Night Cyclist Visibility: Driver's Eye View

[Geonz]

I've been told that the light attached to my helmet is highly visible and *grabs* the attention.

[PscyclePath]

Motion is the first thing that attracts the eye... We do some night-riding classes as part of the LAB's commuting curriculum, and one of the first things you notice out on the road is the up-and-down motion of things like pedal reflectors, those little reflective ankle bands, and even reflective highlights on the backs of shoes or tights. Not only do these things help a following motorist to see and detect you, but the peculiar motion helps them recognize you as well --- "that's a bicycle." No matter how "dorky" they may look, pedal reflectors and/or ankle bands are Good Things, and I've gotten zealous about using one or the other, or both. My road bike pedals (SPD-SLs) don't have reflectors, so I'm pretty consistent in keeping a pair of the ankle bands in my tool bag for when I'm out after sunset.

Bright lights are excellent... Amber is actually more visible than red, but the law in all states say that you need a red tail light or reflector. Blinking lights add perceived motion to help attract the eye, but motorists can't judge distance well on a blinky light -- having a solid, steady light or reflector back there will help them judge their distance from you a lot better. I've been using two tail lights recently, one a Planet Bike Superflash for visibility and early detection, then a steady red Cateye light for contract.

...and by the way... remember that a significant percentage of us menfolk are red-green color blind. These folks can see the light, but not exactly the color, and may be a little slower on the recognition cycle...

Those reflective vests like the ones used by highway workers help a lot to make a human form stand out, and help others to recognize "bicycle... person!" more quickly than say, those little reflective highlights on the tail and sleeves of bike jackets.

Lastly, a good headlight that will let you clearly see where you're going, and in return, let others see you coming... I've been running a pair of Cateye EL-320s all summer that have been really good lights to see and be seen by; when the DST changed last week I took advantage of a sale at the LBS and invested in one of those new Light & Motion Stella 200Ns. I really like this light... When I run it in "Ninja Detection Mode" (e.g., "high") it's like having a spotlight pointing out there, and still a little over 5 hours of battery life, or drop it down to "low" and it's like my (backup) Cateye, with around 20 hours of battery. It also operates in flashing mode when I want to be ultra-conservative on battery power (~ 80 to 100 hours on a charge) as well as be ultra-obnoxious with the blinky light...)

Tom

[Mr. Bloom]

I agree. The other night, I passed a woman near campus. She had reflectors on her panniers, a non-flashing light under her seat...and I almost didn't see her. She was wearing dark street clothes with no reflective materials either. I almost stopped to tell her how hard she was to see, but was afraid that I'd freak her out by stopping

I was trying to figure out why it was so hard to see her and Tom said it well - MOTION would have made all the difference in the world.

[ny biker]

When I'm driving, I notice reflective stuff in my headlights before I'm close enough to see lights on a bike.

The bigger the reflective surface, the better. And moving reflective things are also better.

[PscyclePath]

The Massachusetts Bike Coalition has a couple of video clips on-line to show an example of what catches the eye at night... often used in safety classes.

From the front:
http://www.massbike.org/police/mpg/nightfront.mpg

... and from the back:
http://www.massbike.org/police/mpg/nightrear.mpg

(Warning: these are some whomping big files if you click on the link...)

But do note how the pedal motion shows up, as well as the reflective vest and human form...

[Miranda]

I have done a lot of geeking out lights and such within the last year on here. If it would help, you could try searching my user name and lights maybe to weed out some more recent discussion on this.

OK, as already said... things that light up, flash, and *move*. I don't know how this cyclist got his gear like this, but in the end I made my own to match...

I saw a man with reflective bands on his ankles, with red lights, and they blinked. Very noticable when he pedaled particularly.

One company I love is Road ID (stuff on here also about them). They make the IDs lots of folks wear, but also mini lights called FireFlys. Batteries to match sold dirt cheap from their site.

I already owned a FireFly, and a Road ID wrist after coming so close to being road kill one evening at dusk with just reflective stuff on. Then, I made my Firefly blinkie ankle bands out of two products...

I took two refletive ankle bands. Like what can hold the Road ID on your ankle if you prefer. But, I tore the band apart and sewed on a couple FireFlys in the IDs place.

This made the band the appropriate product (soft, long enough, etc.) for the ankle. But, by permanently sewing the blinkies on (without inserting the clip that comes with it) I do not worry about them unclipping and getting lost, or stuck in the gears, etc.

For added side visibility, I have thought about adding white Fireflys on my reflective wrist bands. White near front of bike. Red in back of course. I think if you were to arm signal, it would catch the drivers attention by your lite up arm motion.

BTW... Road ID's customer service IMHO is awesome. One of my purchases, the FireFly clip broke when I went to snap it into the base light. I called the lady at Road ID, and she said their returns department is literally a shoe box on the corner of someone's desk. No problem. She would send a whole new product, plus a pre-paid return shipping envelop, that day to me. Just whenever I had a chance, mail the broken item back at their expense. Now, that is what I call standing behind your products after the sale!

[wackyjacky1]

EDIT: Nathan also makes Reflex wristcuffs in the above material that is super-reflective (TE doesn't carry them). They are self-wrapping and have no velcro, which is nice as they don't mess up the sleeves on your jerseys.

I am definitely going to pick up a few of these -- I think they're great.

My morning commute takes place loooong before the sun comes up (4 a.m.) so I am all about nighttime visibiliity. I have a Superflash flasher in the rear, a bright headlight, and reflective stickers galore (on my helmet; on the headset, fork and chainstays of my bike; and on my wheel rims). Plus I have my stinky Illuminite jacket ( ) that lights up like crazy when someone's headlights hit it.

[wildhawk]

Great ideas! I can’t really add much to it as we have reflectors on every thing attached to our bikes, dual bright LED lights, and dual flashing LED taillights, reflectors on our helmets and gloves, etc. I got some great ideas from this thread too - some “goodies” I will be adding to my bike. Working nights, I can tell you that alot of people ride bikes at night and totally disobey the crossing lights - just ride right out in traffic with little or no reflectors or flashing lights of any kind. Total idiots INHO. But there are the ones who commute who make darn sure they are seen by drivers - and late evening riders like my DH and me. DH made a special lightweight horizontal bar that fits to the rear of our rack between the two rear panniers and added dual taillights. The width of the panniers and the dual lights are easily seen and give a wider profile at night. We are of the thought that the more visible the better. We have had riders dash across the street in front our cars where the only thing that shows up is their sneakers and socks!!

[sfa]

Leaving the house tonight in my car, we saw a kid coming down the street on a bike. It was pitch black out and he had no headlights (or helmet for that matter) and my headlights didn't catch any reflectors that he may have had. But he DID have Tire Sparx and they really did catch my eye immediately. He was probably about 150 feet away when I first noticed him. It was impressive how bright they were, and there was no mistaking that it was a cyclist headed in my direction.

Sarah

[mary9761]

I have both reflective gear and lights on my bike and helmet. I've had bus drivers who have commented on seeing my lights when I was out after dark and watching for a bus coming behind me so I could pull over. The light set is made so you can wear them on wrists or in this case, I ran the straps through my helmet vents pointing the white forward and the red to the rear. I usually put them on blinking then my headlight on the bike steady. Sometimes my bike tail light is solid, but more often it's set to blink as well.

http://thebikeline.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=2128 Trek
Glo Headlight & Ember Taillight Combo





http://thebikeline.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=2128 Trek
Flare 7 Taillight

http://thebikeline.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=2631 Trek
Ion 6 LED Headlight

I also wear ankle biter reflective straps one on my wrist and one on my ankle on my left side facing traffic.

When I'm using my new kitty litter bucket panniers, I have a large red reflecter on the backs and amber on sides and fronts. I plan on adding reflective sewn on tape to the sides of my tights that I've made for colder weather riding and more reflective material to my helmet. I've never been worried about looking like a dork as long as I'm seen.

[Xrayted]

this seems like a good video on the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZdXfvrRmU

We have a local guy who has put reflective stuff and lights on every surface of his bike and himself. It is actually too much. It makes you focus so much on him, that it's distracting. (What happens when you look at that hole in the road as you approach it? You run into it. You drive or ride where you are directly looking.) He takes a lot of chances that most riders wouldn't because he is so lit up. I've seen him cut across 5 lanes of traffic at night in rush hour on a busy road when he could have crossed at the light just 150 ft away. Nuts!! Light up, by all means, but don't assume you are totally safe.

Lots of riders here in Portland. The best advice I can give is to light up the sides too, not just front and back. It's nice to have a blinkie up front in the dark as well as a solid. It differentiates you from cars and motorcycles. Lit strips catch my eye. Cars don't have long reflective strips typically.

[crazycanuck]

Please..please pleeeeese have your front lights on solid. I can't say how often i am blinded year round by cyclists who don't understand what ít's like to have one pointed directly at me/etc. You do know how hard they are on the eyes.. AGHGHGH..

Don't tell me you can actually see with a blinking white light..

Just have the front white light on solid..please!!!

[OakLeaf]

Nathan also makes Reflex wristcuffs in the above material that is super-reflective (TE doesn't carry them). They are self-wrapping and have no velcro

I have a similar thing from Adidas. They're convenient to slap over jeans or sweats when I'm riding my commuter a little ways, and they'd probably be okay on the wrists over a LS jersey as long as there's enough length in the sleeves, but they chafe like CRAZY over socks, light arm warmers or bare skin.

They loosen up a bit if you store them snapped flat rather than rolled up, but the edges will still dig into your skin (and I've got pretty small wrists).

[wildhawk]

Please..please pleeeeese have your front lights on solid. I can't say how often i am blinded year round by cyclists who don't understand what ít's like to have one pointed directly at me/etc. You do know how hard they are on the eyes.. AGHGHGH..

Don't tell me you can actually see with a blinking white light..

Just have the front white light on solid..please!!!

Good point. Actually, I ride with one light on solid and one on blinky just before dark and switch both headlights on solid to see better once the sun has set.

[Eden]

I find that I can see cyclists better if they have a flashing white light.... In the city at least, with all of the other lights around, a flashing white front light identifies you immediately as a bicycle. A steady headlight can look like other things... I prefer to use a steady headlight to see with and a flashing one for safety myself. Of course all lights should be positioned so that they are not directly in the eyes of other people. My steady headlamp is aimed at the ground and my flasher is more straight on - but it is not a super bright HID light...