Visibility for cyclists at night

i don't use front lights. However i use 2 on the back, one on my bicycle and the other on my belt

vspa said:

i don't use front lights. However i use 2 on the back, one on my bicycle and the other on my belt

Why not? For those cars wanting to turn in front of you?

Peter@vecchios said:

Why not? For those cars wanting to turn in front of you?

Here Here, a decent flasher on the front and back! Plenty of reflective clothing as well. Motorist's aren't in need of excuses not to see you!

My front doesn't flash because I don't need a strobe light. My front is bright and on my helmet so that I can point it directly in the eyes of drivers so they know I'm there. Plus, without a front light, I might not see the javelinas or coyotes crossing my path.

Riding without a headlight at night....well, that's one way to tidy up the gene pool.

well the route i commute in this year doesn't call for a front light.

vspa said:

well the route i commute in this year doesn't call for a front light.

Unless your night time route is illuminated by the sun, you need a light. It's foolish to believe that streetlights or other lights, besides bike lights, are sufficient to keep you safe and make you visible.

I sure as hell won't trust my safety to any assumption about drivers seeing me.

I agree... lights are key. A standard underseat red blinker with cool pattern is a pretty easy way to go... but in addition to whatever gear you might decide is good for night visibility... I have found personally that I like to have a head or helmet-mounted light that enables you to shine it at cars if they do not see you. Also it enables you to have light wherever you turn your head. The light on the head really works for me... especially at 4-way stops when cars are not paying attention...😎

I know the guy who designed and sells these:

Fibre Flare?

Those are cool... great invention. They remind me of a friend who makes these skateboards called photon light boards. I will try to post the link so you can see. Maybe someone can invent one for a bicycle?😄

The light that makes me most visible at night is the tirefly I have on the valve stem of my front wheel. It blinks, and it also rotates with the wheel which makes it impossible to miss, and much more visible than most bike lights. Not to mention it looks cool as hell. Most of us have lights pointing to the front and the back, but nothing pointing to the side, so visibility is low from that angle. A tirefly solves that problem.

The Holiday Bicycle: How to run Christmas Lights on your Bike

In fact, it is a great idea to imitate an Xmas tree while riding!

I mean that figuratively though. Safe bicycle lighting need not be gimmicky. It should, in fact, be no different to what one might expect on, say, a motorcycle.

Spare no cost (how much is your life worth?) here; buy the very best you can afford. If you can't afford real lights, best to stay home at night.

Front lights should not blink -- especially on MUPs. If you don't mind giving yourself a seizure, have mercy on approaching riders! You need a bright, steady beam to light your way, avoid potholes, debris and be seen by oncoming traffic.

If you are trying to ride at a decent pace on unlit roads, you should have decent lights up to the job. Nothing is scarier than outrunning insufficient illumination.

randochap said:

In fact, it is a great idea to imitate an Xmas tree while riding!

I mean that figuratively though. Safe bicycle lighting need not be gimmicky. It should, in fact, be no different to what one might expect on, say, a motorcycle.

Spare no cost (how much is your life worth?) here; buy the very best you can afford. If you can't afford real lights, best to stay home at night.

Front lights should not blink -- especially on MUPs. If you don't mind giving yourself a seizure, have mercy on approaching riders! You need a bright, steady beam to light your way, avoid potholes, debris and be seen by oncoming traffic.

If you are trying to ride at a decent pace on unlit roads, you should have decent lights up to the job. Nothing is scarier than outrunning insufficient illumination.

Quality lights, these days, also provide excellent side illumination.

alienator said:

Quality lights, these days, also provide excellent side illumination.

Yes.

randochap said:

Yes.

I ride with reflective tyres during the winter, a reflective ring around the tyre wall for extra side visibilty. I also use a flasher and steady light riding alone, just a steady if out with anyone else. I base what I use on what I see when driving. from time to time I don't see a cyclist. I think a flasher on the front is more noticeable, though with a scorcher on the front I think it's enough. Drivers take a second look to judge your speed and i think they're not sure what kind of vehicle you are. There's been plenty of near misses where a driver has said, I didn't think you where going that fast or the asumption was it's only a bike if you just use a flasher or in pure daylight even! So in some ways you can actually be safer at night! Erm!

The epilepsy issue seems to only just be coming to the front! Anyone heard of any cases or is this more HSE gone daft?

rowskein said:

I ride with reflective tyres during the winter, a reflective ring around the tyre wall for extra side visibilty. I also use a flasher and steady light riding alone, just a steady if out with anyone else. I base what I use on what I see when driving. from time to time I don't see a cyclist. I think a flasher on the front is more noticeable, though with a scorcher on the front I think it's enough. Drivers take a second look to judge your speed and i think they're not sure what kind of vehicle you are. There's been plenty of near misses where a driver has said, I didn't think you where going that fast or the asumption was it's only a bike if you just use a flasher or in pure daylight even! So in some ways you can actually be safer at night! Erm!

The epilepsy issue seems to only just be coming to the front! Anyone heard of any cases or is this more HSE gone daft?

Photosensitive Epilepsy is a real thing and seizures can be triggered by repeating patterns, flashing lights, and so on. It's entirely possible that the flash frequency of a light could trigger a seizure in such an epileptic.

There is no evidence that flashing lights make us more visible. In fact, there's ample reason to believe it doesn't. In a lot of municipalities or states, flashing lights are illegal (why, I don't know). I rank my safe control of my bike first and my visibility to others second. Flashing lights do impair what we see. The lack of continual illuminated visual input decreases depth perception and motion tracking. Peripheral vision, which is already limited in the dark, gets much worse with flashing illumination. Irregular flashing does draw attention, but I'd much rather rely on my helmet mounted retina torch to get the attention of drivers coming toward me, as well as drivers on cross streets (or driveways).

alienator said:

Photosensitive Epilepsy is a real thing and seizures can be triggered by repeating patterns, flashing lights, and so on. It's entirely possible that the flash frequency of a light could trigger a seizure in such an epileptic.

There is no evidence that flashing lights make us more visible. In fact, there's ample reason to believe it doesn't. In a lot of municipalities or states, flashing lights are illegal (why, I don't know). I rank my safe control of my bike first and my visibility to others second. Flashing lights do impair what we see. The lack of continual illuminated visual input decreases depth perception and motion tracking. Peripheral vision, which is already limited in the dark, gets much worse with flashing illumination. Irregular flashing does draw attention, but I'd much rather rely on my helmet mounted retina torch to get the attention of drivers coming toward me, as well as drivers on cross streets (or driveways).

Yup, the epilepsy is real but it would have to be pedestrians or passengers that it might effect over here as you're not allowed to drive if you suffer. I was just curious, i'm also under the impression epilepsy is on the increase. I don't know enough about it to know how likely a passing flasher is to set someone off.

As for the solid/flash argument I think it's going to go on. A solid light is easily lost in a sea of car headlights at rush hour. Everyones perception will be different. Control and road position is a must day or night, where do I get some? ;-)

rowskein said:

Yup, the epilepsy is real but it would have to be pedestrians or passengers that it might effect over here as you're not allowed to drive if you suffer. I was just curious, i'm also under the impression epilepsy is on the increase. I don't know enough about it to know how likely a passing flasher is to set someone off.

As for the solid/flash argument I think it's going to go on. A solid light is easily lost in a sea of car headlights at rush hour. Everyones perception will be different. Control and road position is a must day or night, where do I get some? ;-)

How likely a flasher is to set someone off is dependent on to what temporal frequencies they're sensitive.

In the US, the incidence of epilepsy in children is decreasing while it is increasing in the elderly. Those are the two populations in which new cases are predominately found. I don't know how that varies around the world.

Bike control: everything is safer the faster you go! 😄

alienator said:

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There is no evidence that flashing lights make us more visible. In fact, there's ample reason to believe it doesn't. In a lot of municipalities or states, flashing lights are illegal (why, I don't know). I rank my safe control of my bike first and my visibility to others second. Flashing lights do impair what we see. The lack of continual illuminated visual input decreases depth perception and motion tracking. Peripheral vision, which is already limited in the dark, gets much worse with flashing illumination. Irregular flashing does draw attention, but I'd much rather rely on my helmet mounted retina torch to get the attention of drivers coming toward me, as well as drivers on cross streets (or driveways).

I use only steady lights instead of flashing (both front and rear). I agree with Germans (and i guess Netherlands) laws, at those countries flash lights are illegal. In very bad visibility (very dark or dark and rainy), flash ligts can be missleading. It is difficalt for car drivers to tell the exact distance to bicycle or/and speed of bicycle with flashlights.
I was using flash lights until one time in very bad weather i allmost hit the bicyclist by my Civic. Thankfuly i avoided him in last moment. Was realy surprised how misleading the flaslight in certain conditions can be. Never used flashlights by myself since that time.