Riding at night: a strategy for survival?

ComandanteBanana schrieb:
On May 1, 5:25 pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb:

All those lights are nice so you can see, but to be seen all you need
is that blinking vest. I guess.
Fortunately, that blinking bull**** is illegal, at least here.

Where's that, Germany? What is required there?

A normal, permanently shining light (red on the back, white on the front).

ComandanteBanana schrieb:
On May 1, 5:24 pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb:

Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he
ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with
blinking lights
Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It just distracts other
drivers and makes them focus on the blinking.

So how is it the blinking rear lights are OK?

They aren't ok.

On May 2, 1:36*pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb:

On May 1, 5:24 pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb:

Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he
ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with
blinking lights
Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It just distracts other
drivers and makes them focus on the blinking.

So how is it the blinking rear lights are OK?

They aren't ok.

Wow, I read somewhere they are not OK in Germany, but why?

Hey guys, how about this little light for my Topeak rack?

http://www.topeak.com/products/detail/205

They also have this one...

http://www.topeak.com/products/detail/204

I'm reading in other forums though that some people ride with as many
lights as possible.

Isn't a basic strategy of survival to be seen, no matter what?

rms wrote:
Well, our dinosaurs (SUVs and motorboats) make us get smarter and get
nocturnal.

Take heart: mammals emerged into the sunlight after a worldwide
catastrophe. That catastrophe is occurring right now: slow in man-years
but an eyeblink in geologic time.

In any case, pay close attention to nighttime lighting. Both distance
viewing and depth perception are greatly reduced with cheaper
headlamp/bikelights. $2-300 for a quality high-wattage bikelight system I
don't think would be out of line if you are serious about night-riding,
especially on a fast roadbike.

I wouldn't base the quality on the price. You can spend $200-300 and end
up with low-power lights that aren't suitable for a lot of types of
night riding, and you can spend $60-100 and get something that works
very well.

The short version is a Cree 3W emitter flashlight and a high power LED
tail light that has some side pointing LEDs as well as rear pointing ones.

Just to nitpick, it's old-school to talk about "wattage."

On May 2, 12:47 pm, ComandanteBanana
wrote:
Hey guys, how about this little light for my Topeak rack?

http://www.topeak.com/products/detail/205

They also have this one...

http://www.topeak.com/products/detail/204

I'm reading in other forums though that some people ride with as many
lights as possible.

Isn't a basic strategy of survival to be seen, no matter what?

Roger, too much ain't enough... light it up with as much battery power
as yer willing to carry. But don't stop there, get a dyno hub and
light it up some more. You got to be really bright 'cause motorists
ain't.

Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It
just distracts other drivers and makes them focus
on the blinking.
So how is it the blinking rear lights are OK?
They aren't ok.

=v= You've asserted this three times now. What's the basis?
Are there actual field studies indicating that blinking lights
are a hazard? Have they actually been correlated with greater
danger for cyclists?
_Jym_

On Fri, 02 May 2008 19:36:06 +0200, Jens Müller wrote:

ComandanteBanana schrieb:
On May 1, 5:24 pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb:

Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he
ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with
blinking lights
Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It just distracts other
drivers and makes them focus on the blinking.

So how is it the blinking rear lights are OK?

They aren't ok.

Why not?

In article ,
_ writes:
On Fri, 02 May 2008 19:36:06 +0200, Jens Müller wrote:

ComandanteBanana schrieb:
On May 1, 5:24 pm, Jens Müller wrote:
ComandanteBanana schrieb:

Anyway, now my next door neighbor wants to ride at midnight... And he
ain't one of those crazy bums on a Huffy. He even bought a vest with
blinking lights
Args. Please don't use this blinking bull****s. It just distracts other
drivers and makes them focus on the blinking.

So how is it the blinking rear lights are OK?

They aren't ok.

Why not?

There's a belief that it's more difficult for
an observer to determine the speed and vector
of a blinking, rather than steady light in the
darkness of night. Perhaps blinking lights
confuse our human, pathological tendency of
Persistance Of Vision. What're those things
called? Oh, yeah: "optical illusions." I
suppose there's a wariness about blinking
lights creating optical illusions.

In the darkness of night, a blinking red light
is just a spot that conveys no information
other than its existance. On a bicycle, it
says: "I'm here." A little later it says:
"Now I'm here." A little later it says:
"Now I'm over here." Each blink is a message
to by analyzed and assimilated by the brain
of the observer[s].

A steady light says: "I'm here and I'm moving
at n rate of speed, in this direction," in
one, simple visual cue. Just like car lights.
Car's red rear running lights don't blink.

The real reason bicycle red rear lights blink
is to conserve battery juice and avoid expense.

Of all the people who'd know anything about it,
I think it would be the folks who guide planes
in onto aircraft carriers, in darkness.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Tom Keats schrieb:

The real reason bicycle red rear lights blink
is to conserve battery juice and avoid expense.

What batteries? Here bicycles need to have a dynamo (by law).

The only exception are racing bikes, "thanks" to Franz-Josef Strauß,
former Prime Minister of Bavaria.