On Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 10:09:25 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 2/14/2018 11:33 AM, sms wrote:
On 2/14/2018 7:11 AM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

A tiny little one LED lamp that reduces the number of SOLO accidents
by over one-quarter. Moreover, the benefits were greatest during the
day and not at twilight or even night -- which is odd.

Why is that odd? At night, most riders in that area were probably
already using some sort of lights, but most were probably not turning
them on in the daytime, either to save the battery or to reduce drag.

It's odd, Stephen, because a "solo accident" means the rider fell down
all by himself. Those Reelights are far, far too dim to act as
show-the-road headlights at night, and it's TOTALLY impossible for them
to help the rider avoid hazards in the daytime. So if the rider has been
given a magic light to test and reports that it saves him from falling
down, it indicates a bull**** study.

Understand that those that dismiss the benefits of DRLs are not doing so
because they actually believe that there are no benefits, they are doing
so because it is part of an agenda that they are promoting.

One agenda I promote is accurate research. One agenda you promote is
pretending that your own weird personal choices should be used by all
other cyclists. And that the only studies that count are the ones that
agree with your personal choices, no matter how bad those studies are.

And let's see, what have your personal choices been? Homemade
headlights. Flippy flags on bicycles. Styrofoam hats, of course.
Blinding marine strobe taillights day and night. Headlights that glare
in others' eyes, day and night. Elaborate coffee carrying systems. Am I
missing any?


I wear a styrofoam hat; I wear high-viz sometimes, and I use a bunch of different lights -- and even a DRL when its overcast or raining. So, I'm already half-way to believing. But when a study involving the safety benefits of a lame little hub-level blinky shows that it reduces solo daytime accidents by over 25%, that doesn't pass the smell test. Does the light improve wet-road grip? Braking power? Attention? Maybe the riders are just more vigilant being in a study group. I'm more vigilant when I know I'm being studied, particularly when I'm being studied by a cop.

-- Jay Beattie.