Bicycle Safety at Night

[7rider]

A friend of mine was just elected President of our bicycle club. Last night he asked me to speak at our next meeting on Bicycle Safety at Night. I've found the Texas laws that pertain to required safety equipment. My problem is that I don't have enough material to talk for more than two or three minutes. Do any of you have any ideas of how I can lengthen my talk? I'm not much of a public speaker as it is and really don't want to do this but since he is a friend I feel obligated to help him out at his first meeting.
PLEASE HELP.

Show and tell.
Hit up friends to borrow their lights for the evening.
Bring the lights and show and discuss the differences b/t them.

[divingbiker]

Show and tell.
Hit up friends to borrow their lights for the evening.
Bring the lights and show and discuss the differences b/t them.

And maybe do the same with reflective clothing. Turn the lights off and shine a flashlight on jackets and pants and see the differences. I see a lot of people who probably believe their jackets make them visible, but they're not.

[mimitabby]

I have some photos that might help you with that (of guys all lit up in their gear for a night ride)

[OakLeaf]

Is it dark when the meeting is held? A "field trip" to the sidewalk or parking lot would let you illustrate your points under real-world conditions (visibility-reducing overhead lights) and relevant distances (at 40 mph, a car is traveling about 60 ft/sec). Plus you'd burn up some extra time getting to and from

[Bluetree]

Show and tell.
Hit up friends to borrow their lights for the evening.
Bring the lights and show and discuss the differences b/t them.

+1

My buddies and I do a lot of night riding in the hills. We're always comparing lights and borrowing/lending different kinds to find out what kind of brightness would work best for us. There's always a trade-off for brightness = weight = battery life = cost and it's hard to judge what someone would need by looking at a catalog. Having different kinds of light samples would be very helpful.

I like to use a 200L Dinotte for street riding (only 200g!) and a Niterider TriNewt for some hillwork in the dark. I've also chased someone down a twisty descent at night - he had a Moab and that thing could light up the side of a mountain.

[Eden]

I'd say +1 for the practical demonstration on the peoples real world clothing/equipment. I see lots of people who probably think that they are visible - they at least have a front and rear light, whose stuff is so weak that it is barely visible. I personally think that you should have a blinking white light on the front, whether or not you have a solid one for your own vision. Solid ones look like very little, but the blinking ones attract the eye and really say bicycle. Also stress that from the side bikes at night can be nearly invisible to cars no matter what you are wearing! So be extra careful at driveways and intersections.

You may also want to talk a bit about light ettiquette. Be nice and point your very bright light down onto the ground, especially if you will be riding on a path. It's like driving a car and leaving your high beams on all of the time otherwise. It blinds other riders. If you can't point it down, be a good sport and cover it when there is someone coming towards you or make a shade that stops it from shining in other people's eyes. If you wear a helmet light look away from other riders as you pass. (there's just been a big discussion about this on our local board)

[li10up]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had already decided that lighting is such a big part of safety at night that I was going to do "show and tell" on that. But I hadn't thought about the clothes. That's a great idea. We have a room to ourselves that we can turn the lights out. I'll use a flashlight to demonstrate.

Thanks everyone.