

[Lovey]

Does anyone have any ideas about increasing visibility on the road? I used to have a plastic arm with a reflector on it. It attached to the bike & could be folded out, making the bike appear wider. Cars gave me a much wider berth.Unfortunately it was not very sturdy & soon broke.

I am particulary interested in suppliers of a similar product, especially in South Africa.

 

[nerdag]

Does anyone have any ideas about increasing visibility on the road? I used to have a plastic arm with a reflector on it. It attached to the bike & could be folded out, making the bike appear wider. Cars gave me a much wider berth.Unfortunately it was not very sturdy & soon broke.

I am particulary interested in suppliers of a similar product, especially in South Africa.

When riding at night, a few things I do are:

1) wear bright coloured clothes

2) lots of lights - not just a rear red tail light, but rear facing red LEDs that stick into the ends of your drop bars, and also a YELLOW/AMBER flashing light that I attach to my jersey pocket. The extra colour in there really makes people look up and take notice, since they're used to seeing only red on the rear. Make sure they are all flashing.

3) front lights - in addition to your front headlight, and perhaps a flashing white visibility light, I also use a small red LED facing front on - its the same effect as for the two colours on the rear.

4) Reflectors - get some adhesive reflector tape and stick it on anything that moves - wheel rims, crank arms, pedal axles. I even stick some on each of the stays, each fork leg, and even on the seat rails. Different colours work even better, but do what you're comfortable with. You don't need to put a lot of it on, just in the right spots.

Of course, the bike that I do this on isn't my best frame, but even if it was, you could still get away with a lot of it inconspicuously without even touching the frame!

Yes, all of this is a wee bit heavy (about 400g or so) - but I'd rather be pushing a bit more weight than risk being hit.

n

 

[Don Shipp]

At night, a flashing red light, facing backwards, mounted on the handle-bar end is effective.


Also, read this:-


http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/misc/big.html

 

[derby]

Be Seen. Use this:

http://www.amphipod.com/

 

[Bob Ross]

Skip the reflectors; see here for why: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html



Lights. Lots of lights. All different colors, some solid, some blinking )preferably at different rates). On your bike, on your helmet, on your ankles...

 

[Dondare]

Skip the reflectors; see here for why: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html



Lights. Lots of lights. All different colors, some solid, some blinking )preferably at different rates). On your bike, on your helmet, on your ankles...

Uh-uh. Reflectors are a legal requirement irrespective of lights. Also they can be seen most of the time by drivers at night, and they can't run out of batteries. However, you do need lights as well, and the more the better.
My bike has eight lights; it would be nine but one fell off.

 

[Bro Deal]

What you do is this: Make a custom jersey and bibs using a black and white motif and with large letters on the back and sides. Use the initials of the city you live in followed by "PD". So if you live in New York you put "NYPD" on your jersey. Something that looks like a badge and a motto like "Protect and Serve" couldn't hurt either. When you wear that people will give you a wide berth and no one will **** with you.

 

[artemidorus]

When you wear that people will give you a wide berth and no one will **** with you.

Except the local cops, who'll wonder what on earth you're doing.

 

[Bro Deal]

Except the local cops, who'll wonder what on earth you're doing.

You are showing your support for law and order and the local PD. As long as you don't represent yourself as a cop, there's not a damned thing they can do.

 

[Bob Ross]

Reflectors are a legal requirement irrespective of lights.

Do you have a horn or a bell on your bike? That's a legal requirement too.

Besides, as a resident of New York City I have a moral obligation to dismiss the legal requirements for cyclists until such time that law enforcement agencies here demonstrate any interest in actually promoting safety for me and my fellow cyclists. Quid pro quo, y' know?

 

[benkoostra]

As many flashing lights as possible. Even in daytime, if you can afford the batteries. You can't be too safe. I have an obnoxious lime green jacket that I wear pretty often too. Only the color blind don't see that thing.

 

[Dondare]

Do you have a horn or a bell on your bike? That's a legal requirement too.

Besides, as a resident of New York City I have a moral obligation to dismiss the legal requirements for cyclists until such time that law enforcement agencies here demonstrate any interest in actually promoting safety for me and my fellow cyclists. Quid pro quo, y' know?

In Britain, it's a legal requirement for bikes to be sold with a bell, but not for a bike to be ridden with one. Cyclists have to be able to give an audible warning but that includes shouting (or even a polite "excuse me").
The worst and most frequently ignored law is that bikes less than 25 years old must have pedal reflectors. Since clipless pedals usually can't be fitted with reflectors I certainly would have to break this one.... except that my bike is over 25 years old.

New York cyclist eh, do you ride like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqBLtdFFf_c

 

[Bigbananabike]

As many flashing lights as possible. Even in daytime, if you can afford the batteries. You can't be too safe. I have an obnoxious lime green jacket that I wear pretty often too. Only the color blind don't see that thing.

==========================================================
Use rechargeables! Cheaper and less harm on the environment - not throwing away batteries to pollute landfills.

 

[hickmanr]

I certainly try to be as visible as possible. However, did anybody see John Stossel's report "The Surprising Risks of Playing It Safe" on ABC's 20/20? Of course night time riding is a different scenario than the story addresses, but it is still an interesting perspective. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2893122&page=1

On the other hand, I've also seen research (though I couldn't find a good reference) from a motorcycle safety organization of how higher visibility increased the distance between motorcyclist and motorist behind them. I don't know why that research couldn't be applied to bicyclist.

From John Stossel's show:

Ian Walker is an avid cyclist and a human behavior researcher at the University of Bath in England. He set up a bike with an ultrasonic distance sensor and camera, and rode for miles with and without a helmet. His data showed that cars reacted differently when he had the helmet on.

"When I wore a helmet, there was a quite considerable tendency for drivers to get closer," Walker said.

What's the reasoning, I wondered? Is it because a driver thinks, "Oh, that rider has a helmet. … If I hit him, he'll live?"

No," Walker said. "It's that they're saying, 'He knows what he's doing.' When they see a cyclist who has all the gear, they think it's a sign of someone who's experienced and skillful."

 

[fossyant]

You're attire certainly affects what other motorists will do - as a cyclist I give extra room to recreational cyclists than I would a 'racing cyclist' as such - although all get lot's of room/respect. I think that goes for many motorists, but exagerated for non-cyclist aware motorists. My major issue is that motorist's don't anticipate your speed at all !

As for lights, in the UK we have BS standards and many of the led lights don't meet that spec - me, I use Cateye bright LED's front (opticube) and rear (on constant) plus a couple of strap on single led lamps - one on the rear of my helmet on flashing, and a front white one opposite my main headlamp. I also have reflective piping on my bike clothing, plus arm refelectors and a 'sam brown' type saftey reflector on my body.

My bikes have no reflectors on them - clipless pedals all round and built by me, so no British Standard reflectors or bells etc.

 

[rule62]

You can wobble a little bit on your line as a vehicle approaches and typcially get the same safe passing response no matter what you are wearing.

 

[::dom::]

What you do is this: Make a custom jersey and bibs using a black and white motif and with large letters on the back and sides. Use the initials of the city you live in followed by "PD". So if you live in New York you put "NYPD" on your jersey. Something that looks like a badge and a motto like "Protect and Serve" couldn't hurt either. When you wear that people will give you a wide berth and no one will **** with you.

This kind of thing actually works...

I got sponsorship from the local Land Transport Authority (LTA) - they're the guys that are in charge of the roads in my area - and had jerseys made with big LTA logo on the back. When I wear the jersey no vehicle comes near me. When I don't wear it I get the usual toooooots, as near misses. It really works.

 

[Bikergirl85]

I found it this online shop a few months ago, and this kit is amazing!

http://www.surelight.com/ecom/Neon_Glow_Bike_Kit.asp


The kit consists of glow wire (which i have found to be much brighter and effective than LED's), which you wrap around your frame/forks. Comes in loads of different colours (i chose aqua and red), and can be seen up to 1000 meters away in the dark (apparently!) The person i spoke to when i rang to order said that the kits are going to be sold in some big retail stores soon...

Anyone else used this kit?

 

[Bob Ross]

New York cyclist eh, do you ride like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqBLtdFFf_c

No, those guys are posers.

 

[RedHotIron]

I've experienced many near-misses that can only have been deliberate. Deliberate as in people changing lanes to brush by me. Visibility is beside the point because the auto-terrorists know very well you're there.

Lights etc were useless in these cases, but i just made a horizontally mounted 13" x 13" safety flag on a 2' PVC pipe secured to the bike with 2-sided velcro.

I haven't tested it yet but my reasoning is that the swamp cowboys will be concerned about the risk of scratching the finish on their behemoth pickups & Sport Inutility Vehicles will tend to stand off from me a bit more.