Fritz M wrote:

wrote:

Nonsense. Light/bright colours are much more visible than dark colours
when picked up by headlights or any other lights for that matter.

That's true, but not true enough.

I was driving at night on an unlit street last week. A half-mile ahead
of me was a shopping center with bright lights. I nearly hit a cyclist
-- I only saw him at the last minute when I saw his silhouette in the
supermarket lights. I swerved to avoid him and that's when I noticed
the faint outline of his flourescent yellow jacket in my headlights.
After I passed I saw that he had a very bright front light.

Bright colored clothing is not generally adequate for night visibility.
You might as well be wearing black. I don't ride at night without
lighting front, back and sides. I generally have reflective material on
me, bike, or bags also.

RFM
http://www.cyclelicio.us/

Obviously there are occasions when a bright jacket is not enough but
the probability is that the lighter/brighter the more likely it is to
be seen. Even better if the cyclist also has a big bright back light
preferably not flashing, and as much reflective material as possible.
Seems one has to keep repeating the obvious in this discussion!
Look at it this way - if you wanted to move around at night without
being spotted would you wear dark non-reflective clothes, carry no
lights, perhaps black up your face with burnt cork in the old fashioned
way, or would you wear bright light reflective clothing, carry bright
lamps etc etc? Clue to the answer - the first approach is called
"camouflage" (though I'm not sure how you spell it). Geddit!
Or to look at it another way - try drawing a black figure on black
paper. Er, how else can I explain this difficult concept!

happy christmas

Jacob