Quote Originally Posted by 7rider View Post
No amount of blinking lights or reflective material will make you more visible to a motorist who is drunk, distracted, inattentive, or just plain stupid. Be aware of your surroundings always, assume you are not seen (regardless of what you are wearing - wear all the reflective stuff you can get your hands on if it makes you more comfortable), and be ready to take evasive action at a moment's notice.
Of course, a drunk driver is a drunk driver and that doesn't change in the daylight either (and in fact blinking lights and reflective material may just draw them TO you like a moth to a flame), but I'm looking for ways to take responsibility for sharing the roads with conscientious drivers who would normally stop or at least see you during the daylight to help them see during dusk/twilight, too. I don't run on roads themselves, I run on sidewalks and paths, but I do cross intersections at 4-way stops and trail crossings where it would help drivers to know where I was. And in the event I do end up running in a bike lane for some reason (sometimes sprinklers are on full boar and we go around them), I'd like a car to have the best chance of knowing I was there. I will probably avoid total darkness because running with a headlamp is a bit annoying and your chances of being seen decrease pretty rapidly.

As advised, I generally run pretty defensively anyway because a lot of drivers are terd faces or aren't paying attention, and we also have the backing out of driveways problem - even at 8 or 9am when kids are going to school.

Wrists, ankles, and doggie feet are a good idea - I notice when I see runners at dusk with reflective materials you really do notice their feet but it's not where your eyes usually are. It seems like the more places you see moving the more your brain registers that it's not a fluke, it's an object moving in front of you.

I'll have to keep my eye out for a lightweight vest, too. I was/am a little concerned that more bulk might be irritating, but those sound pretty light.

Thanks everyone.