[PLEASE APPLY] Visibility On The Road

[Pure Savage]

I was hit today in the bike lane in Salt River, I am 100% sure it happened because I did not have my 1000 lumen light on strobe. I normally always have it on but I was in a rush and lussed it. 

 

I luckily pulled some ninja moves and managed to land safely in gutter and pushed off the honda Mobilo to stay upright. 

 

Anyway, will charge the light tonight and be strobing tomorrow again.

[Fat Boab]

I was hit today in the bike lane in Salt River, I am 100% sure it happened because I did not have my 1000 lumen light on strobe. I normally always have it on but I was in a rush and lussed it. 

 

I luckily pulled some ninja moves and managed to land safely in gutter and pushed off the honda Mobilo to stay upright. 

 

Anyway, will charge the light tonight and be strobing tomorrow again.

 

Firstly, nice to have you still with us.

Secondly, interesting that you believe in a strobe front light. My 'belief' is a strobe front light is distracting for a driver and they consequently suffer from poor depth perception, hence I always ride with a steady front light. I wonder if there's been any formal study looking at this?

[Sepia]

Good you are ok.

 

Where are the Savage pictures or it did not happen.  "Most photographed team in the world"

 

Strobe light for me, in fact, any light is better than no light.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Sepia

[Pure Savage]

Firstly, nice to have you still with us.

Secondly, interesting that you believe in a strobe front light. My 'belief' is a strobe front light is distracting for a driver and they consequently suffer from poor depth perception, hence I always ride with a steady front light. I wonder if there's been any formal study looking at this?

I find the strobe light shocks people and the natural reaction for a shock is to break. I have had a few times where the old ladies half pull into the road then jump on brakes when realise they are about to run me over. 

[devocean]

I was hit today in the bike lane in Salt River, I am 100% sure it happened because I did not have my 1000 lumen light on strobe. I normally always have it on but I was in a rush and lussed it. 

 

I luckily pulled some ninja moves and managed to land safely in gutter and pushed off the honda Mobilo to stay upright. 

 

Anyway, will charge the light tonight and be strobing tomorrow again.

 

Flip, must have been just after I saw you (we passed each other near the bridge by liesbeek parkway). Glad you're ok.

[ChrisF]

Firstly, nice to have you still with us.

Secondly, interesting that you believe in a strobe front light. My 'belief' is a strobe front light is distracting for a driver and they consequently suffer from poor depth perception, hence I always ride with a steady front light. I wonder if there's been any formal study looking at this?

 

I use TWO front lights :

 

- one ON, to light up where I am going

- another on strobe - NOT set to blind oncoming drivers

[Stretch]

High Vis gear is a must here. I ran a few times at dusk and felt bad when I noticed I was the only one without and high Vis gear. Pretty much all walkers, dogs, runners, cyclists wear a reflective vest and cyclists and runners have lights. I think the fact that the roads are narrow with little to zero sidewalk or yellow lines in places is a major factor..... But I'm all for it myself

[Paul Ruinaard]

I find the strobe light shocks people and the natural reaction for a shock is to break. I have had a few times where the old ladies half pull into the road then jump on brakes when realise they are about to run me over. 

Hmm,

 

To me you cant be too visible and draw too much attention to yourself. the more the better. 

 

I am now riding continually with a strobe on the front of my road bike (900 lumen) during daylight hours even around the cradle in the day. Plus a rear red flasher.

 

I have noticed a number of times that people have hesitated to overtake when coming towards me, which is exactly what i wanted to achieve.

 

Some things i have seen on bikes and motorbikes which i am now convinced work:

 

1.) Coloured lights are far more visible than white lights. On my motorbike i have 2 x orange light covers over the headlights, and the headlight is always on bright. People notice the coloured light more than white, or normal light , and react way sooner to it and at a distance. i also have noticed I do the same i.e. a coloured light (orange/red or bright colours) draws my eyes earlier than a normal headlight. i dont ride  a lot at night on the bike so i dont really worry about the brightness of the light, but this works.

 

2.) Strobing draws the eyes in and make them aware of an object that is there way better than non-strobing. People are forced to assess the size and distance in relation to them and therefore are aware of you. My front and rear lights strobe, the rear in a random pattern, again for the same reason.

 

Like i said IMO you can't appear too visible or too early.You may look like a Xmas tree but you will also likely avoid becoming a statistic.

['Dale]

Glad you're okay and safe, Pure Savage

In the commute, yes, please light up like a billboard in London, especially with traffic volumes going up with the holiday season. ⭐️

[Pure Savage]

Flip, must have been just after I saw you (we passed each other near the bridge by liesbeek parkway). Glad you're ok.

Yup was just after that, was thinking, glad I am not going into this head wind

 

I guess you will be thinking the same when we cross on the way home

[Pure Savage]

Hmm,

 

To me you cant be too visible and draw too much attention to yourself. the more the better. 

 

I am now riding continually with a strobe on the front of my road bike (900 lumen) during daylight hours even around the cradle in the day. Plus a rear red flasher.

 

I have noticed a number of times that people have hesitated to overtake when coming towards me, which is exactly what i wanted to achieve.

 

Some things i have seen on bikes and motorbikes which i am now convinced work:

 

1.) Coloured lights are far more visible than white lights. On my motorbike i have 2 x orange light covers over the headlights, and the headlight is always on bright. People notice the coloured light more than white, or normal light , and react way sooner to it and at a distance. i also have noticed I do the same i.e. a coloured light (orange/red or bright colours) draws my eyes earlier than a normal headlight. i dont ride  a lot at night on the bike so i dont really worry about the brightness of the light, but this works.

 

2.) Strobing draws the eyes in and make them aware of an object that is there way better than non-strobing. People are forced to assess the size and distance in relation to them and therefore are aware of you. My front and rear lights strobe, the rear in a random pattern, again for the same reason.

 

Like i said IMO you can't appear too visible or too early.You may look like a Xmas tree but you will also likely avoid becoming a statistic.

 

100% agreed, I also wish I could get a cell phone signal blocker, that would cause most drivers to look up from their phones

[devocean]

Yup was just after that, was thinking, glad I am not going into this head wind

 

I guess you will be thinking the same when we cross on the way home

 

Ja man, cycled from big bay to newlands. crap headwind the whole way!

[lechatnoir]

Like i said IMO you can't appear too visible or too early.You may look like a Xmas tree but you will also likely avoid becoming a statistic.

 

Indeed. It's a case of 'Sorry for your epileptic episode, I'm just glad you saw me...' I purposefully put my strobe on in areas where there are lots of light sources. On dark roads, I turn it to solid, even low

[Fat Boab]

I did a bit of searching on google scholar to find evidence of impact of a. lights on safety, b. strobe vs steady front/rear lights. Brief snips of findings are below as are the links if you want more:

 

1.  "The incidence rate, including all recorded bicycle accidents with personal injury to the participating cyclist, is 19% lower for cyclists with permanent running lights mounted..."

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457512002606

 

2. "The presence of a bicycle light, whether static or flashing, did not enhance the conspicuity of the bicyclist."

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457511002752

 

3. "Currently available bicycle tail-lights and head lights were evaluated in a field experiment in which the distances at which stationary cyclists could be detected was measured. In general, tail-lights performed well, especially a flashing tail-light which was detected at long distances against a complex background. Head lights performed poorly." (This study is from 1998 so may have used dated lighting?).

 

https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_242945_38

 

4. A lit search report on pedestrian and cyclist visibility. It's a bit long....

 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003438.pub2/epdf

 

Will keep looking and update as an when I have time.....

Edited November 6, 2017 by Fat Boab

[Sepia]

I did a bit of searching on google scholar to find evidence of impact of a. lights on safety, b. strobe vs steady front/rear lights. Brief snips of findings are below as are the links if you want more:

 

1.  "The incidence rate, including all recorded bicycle accidents with personal injury to the participating cyclist, is 19% lower for cyclists with permanent running lights mounted..."

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457512002606

 

2. "The presence of a bicycle light, whether static or flashing, did not enhance the conspicuity of the bicyclist."

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457511002752

 

3. "Currently available bicycle tail-lights and head lights were evaluated in a field experiment in which the distances at which stationary cyclists could be detected was measured. In general, tail-lights performed well, especially a flashing tail-light which was detected at long distances against a complex background. Head lights performed poorly." (This study is from 1998 so may have used dated lighting?).

 

https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_242945_38

 

 

Will keep looking and update as an when I have time.....

Thanks Boab.  Looks like interesting reading ahead.

[ChrisF]

100% agreed, I also wish I could get a cell phone signal blocker, that would cause most drivers to look up from their phones

 

where can I place my order ?