Lights!!!

ronnie3585

I know im probably preaching to the converted but what is it with cyclists not using lights at night. I was driving through Galway city last night at about 10pm, it was totally dark and misting heavily so the vis was crap. After coming across the salmon weir bridge i turned left towards the courthouse. Its a blind corner and as soon as i turned it some suicide candidate was coming towards me on the wrong side of the road with no lights, dressed head to toe in black, no hi vis or even a set of reflectors.

I didnt see him till he was nearly under the wheels of the car, once i did see him i stood on the brakes and stopped just before i hit him. The icing on the cake was this cretin started banging on the bonnet and kicking the wheel.

My first thought was to get out of the car and throw him in the river but my conscience got the better of me. I got out of the car and this guy was screaming at me; "who the f**k do you think you are, you dont own the road, cyclists have rights too". Believe me when i say ive many an argument with motorists when they cut me off etc when im cycling, but this guy was taking the piss.

Then ensued some coarse debate between the idiot and I. I tried to explain to him that he has every right to be on the road, but on the right side, obviously! I asked him if he thought it was smart to cycle at night with no lights or high vis, to which i got no response. At this point i got tired trying to reason with this guy and things were getting pretty hot so i decided the best thing would just be to drive away.

On the way home i passed four more cyclists with no lights or hi vis. Im not trying to mount a moral high horse but whenever i have to cycle at night or in bad vis i always do my best to look like a christmas tree! There must be a lot of people out there who dont realise just how hard it is to see a cyclist at night, it seems they will have to learn the hard way:(

Ciaran500

Sure its nearly summer, no point buying lights now.

niceonetom

it's a proven scientific fact that lights kill more people than they save: FACT.

studiorat

niceonetom wrote: »

it's a proven scientific fact that lights kill more people than they save: FACT.

Whose FACT?
The Cross Statistics of Car-Bike Collisions

Publication of Cross's second study of car-bike collisions provided the first detailed study of car-bike collisions with the data classified by daylight and nighttime.

By comparison with daytime data, some types of car-bike collision appeared to be much more frequent during night. These types are motorist exiting from side street, motorist turning left in front of the cyclist, wrong-way cyclist hit headon, and motorist overtaking the cyclist.

In 1983 a quantitative analysis of this data was published.


Table 1: Relative Proportioins of Car-Bike Collisions Due to Darkness

Motorist exiting from side street was 47.2%
Motorist turning left 22.3%
Motorist overtaking 21.0%
Wrong-way cyclist head-on 9.5%

This analysis of Cross's data shows unequivocally the importance of the types of car-bike collision for which the headlamp is the primary preventive measure.


Table 2: Importance of Nighttime Protective Devices

Headlamp Injuries 2800 Deaths 28
Rear reflector Injuries 2270 Deaths 275
Front reflector substituting for headlamp Injuries 400 Deaths 4
Side reflector None.

This 2nd table shows the number of casualties incurred as a result of the failure to use particular items of nighttime protective equipment, or, conversely, the number that would be saved if that equipment were used.

Reference

I think you are getting confused FLASHING lights, you know the ones that are turned off half the time? making it harder for other vehicles gauge their location.

niceonetom

niceonetom wrote: »

it's a proven scientific fact that lights kill more people than they save: FACT.

and wearing black makes you go faster: FACT.

studiorat

muppet!

niceonetom

studiorat wrote: »

muppet!

ah now, be nice.

i'm sorry if you missed the (i thought) fairly obvious irony in my post, and that you felt the need to do extensive research on the completely obvious. i was merely tempted to see if you would bite twice. you didn't, well done.

blorg

Sounds like he was one of those bike ninjas. All dressed in black and you didn't see him until it was too late. You're lucky you didn't get cut in half with the samurai sword he had hidden inside his seattube. Next time, stay in the car! And run him over a few times, just in case! (You can never be too sure.)

Seriously though, these guys are a hazard to other cyclists as well, I've nearly hit them on occasion going the wrong way on cycle tracks. Runners who are going to use cycle tracks or the road should also note that high-vis and lighting are a must if they want to avoid nasty collisions. I'd be interested in how high-vis compares with lights; when in a car I've often noticed people with good high-vis more than the lights.

studiorat

niceonetom wrote: »

ah now, be nice.

i'm sorry if you missed the (i thought) fairly obvious irony in my post, and that you felt the need to do extensive research on the completely obvious. i was merely tempted to see if you would bite twice. you didn't, well done.

Happened to be reading about flashing lights, (not allowed on boats).
Ironic? This is the internet, need I say more...
sounds like muppet talk to me, you know no brakes full of speed!

niceonetom

studiorat wrote: »

Happened to be reading about flashing lights...
Ironic?
sounds like muppet talk, you know no brakes full of speed!

well yes, ironic in that posting here saying "cyclists should use lights" is a bit like starting a thread in the tech section saying "you shouldn't pour coffee on your laptop"; all your going to get is responses saying 'well duh'. ...so i decided not to take it so seriously. what harm? why the hostility? and that's not muppet talk, this is:
ma'nah ma'nah

Civilian_Target

On the way home i passed four more cyclists with no lights or hi vis. Im not trying to mount a moral high horse but whenever i have to cycle at night or in bad vis i always do my best to look like a christmas tree! There must be a lot of people out there who dont realise just how hard it is to see a cyclist at night, it seems they will have to learn the hard way

You are the centre of your own universe. I probably never occured to your cyclist how invisible he was! He knew he existed, he had feelings, of course you can see him!!

I'd be interested in how high-vis compares with lights; when in a car I've often noticed people with good high-vis more than the lights.

Hi-vis helps people who already have lights to shine on you, but a pedestrian hasn't got much more hope of seeing you if you wear a hi-vis vest or just some colourful clothing... so you do need lights regardless! Personally, I skip on the vest a lot of time and just use plenty of lights

kenmc

blorg wrote: »

I'd be interested in how high-vis compares with lights; when in a car I've often noticed people with good high-vis more than the lights.

I think it depends on the ambient light. During the day, lights are hard to see, especially if it's sunny, which is why you need day-glo fleuro yellow or orange (which is what I understand by high-vis). During the hours of darkness the high vis is only useful if lit up by a cars headlights or streetlights, so you need lights which can be seen at obscure angles i.e. when headlights are not illuminating you. Of course the more of these you can combine at one time the better in my opinion.
But yes it's incredibly annoying how many muppets are prepared to take their chances cycling dark. I guess it's probably Darwinism at it's finest, except that it also gives 'bloody cyclists' another reason to be critizised, and that some poor innocent driver may end having their life ruined with a death on their conscience.
Personally I wear a fleuro jacket, flashing and non-flashing red rears and a non-flashing front, all very bright LEDs

Caroline_ie

I'll remember once day i was cycling down the Pheonix Park, with plenty of lights on me, flashing like a xmas tree... it was around 10 but it was night time, people could see me but I couldn't see the losers cycling with no lighht, no viz, no helmet AND on the wrong side of the cycling lane, cyling towards me ... how frustarted I was!

Builderfromhell

Cost of second hand car + insurance + tax + petrol + maintenance etc.
versus
cost of bike + protective grar + lights.

People will pay for the former and fill tank with maybe 50 euro of fuel a week but if/when cycling will scrimp on buyinga 25 euro light. I don't see the logic.

I am a bit extreme and keep spare lights in pocket for if/when batteries die.

frenchie091

I think it's a Galway thing. I'm originally from there, I was down visiting recently and noticed an unusually high number of people cycling with no lights at night.

spurscormac

frenchie091 wrote: »

I think it's a Galway thing. I'm originally from there, I was down visiting recently and noticed an unusually high number of people cycling with no lights at night.

I'm living in Galway and yes its really bad here. Almost all bike riders at night don't have lights.
Was in town last night in the car & driving home noticed 3 or 4 people without lights.
One guy I'm sure thought he was ok cos he had a light on the back, which had the battery almost run out & was barely visible. I nearly pulled out into him cos he had no front light though.

Can't see it changing - though maybe a few letters to the Advertiser or some local politicians might help to raise awareness.

Bicyclegadabout

I think Galway drivers are better than Dublin drivers. Or generally, people not from Dublin are better drivers as they don't rely as much on being told what to do by traffic lights, stop signs etc. Non Dublin drivers have to pay more attention to what they're doing.
The lack of light usage by Galway cyclists is based on the cyclists relying on the drivers paying attention to what they're doing. Well, that and just the usual ****wittedness that some people have. Most of the time the drivers are paying attention to what they're doing, so the system works, sort of.


But people should use lights. Daft not to.

Stark

Aside from the occasional bint pulling out of a side road without looking left or right, I find Dublin drivers are generally okay when it comes to cyclists. Much more pleasant than cycling in Cork anyway.

I'd say 3 out of 4 cyclists I see in Dublin don't wear lights either.

ronnie3585

frenchie091 wrote: »

I think it's a Galway thing. I'm originally from there, I was down visiting recently and noticed an unusually high number of people cycling with no lights at night.

Couldnt agree more. I spend a lot of time in Dublin and its rare that id see someone out at night without lights, most people cycling during the day will wear vis, whereas this is almost unheard of in Galway.

I think it comes down to the two different styles of either city. The most typical example I can give relates to pedestrans. In Galway city if you want to cross the road you just do that - step straight onto the road and by and large the traffic will stop. Do the same in Dublin and you'll get knocked the f*ck down! Its the same with cycling from what I've seen cyclists in Dublin generally follow the rule of the road, stopping at red lights, et cetera. In Galway I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I've seen cyclists have the most basic regard for the rules of the road.

Bicyclegadabout

Stark wrote: »

Aside from the occasional bint pulling out of a side road without looking left or right, I find Dublin drivers are generally okay when it comes to cyclists. Much more pleasant than cycling in Cork anyway.

I'd say 3 out of 4 cyclists I see in Dublin don't wear lights either.

Ah well y'know. It's a complicated thing innit. Cork's a big city, maybe yee're beginning to fall victim to crap city driving too.
There's more cyclists than that wearing lights in Dub though. Certainly if you exclude the kids and teenagers, almost all cyclists would have hi viz and/or lights.

DavyD_83

Clearly all cyclists should wear jackets like these. Scarf should be optional, but i think we'd look silly without them.
:cool::D:cool:

blorg

Christ that man is LEGEND. I actually have that single I think (moment of exuberence nearly 20 years ago now :eek:)