More About Lights

On 3/15/2017 2:57 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/15/2017 2:48 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 2:08:49 PM UTC-4, Frank
Krygowski wrote:
On 3/14/2017 11:15 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:09:27 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:
But the point I was discussing was whether too brief or
too dim
standlights really kill or seriously injure
_stationary_ bicyclists.
I've never heard of such a case. I think it's yet
another exaggerated
danger.

Bicycle lighting seems to be divided into "see where
your going" and
"be seen" parts. Standlights are in the "be seen"
part. If so, then
using a relatively narrow forward facing headlight is
inadequate and a
poor substitute for all around "be seen" type lighting.

So far, no driver has tried to kill me while I'm
stationary, but it's
possible. To help prevent such a threat, I would need
all around
illumination because I don't know from what direction
the driver might
approach and I do NOT need to see where I'm going
(because I'm not
going anywhere). Some kind of flashing headband,
flashing arm bands,
or maybe downward facing flood lights to illuminate an
area. Maybe an
LED illuminated vest, which is now popular among highway
workers:
https://www.amazon.com/HIGH-VISIBILITY-VEST-COMPLIANT-REFLECTIVE/dp/B01L2US0EY

https://www.amazon.com/SE-EP08L-Illuminated-Flashing-Feature/dp/B008WAE2XQ

https://www.amazon.com/SE-EP07L-Flashing-Illuminated-Safety/dp/B004J663A2

I don't know which type of "be seen" lighting might be
most effective,
but any of the aformentioned would be better than a dim
forward facing
standlight.

Thing is, nobody's demonstrated any need for so much
stationary "be
seen" light, beyond the usual "well, it _could_ happen"
safety inflation
mentality.

We're facing the same mentality regarding our local
forest preserve.
Some people want to cut down every dead or dying tree
within 100 feet of
any trail because, well, it _could_ fall on somebody and
kill them. Sheesh.


--
- Frank Krygowski

I remember the Soubitez (sp?) ads from the 1980s that
showed a stopped bicycle without a front light at an
intersection at night and another image of the Soubitez
dynamo light with the standlight. The ad was about how
much safer yuo were with the Soubitez dynamo because
others could see the light whilst you were stopped or just
starting up again. So this perceived need for a safety
standlight on a dynamo powered light is nothing new.

As I recall, that system failed in the marketplace. The
idea might have existed in a few minds back then, but it
wasn't common enough to be commercially successful.

The same could be said of many present "safety" devices.
You'd have gone broke trying to sell "walker safety vests"
in the 1970s or 1980s. Ditto little hammers to let you break
your car window if you were trapped inside. Or foam pads to
put on the corner of every hard object your toddler might
walk by. Or bathtub mats that say "HOT" when the water is,
well, hot. But all those things have been sold recently.



None anywhere near as lucrative as Pet Rocks (a product of
similar utility but more trendy)

Regarding Soubitez standlights of the 1980s, devastatingly
unpopular.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/soustan1.jpg
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...t/soustan2.jpg




--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971