Any idea what this is?
Let’s play spot the unlit cyclist…
It’s the rear view of a cyclist riding down a dark suburban side street, taken at a range of less than 5 metres (I was actually standing on the road as he passed). Now obviously my camera isn’t exactly the peak of low-light photographic equipment, but I reckon it would be capable of at least registering the red blur of tail light—if a tail light had been in evidence. It wasn’t. And the black-clad rider was almost invisible even to the naked eye.
But having a tail light isn’t necessarily enough to guarantee night time visibility. This evening we were driving in the middle lane of the Burwood Highway when we passed another dark-clothed cyclist struggling up the Vermont hill in the left lane. This guy had a tail light at least, but it was a pathetically faint glimmer. I suppose he was saving the price of a new set of batteries—at considerable risk to his physical wellbeing. As far as I could tell, there was nothing reflective attached to the rear of his person or machine either.
MLSP was at the wheel, and you can be very certain that we are both very cyclist-aware drivers, but neither of us saw this guy until he was within the range of our headlights—far too close for a car to stop if moving at the 80km/h speed limit. The car that was travelling a little behind us in the left lane didn’t move to make any room for the cyclist, so we can only assume that driver pretty much hadn’t seen the rider at all. It must have been a near miss for the cyclist.
Last week I found myself comparing bike tail lights with motorcycle tail lights in the busy evening traffic. The difference in speed aside, my conclusion is pretty simple: motorbike tail lights are bigger and maybe also brighter. I’m sure that doesn’t stop motorcyclists from having their unfair share of SMIDSY incidents, but I think you’ve got to admit that motorcycles are generally more visible in night time traffic than most bicycles. And their speed makes motorbikes less susceptible to rear-enders than bikes.
Hmm, I think I might go out and buy me a few more rear adornments this week…
It can be hard to notice that the lights are on their way out if you start in daylight still… my own excitement was finding that the back light would randomly turn off sometimes.
Posted by eccles | 20 August 2007, 8:49 amI recommend the planet bike super flash. http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html
Posted by Adrian | 20 August 2007, 9:18 amA morbid fear of losing a tail light (for whatever reason) is why I have redundancy on redundancy: two blinky tail lights and two reflectors, (with spare batteries in the tool bag) plus reflective patches on the panniers when they are in place. And I’m still worried that it’s not enough.
But I do like the look of that Super Flash light—will be looking for one of them today!
Posted by Treadly and Me | 20 August 2007, 9:59 am“Since I’m invisible, then they can’t aim for me.”
(I’m well lit at night).
Posted by Fritz | 21 August 2007, 7:04 amHeh! There are holes in that argument big enough to drive a truck
overthrough!
Posted by Treadly and Me | 21 August 2007, 7:28 amFrom my own experience I can confirm rear lights randomly turning off. I discovered it was triggered by going over bumps. Replaced that one and got a set of the narrow and long flashing lights thinking they would be better. They work well provided it doesn’t rain hard, which tends to set them off on random mode. At least they keep working (somewhat).
I found that the best visibity purchase I made was a fluorescent yellow vest with good quality reflective strips. It was only $5 and never runs out of batteries. And when it rains, it won’t start operating randomly. It also gives me 360 degree visibility.
Posted by Hielke | 21 August 2007, 5:33 pmYep, I’m all for reflective gear. I’ve got a pair of reflective ankle straps which I’m told are pretty eye-catching in car headlights because they are constantly in motion (well, as long as I’m pedalling that is!)
Posted by Treadly and Me | 21 August 2007, 6:06 pmI have a Radio Shack yellow strobe, originally for a home burglar alarm system, running off a 12 volt battery. Plus a reflector. Plus a LED blinker. I’ve had several people comment on the strobe, quite impressed with its visibility. Sometimes I’m kinda embarrassed to run it, it lights up the whole street. I have a 15 watt sealed beam yard light on the front. With the large battery, the whole setup is heavy, by hey, that means I just get a better workout, right?
Posted by Squeaky Cyclist | 23 August 2007, 2:04 pmNow that’s got me thinkin’…what goodies has my local electronic gizmos shop got? I might have to do a bit of browsing on the weekend.
Posted by Treadly and Me | 23 August 2007, 4:03 pmI bought a DiNotte 140R taillight a few years ago and have never looked back, if you’ll pardon the pun. I have it on a swivel clamp on my rear rack. During the day I point it horizontally, so its strobe pattern is visible to drivers, even in bright sunlight. At night it is dangerously bright, so I point it down so it makes a big pool of light on the road a few metres behind the bike, and supplement it with a Tioga DualEyes twin-blinky ($25 on discount, very good). To see how it looks (except strobing), see http://www.kk.org/cooltools/dinotte.jpg
Posted by Tim Churches | 5 November 2011, 2:28 pm