Even Though... (Recumbents)
 

Even though I have built a few experimental recumbents, I stil worry about
visibility issues in traffic. Seems to me a driver just may not notice a
flag as much as a person at eye-level height. Your thuoghts? - Jeff,
www.500ways.com

Even Though... (Recumbents)
 

On Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:34:16 +0000 (UTC)
Jeff wrote:

Even though I have built a few experimental recumbents, I stil worry about
visibility issues in traffic. Seems to me a driver just may not notice a
flag as much as a person at eye-level height. Your thuoghts? - Jeff,

You forget the WTFIT? factor. My experience is that drivers give a
lot more room to a 'bent than, say, an MTB on the same roads. A
drop-barred upright comes about half-way in-between.

So they /have/ seen the 'bent, and failed to drop it from their
attention stack they way they would bikes with which they are more
familiar.



Mike

Even Though... (Recumbents)
 

On 13/03/11 19:34, Jeff wrote:
Even though I have built a few experimental recumbents, I stil worry about
visibility issues in traffic. Seems to me a driver just may not notice a
flag as much as a person at eye-level height. Your thuoghts?

There are 'bents and there are 'bents. Mine (an HP Vel Streetmachine)
has the seat at about the same height as a car seat. That actually
makes it easier to get eye-contact with most drivers in close traffic.

But the real keys in traffic are being in predictable places. You can
be on a normal upright bike in traffic and if you're between trucks,
buses and vans you'll be no better off than a lowracer among cars, yet
that's not a kiss-of-death. You make sure you go in places that are in
sight and you make sure you proceed in a predictable fashion. Same on
/any/ bike.

Never bothered with a flag on mine. Only recall one time I wasn't seen,
and that's because the chap didn't look (and I /saw/ him not looking).
A quick and loud "*OI*!" soon solved that.

The "you must be nearly invisible down there" is often cited as a
problem for 'bents I've never actually found it to be one. If anything
I get more space, not less.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Even Though... (Recumbents)
 

On 3/14/2011 5:42 AM, Peter Clinch wrote:
On 13/03/11 19:34, Jeff wrote:
Even though I have built a few experimental recumbents, I stil worry
about
visibility issues in traffic. Seems to me a driver just may not notice a
flag as much as a person at eye-level height. Your thuoghts?

There are 'bents and there are 'bents. Mine (an HP Vel Streetmachine)
has the seat at about the same height as a car seat. That actually makes
it easier to get eye-contact with most drivers in close traffic.

But the real keys in traffic are being in predictable places. You can be
on a normal upright bike in traffic and if you're between trucks, buses
and vans you'll be no better off than a lowracer among cars, yet that's
not a kiss-of-death. You make sure you go in places that are in sight
and you make sure you proceed in a predictable fashion. Same on /any/ bike.

I an several others have ridden lowracers in the City of Chicago, and I
am aware of some who have ridden lowracers or semi-lowracers in London.

Never bothered with a flag on mine. Only recall one time I wasn't seen,
and that's because the chap didn't look (and I /saw/ him not looking). A
quick and loud "*OI*!" soon solved that.

The "you must be nearly invisible down there" is often cited as a
problem for 'bents I've never actually found it to be one. If anything I
get more space, not less.

Drivers can see the paint markings on the road, so any recumbent is tall
enough to see.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

Even Though... (Recumbents)
 

On 14/03/11 10:42, Peter Clinch wrote:
On 13/03/11 19:34, Jeff wrote:
Even though I have built a few experimental recumbents, I stil worry
about
visibility issues in traffic. Seems to me a driver just may not notice a
flag as much as a person at eye-level height. Your thuoghts?

There are 'bents and there are 'bents. Mine (an HP Vel Streetmachine)
has the seat at about the same height as a car seat. That actually
makes it easier to get eye-contact with most drivers in close traffic.

I'll agree with this - I ride the same bike. No problem seeing (edging
out at junctions is more like a car than an upright bike, but not a
problem), no obvious issues with being seen, and in a city where I've
never spotted another recumbent except those ridden by people I know
from out of town, a tremendous WTF factor. Drivers are more likely to
perform slow, wide overtakes so the passenger can get some decent video
of me on their iPhone than they are to do a close pass or left (I'm in
the UK) hook. The only special measure I take towards being visible is
that I'll be a bit more likely to use lights in daylight than on an
upright. I find a bright front light makes people less likely to pull
out in front of me, especially at roundabouts.

The only situation where I see a flag to be of real benefit is where
someone overtakes the car behind you into what appears to be an empty
gap. The Streetmachine is high enough that it or my head is visible
through the windscreen of a standard car, so I don't think a flag gains
anything. A lowracer (not that I'd want to ride one in city traffic
very much - indeed, I prefer an upright bike for start-stop city riding)
or trike will be different.

We're considering getting a recumbent trike for my partner, who has arm
disabilities, and will probably get a flag for riding that in traffic.
You don't have to have it fitted all the time.

I'd certainly want a flag on a trailer, whatever bike I was pulling it
with, as it's easier to overlook once you've spotted the bike.


Kim.
--