Police ask pedestrians to wear hi-vis following spate of road deaths in Scotland

Dbloke wrote:

Pedestrians need to be taxed and have license plates............... 

TABARDS!

hawkinspeter wrote:

Dbloke wrote:

Pedestrians need to be taxed and have license plates............... 

TABARDS!

Nasty case of dyslexia you have there.

Pedestrians need to be taxed and have license plates............... 

So do drivers- this HY66 ZZB Highway Maintenance lorry coming up to his glorious 4th tax-free anniversary was reported to the Lancashire Indolence Method of Policing in March and April 2021. Naturally, nothing was done

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Yes, yes, OF COURSE context is important.

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But in the land of the Bike Fascist, only one truth is allowed. Nuance is strictly verboten.

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Oh, you saw comments on the other thread about the nazis and the bicycles then?

It was only a matter of time, but, and I'll get shot down for this.... they might have a bit of a point.

I nearly plowed straight into two guys walking along (and taking up the full width) of a shared use path because I didn't see them until they were right in front of me. My eyes had adjusted to dealing with the headlights of the cars coming the other way, so the two guys were invisible until they were suddenly silouetted by those car headlights (and yes, I had a decent 'see where I'm going' front headlight). The two guys were in dark clothing with no reflective elements at all.

High vis, no, don't be stupid, but something other than black in the day and something with at least some reflectiveness at night would be sensible.

It's too easy to victim blame, but it's also too easy to use the victim-blaming put down to overlook the fact that people should take at least a little bit of personal responsibility. After all, do you lock your front door when you leave the house?

joules1975 wrote:

It was only a matter of time, but, and I'll get shot down for this.... they might have a bit of a point.

I nearly plowed straight into two guys walking along (and taking up the full width) of a shared use path because I didn't see them until they were right in front of me. My eyes had adjusted to dealing with the headlights of the cars coming the other way, so the two guys were invisible until they were suddenly silouetted by those car headlights (and yes, I had a decent 'see where I'm going' front headlight).

High vis, no, don't be stupid, but something other than black in the day and something with at least some reflectiveness at night would be sensible.

It's too easy to victim blame, but it's also too easy to use the victim-blaming put down to overlook the fact that people should take at least a little bit of personal responsibility. After all, do you lock your front door when you leave the house?

Considering that one of the victims was killed at 1:30pm, then it most definitely is victim blaming to be looking at hi-viz instead of dealing with the dangerous drivers.

Ultimately, you were able to see the peds and avoided them - that's how it's supposed to work. If you can't see clearly, then you need to slow down, though I do get the whole blinded by headlights thing.

I got shouted at on Friday night by some bloke walking toward me on a shared-use path who said my bike's headlight was too bright (Cateye AMPP800, the setting that's a mid brightness but pulses a bit brighter every couple of seconds).

I'd seen him ahead of me - fifteen metres, maybe more - and had slowed right down.  Then had to stop because a bike was coming up behind him so I waited until they went past before moving around Mr Grumpy.

He said my light was too bright, what did I think I was doing, etc etc.

Thing is, if I had used a dimmer headlight then I certainly wouldn't have seen him until I was right on top of him due to the headlights on all the oncoming cars, and to be frank I wouldn't have been able to safely see where I was going (again, due to the headlights on all the oncoming cars).

(I did try using the brighter steady setting once, but then had cars flashing their headlights at me...).

I ended up pointing my light down more after various comments on here about how some lights can be too dazzling.

I point mine down - didn't stop the comments.

I point mine down - doesn't seem to make that much difference.

hirsute wrote:

I ended up pointing my light down more after various comments on here about how some lights can be too dazzling.

I do that, but blinded a bloke on a recumbent one time.

As a recumbent rider I find people are always looking down on us, especially upright cyclists.

chrisonatrike wrote:

As a recumbent rider I find people are always looking down on us, especially upright cyclists.

It's a fancy recumbent with a full fairing over it too. Two wheeler, from what I can remember.

I'm fair weather only on mine but one major issue without fairing is your middle is where all the precipitation drains to. A velomobile would be ace for wet / cold weather but then you'd simply saturate yourself dragging your featherlight 28kg sporty model up the hills.

Mine is angled so it points down focused about 8 feet (ish) in front of me.

(Which is better than many cars' dipped headlights...).

In that case you need a German StVZO standard light. But due to Brexit, you will have to travel abroad to buy one.

Tredz and Cyclestore are selling Lezyne lights with StVZO compliance and Balfe's have a sale on with some at decent discounts so I hope that helps you find a suitable light from a UK retailer.

I don't think Exposure are ever going to release their STVZO range that they dangled in front of me since before lockdown. Proper power for when you need it, but road friendly (and cycle path) for when you don't.

I had to upgrade my Hope R4 to the R4+ (angled down, what an engineering marvel that bracket is), as they no longer support the R4. Got to keep the system going. The cables die with unfortunate regularity. I did get a little more power, and a little sharper, with power output changing colour LEDs too.

Quite happily to mount it below the handlebars as an accessory light if Exposure ever do release it though. Peak gravel, though perfect for the riding I do.

I have exactly the same light and it sends drivers mental in the dark. I have even had one stop in the road to shout at me. Would they prefer that I just turn all the lights off and ride around invisible?

Always makes me laugh how drivers put up with all the stupidly bright, high up led lights that all the usual SUV's have blinding them but get really pissed off with cyclists.  I've had some one slow down, hanging out the driver's side window shouting abuse about how distracting my light was...because not paying attention to what's in front of you whilst shouting at me is not your main distraction...

http://yehudamoon.com/comic/2008-01-26/

Was also told by pedestrian I didn't need a light that bright. This with a dynamo powered "Continental- style" light eg. designed not to dazzle and pointed down (Supernova). It *is* very bright (has a lens in it) - if you were lying on the pavement so you could see into it directly.

I guess it's just that motor vehicle lights have light emerging from a much wider area, plus people see them from further away - and normally behind a screen...

I find it's the pedestrians dressed in the darkest of clothing on shared routes (particularly signposted parts of the NCN) who complain loudest about my lights being too bright.

The lights that enable me to have seen them with plenty of distance be aware of their presence and slow. I always go to low power on shared cycle paths too, and very low on the helmet light. Flashing on that is reserved for trying to make motorists aware of me, though I have, for a while, gone to steady on the unlit dark country roads.