#71
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Handlebar rotation
On Sat, 08 Jul 2017 13:46:46 -0700, Joerg
wrote: On 2017-07-07 18:48, John B. wrote: On Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:33:58 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-06 20:11, John B. wrote: On Thu, 06 Jul 2017 13:02:57 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-06 12:40, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/6/2017 3:14 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-06 12:05, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/6/2017 10:54 AM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-05 17:49, John B. wrote: Yet people have been riding long distances on bicycles for years and years. The first Paris - Brest - Paris randonnée was held in 1891. An essentially non-stop bicycle ride of 1,200 km. The British, of course, do it better with the 1433 km London Edinburgh London 2017 and the 'mericans have the Boston-Montreal-Boston, again a 1,200 km ride but no longer an official randonnée and now strictly a permanent that anyone could ride on their own in a self-supported manner while still receiving recognition (validation) from Randonneurs USA. Think of it, 126 years of successful long distance bicycle riding without Joerg built lights. It's simple. Most humans have a habit of accepting current state-of-the-art as "that's as good as it gets". I don't, and I derive most of my income from not thinking that way. And yes, I already had bicycles with real electrical systems when I was a teenager. The detail you're missing is that people have always ridden _successfully_ without the systems you deem necessary. As I said, people got used to that this is all they are going to get. Just like people get used to walking in worn shoes if they can't afford new ones. There are always people who are into overkill. Some of those will claim or pretend that their favorite overkill item is actually a necessity. But that's disproven by every person who does well without the overkill item. A vehicle where the light does not go out or dim way down is IMO not overkill. The lighting "system" bicyles have would never pass muster at type certification for motor vehicles. There are good reasons why not. For just one example: I'm just back from another club ride. About 15 people were on the ride. Two of them had the newly fashionable daytime rear blinkies. This particular ride has occurred once per week every week except in winter for, oh, perhaps ten years. Nobody has ever been hit by a car, despite the thousands of person-miles ridden (GASP!) without blinkies. I have never been hit from behind either but the number of close calls has noticeably decreased since I have bright rear lights. Mission accomplished. The best is, this was never very expensive to accomplish. Now you can stick the head in the sand again and pretend it ain't so :-) We've been over this multiple times, but: If your number of close calls for hits-from-behind has gone way down, it must have been pretty high to begin with. By contrast, I almost never experience such a close call; therefore I'd never be able to see a big reduction. Why don't those close calls happen to me? Because those close calls are almost always due in part to rider error - specifically, inviting close passes by riding too far to the right. Yeah, right. The woman who rode in the lane on Blue Ravine died because of that. The other woman in the pickup truck who was drunk tried to evade but the lane was now too narrow and *BAM* [...] You mean to say that you were run into on Blue Ravine and died? Or this is just something that you saw on the TV? I didn't have an operation to turn me into a woman :-) It was shortly after we moved here about 20 years ago. That and several other serious accidents combined with (or rather, caused by) the lack of cycling infrastructure resulted in me and lots of others to mothball the bikes for many years. While those accidents were not always fatal many were what the medical folks call "life-changing" where riders became crippled for the rest of their lives. So what you are actually saying is that bicycles are dangerious. No, motor vehicles are. Or to be more precise, their operators. ... and as the U.S. notion seems to be that one must do everything possible to protect the poor consumer then logically these dangerious bicycles should be banned to protect society. If there is no willingness to enforce traffic rules regarding the fair treatment of cyclists, and in the US largely there isn't, then separating their traffic paths from those of motor vehicles is best. Some communities such as Folsom understand this while others like ours don't. But even so, www.statista.com reported to be something in the neighborhood of 66.52 million bicycle riders in Spring 2016.... and one woman died? That was one example of many. We have about one death a month in the area, on average. Many are hit from behind. Actually 726 died in the U.S. in 2014 ( the latest year I could find without looking very hard) and in 2014 the above site tells me that there were 67.33 million cyclists. So one cyclist was killed for every 10,096.4 that rode a bike. Obviously, statistically, bicycle riding is a very dangerious pastime! Perhaps the government should be encouraged to ban these dangerious devices. Save Lives! Ban a Bike! I read about them in our local paper and those are real stories, real people, real grieving families and all that. People like Justin Vega: http://fox40.com/2017/05/26/sacramen...d-25-year-old/ Certainly. But do you read in your local papers about the thousands, millions?, of bicycle riders who quite happily ride around with never an accident? Sure. However, the number of severe and fatal accidents per traveled mile is much higher for a cyclists than for a car driver. That's what matters. If I ride to Rancho Cordova in my car that is safer than cycling. Or used to be. Now much of the ride is possible via abandoned roads, dirt paths and bike paths. So now I use the road bike or MTB. Of course not as a happy, contented rider isn't newsworthy, it is the blood and guts strewn all over the road that makes the headlines. So, essentially, you are reading a media what dotes on death. And so, of course, you read about deaths. I know the statistics and those are facts. The facts are that bicycle injuries are relatively few and usually minor. In California only about 4% of all traffic deaths are cyclists -- Cheers, John B. |
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#72
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Handlebar rotation
On Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 5:41:25 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/8/2017 3:20 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-07 20:03, John B. wrote: Yes Sir! Bicycling is a dangerious pastime. As I wrote many times it is not only deaths that count. It is also the accidents with serious consequences. Also the close calls and I had my share of those including bailing off the road. Doesn't matter, I and the vast majority of riders out here prefer to ride where there isn't motorized traffic close by, or hardly any. My personal preference is singletrack. Wimp. -- - Frank Krygowski But, but but, to ride that single-track he needs a super bright headlight so thatthe illegal MOTORIZED dirt bikers can see him coming and get out of his way. remember that Joerg's MTB is so noisy that he can NOT hearthe high revinng engines of those dirt bikes. Seems to me thatthe paved roads where you can see what else isthere are safer than those singl-tracks with their illegal motorized dirt bikers and mountain lions. Cheers |
#73
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Handlebar rotation
On Sat, 8 Jul 2017 19:31:58 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote: On Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 5:41:25 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/8/2017 3:20 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-07 20:03, John B. wrote: Yes Sir! Bicycling is a dangerious pastime. As I wrote many times it is not only deaths that count. It is also the accidents with serious consequences. Also the close calls and I had my share of those including bailing off the road. Doesn't matter, I and the vast majority of riders out here prefer to ride where there isn't motorized traffic close by, or hardly any. My personal preference is singletrack. Wimp. -- - Frank Krygowski But, but but, to ride that single-track he needs a super bright headlight so thatthe illegal MOTORIZED dirt bikers can see him coming and get out of his way. remember that Joerg's MTB is so noisy that he can NOT hearthe high revinng engines of those dirt bikes. Seems to me thatthe paved roads where you can see what else isthere are safer than those singl-tracks with their illegal motorized dirt bikers and mountain lions. Cheers You are correct. I also read that a large percentage of "off the road" bicycle accidents were the result of excess speed on unimproved trails. i.e., the driver done it. -- Cheers, John B. |
#74
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Handlebar rotation
On 7/8/2017 6:07 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-07-08 14:39, Frank Krygowski wrote: We've discussed that Danish study before. Perhaps you've forgotten. One gem was that the participants who applied to be in the study so they would be given the lights (um... no bias there, right?) also reported far fewer single bike crashes than those who were not given the free lights. In other words, they toppled off their bikes less. Understand, those lights given away were not "see the road" headlights that might show up road obstacles. Their spoke-driven blinkies intended as "be seen" lights. Now why would free "be seen" lights cause a reduction in simply toppling off a bike? Unless, that is, the people who applied to get the lights and vouch for... oops, "study" their effectiveness were simply being a lot more careful than normal riders? Falling off a bike is not the main cause of injury or death. Colliding with motor vehicles is. First, your statement is a deflection. The point is, the Danish study was not a proper, unbiased study. It was more of an advertising campaign designed to sell the lights that were given away to volunteers. But second, your statement wasn't even a good deflection. By FAR, the main cause of bicycling injury is simply falling off. Yes, cars are implicated in most bike deaths; but bike deaths are about as rare as falling-out-of-bed deaths. American bicyclists do over 10 million miles per fatality. Oh, and he's riding too far to the right. There's no way that car can give three feet of clearance without crossing the yellow line. That means the rider should make that clear by his lane position. And get a ticket in places like CA. And we've been over that issue many times. Previously I've posted citations of California law plus recommendations of CA bike safety organizations. They all disagree with you. You could try posting links to a bunch of stories about such tickets being given. If they're not imaginary, that is. You can only get out of it in court if the lane was not of sub-standard witdth and even then you have to find an attorney who defends you pro bobo or you will be out thousands more than the ticket cost. https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2014...for-the-devil/ It is California Vehcile Code 21202 and a violation costs $197. https://www.ticketsnipers.com/traffi...c-ticket-fines Ok, head back in the sand now so you can pretend it ain't happening :-) I'd previously read about the illegal harassment on the PCH. It's why I included the phrase "links to a BUNCH of stories." That's your usual answer when you run out of words. I could give 100 examples and then you'd say "But now I want 1000!". And your usual answer is "Look, here's another case I found after an hour of Googling. It's in New South Wales. That's TWO cases worldwide, so it PROVES this is a big problem!!!" Sheesh. I've got no time for this nonsense, have to build a 3rd trunk for the MTB. At 100F that's no fun but I need it next week because of the 100F. [...] BTW, about the PCH, you need to read this: https://patch.com/california/malibu/...-a-deep-breath Nothing new here. What will be new is when (or if) you ever understand it. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#75
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Handlebar rotation
On 2017-07-08 19:01, John B. wrote:
On Sat, 08 Jul 2017 13:46:46 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-07 18:48, John B. wrote: On Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:33:58 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-06 20:11, John B. wrote: On Thu, 06 Jul 2017 13:02:57 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-06 12:40, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/6/2017 3:14 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-06 12:05, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/6/2017 10:54 AM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-05 17:49, John B. wrote: Yet people have been riding long distances on bicycles for years and years. The first Paris - Brest - Paris randonnée was held in 1891. An essentially non-stop bicycle ride of 1,200 km. The British, of course, do it better with the 1433 km London Edinburgh London 2017 and the 'mericans have the Boston-Montreal-Boston, again a 1,200 km ride but no longer an official randonnée and now strictly a permanent that anyone could ride on their own in a self-supported manner while still receiving recognition (validation) from Randonneurs USA. Think of it, 126 years of successful long distance bicycle riding without Joerg built lights. It's simple. Most humans have a habit of accepting current state-of-the-art as "that's as good as it gets". I don't, and I derive most of my income from not thinking that way. And yes, I already had bicycles with real electrical systems when I was a teenager. The detail you're missing is that people have always ridden _successfully_ without the systems you deem necessary. As I said, people got used to that this is all they are going to get. Just like people get used to walking in worn shoes if they can't afford new ones. There are always people who are into overkill. Some of those will claim or pretend that their favorite overkill item is actually a necessity. But that's disproven by every person who does well without the overkill item. A vehicle where the light does not go out or dim way down is IMO not overkill. The lighting "system" bicyles have would never pass muster at type certification for motor vehicles. There are good reasons why not. For just one example: I'm just back from another club ride. About 15 people were on the ride. Two of them had the newly fashionable daytime rear blinkies. This particular ride has occurred once per week every week except in winter for, oh, perhaps ten years. Nobody has ever been hit by a car, despite the thousands of person-miles ridden (GASP!) without blinkies. I have never been hit from behind either but the number of close calls has noticeably decreased since I have bright rear lights. Mission accomplished. The best is, this was never very expensive to accomplish. Now you can stick the head in the sand again and pretend it ain't so :-) We've been over this multiple times, but: If your number of close calls for hits-from-behind has gone way down, it must have been pretty high to begin with. By contrast, I almost never experience such a close call; therefore I'd never be able to see a big reduction. Why don't those close calls happen to me? Because those close calls are almost always due in part to rider error - specifically, inviting close passes by riding too far to the right. Yeah, right. The woman who rode in the lane on Blue Ravine died because of that. The other woman in the pickup truck who was drunk tried to evade but the lane was now too narrow and *BAM* [...] You mean to say that you were run into on Blue Ravine and died? Or this is just something that you saw on the TV? I didn't have an operation to turn me into a woman :-) It was shortly after we moved here about 20 years ago. That and several other serious accidents combined with (or rather, caused by) the lack of cycling infrastructure resulted in me and lots of others to mothball the bikes for many years. While those accidents were not always fatal many were what the medical folks call "life-changing" where riders became crippled for the rest of their lives. So what you are actually saying is that bicycles are dangerious. No, motor vehicles are. Or to be more precise, their operators. ... and as the U.S. notion seems to be that one must do everything possible to protect the poor consumer then logically these dangerious bicycles should be banned to protect society. If there is no willingness to enforce traffic rules regarding the fair treatment of cyclists, and in the US largely there isn't, then separating their traffic paths from those of motor vehicles is best. Some communities such as Folsom understand this while others like ours don't. But even so, www.statista.com reported to be something in the neighborhood of 66.52 million bicycle riders in Spring 2016.... and one woman died? That was one example of many. We have about one death a month in the area, on average. Many are hit from behind. Actually 726 died in the U.S. in 2014 ( the latest year I could find without looking very hard) and in 2014 the above site tells me that there were 67.33 million cyclists. So one cyclist was killed for every 10,096.4 that rode a bike. Obviously, statistically, bicycle riding is a very dangerious pastime! Perhaps the government should be encouraged to ban these dangerious devices. Save Lives! Ban a Bike! I read about them in our local paper and those are real stories, real people, real grieving families and all that. People like Justin Vega: http://fox40.com/2017/05/26/sacramen...d-25-year-old/ Certainly. But do you read in your local papers about the thousands, millions?, of bicycle riders who quite happily ride around with never an accident? Sure. However, the number of severe and fatal accidents per traveled mile is much higher for a cyclists than for a car driver. That's what matters. If I ride to Rancho Cordova in my car that is safer than cycling. Or used to be. Now much of the ride is possible via abandoned roads, dirt paths and bike paths. So now I use the road bike or MTB. Of course not as a happy, contented rider isn't newsworthy, it is the blood and guts strewn all over the road that makes the headlines. So, essentially, you are reading a media what dotes on death. And so, of course, you read about deaths. I know the statistics and those are facts. The facts are that bicycle injuries are relatively few and usually minor. In California only about 4% of all traffic deaths are cyclists Per mile they are larger than for car drivers. Much larger. Therefore, cycling in regular traffic is more dangerous than doing the same trip in a car. I ride anyhow but that's my personal choice. Most of my neighbors do not share that choice. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#76
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Handlebar rotation
On 2017-07-08 15:59, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 3:06:59 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-08 14:39, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/8/2017 10:46 AM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-07 13:14, Frank Krygowski wrote: I'm arguing against the currently fashionable superstition that a blinky taillight makes a practical difference in ordinary daylight. I've seen no decent evidence that it does. ... I have, big time. Therefore, mine is lit anytime you see my bike on roads. On bike paths I turn it off during the day. ... I've observed many dozens, perhaps hundreds, of riders with daytime blinkies. In no case did I spot the cyclist only because he had a blinky. In almost every case, I noticed the cyclist first and only later saw "Oh, he's running his magic blinky." Just like in this advertising photo: https://www.outsideonline.com/sites/...?itok=QBL2UTKO I meant at a much greater distance and also not some li'l Walmart blinky but a real light. Joerg, that taillight in the link is advertised as specifically designed to be used in daytime. They claim it's visible in daylight a mile away, but it's still not as visible as the rider himself. There I disagree. From experience, as a rider as well as a motorist. In our paper they mentioned a Danish study of many thousand cyclists where daytime light reduced accidents by 16%. I believe that. You have the right not to believe it. We've discussed that Danish study before. Perhaps you've forgotten. One gem was that the participants who applied to be in the study so they would be given the lights (um... no bias there, right?) also reported far fewer single bike crashes than those who were not given the free lights. In other words, they toppled off their bikes less. Understand, those lights given away were not "see the road" headlights that might show up road obstacles. Their spoke-driven blinkies intended as "be seen" lights. Now why would free "be seen " lights cause a reduction in simply toppling off a bike? Unless, that is, the people who applied to get the lights and vouch for... oops, "study" their effectiveness were simply being a lot more careful than normal riders? Falling off a bike is not the main cause of injury or death. Colliding with motor vehicles is. Car collisions account for about a third of all bicycle related injury accidents nationally -- meaning two-thirds are not car-related. http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/factsheet_crash.cfm When was the last time you were hurt on a bike? Were you hit by a car? No but that is because I am primarily using a mountain bike, the way it was meant to be used. The reason I got hurt a lot as a kid was that I used a regular bicycle on motocross tracks without wearing any protective gear. Other people's accidents did not always involved a direct collision but many were caused by evasive action because of car drivers (often truck drivers). -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#77
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Handlebar rotation
On 2017-07-08 18:53, John B. wrote:
On Sat, 08 Jul 2017 15:07:08 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-08 14:39, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/8/2017 10:46 AM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-07 13:14, Frank Krygowski wrote: I'm arguing against the currently fashionable superstition that a blinky taillight makes a practical difference in ordinary daylight. I've seen no decent evidence that it does. ... I have, big time. Therefore, mine is lit anytime you see my bike on roads. On bike paths I turn it off during the day. ... I've observed many dozens, perhaps hundreds, of riders with daytime blinkies. In no case did I spot the cyclist only because he had a blinky. In almost every case, I noticed the cyclist first and only later saw "Oh, he's running his magic blinky." Just like in this advertising photo: https://www.outsideonline.com/sites/...?itok=QBL2UTKO I meant at a much greater distance and also not some li'l Walmart blinky but a real light. Joerg, that taillight in the link is advertised as specifically designed to be used in daytime. They claim it's visible in daylight a mile away, but it's still not as visible as the rider himself. There I disagree. From experience, as a rider as well as a motorist. In our paper they mentioned a Danish study of many thousand cyclists where daytime light reduced accidents by 16%. I believe that. You have the right not to believe it. We've discussed that Danish study before. Perhaps you've forgotten. One gem was that the participants who applied to be in the study so they would be given the lights (um... no bias there, right?) also reported far fewer single bike crashes than those who were not given the free lights. In other words, they toppled off their bikes less. Understand, those lights given away were not "see the road" headlights that might show up road obstacles. Their spoke-driven blinkies intended as "be seen" lights. Now why would free "be seen" lights cause a reduction in simply toppling off a bike? Unless, that is, the people who applied to get the lights and vouch for... oops, "study" their effectiveness were simply being a lot more careful than normal riders? Falling off a bike is not the main cause of injury or death. Colliding with motor vehicles is. Wrong again. From http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0515/p2007.html "The precise contribution of rider errors (losing control, speed, performing stunts, inexperience), motorist errors, environmental hazards (objects in the road, loose gravel) or bicycle mechanical failure in causing bicycle crashes is unclear, although they are probably all significant. Faster riding speed does appear to be associated with serious injury, fatality and mountain-biking crashes. The role of other factors such as distance of trip, duration of ride and sidewalk riding is also not clear." But you did read the reference to speed and MTB crashes. If cars are at fault they must be pretty small to roar around on those narrow mountain trails smashing bicycles. Quote "Neck aches and back aches are common complaints" ... phhht. What's next? Do we now also include butt sores car drivers develop from sitting too much? On the other hand apparently you California Boys know something that the professionals don't know. What professionals? -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#78
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Handlebar rotation
On 2017-07-09 07:13, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/8/2017 6:07 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-08 14:39, Frank Krygowski wrote: We've discussed that Danish study before. Perhaps you've forgotten. One gem was that the participants who applied to be in the study so they would be given the lights (um... no bias there, right?) also reported far fewer single bike crashes than those who were not given the free lights. In other words, they toppled off their bikes less. Understand, those lights given away were not "see the road" headlights that might show up road obstacles. Their spoke-driven blinkies intended as "be seen" lights. Now why would free "be seen" lights cause a reduction in simply toppling off a bike? Unless, that is, the people who applied to get the lights and vouch for... oops, "study" their effectiveness were simply being a lot more careful than normal riders? Falling off a bike is not the main cause of injury or death. Colliding with motor vehicles is. First, your statement is a deflection. The point is, the Danish study was not a proper, unbiased study. It was more of an advertising campaign designed to sell the lights that were given away to volunteers. But second, your statement wasn't even a good deflection. By FAR, the main cause of bicycling injury is simply falling off. Proof, please. ... Yes, cars are implicated in most bike deaths; ... Aha, now you begin to understand. So are serious injuries. Again, t is not just about death. If a rider is crippled or laid up and thus out of work for weeks that also counts. ... but bike deaths are about as rare as falling-out-of-bed deaths. American bicyclists do over 10 million miles per fatality. Per mile, fatalities _and_ serious injuries of cyclists are higher than those of car drivers. Oh, and he's riding too far to the right. There's no way that car can give three feet of clearance without crossing the yellow line. That means the rider should make that clear by his lane position. And get a ticket in places like CA. And we've been over that issue many times. Previously I've posted citations of California law plus recommendations of CA bike safety organizations. They all disagree with you. You could try posting links to a bunch of stories about such tickets being given. If they're not imaginary, that is. You can only get out of it in court if the lane was not of sub-standard witdth and even then you have to find an attorney who defends you pro bobo or you will be out thousands more than the ticket cost. https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2014...for-the-devil/ It is California Vehcile Code 21202 and a violation costs $197. https://www.ticketsnipers.com/traffi...c-ticket-fines Ok, head back in the sand now so you can pretend it ain't happening :-) I'd previously read about the illegal harassment on the PCH. It's why I included the phrase "links to a BUNCH of stories." That's your usual answer when you run out of words. I could give 100 examples and then you'd say "But now I want 1000!". And your usual answer is "Look, here's another case I found after an hour of Googling. It's in New South Wales. That's TWO cases worldwide, so it PROVES this is a big problem!!!" Sheesh. I've got no time for this nonsense, have to build a 3rd trunk for the MTB. At 100F that's no fun but I need it next week because of the 100F. [...] BTW, about the PCH, you need to read this: https://patch.com/california/malibu/...-a-deep-breath Nothing new here. What will be new is when (or if) you ever understand it. It's not me who doesn't understand here :-) -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#80
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Handlebar rotation
On 2017-07-09 07:44, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-07-08 15:59, jbeattie wrote: On Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 3:06:59 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-08 14:39, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 7/8/2017 10:46 AM, Joerg wrote: On 2017-07-07 13:14, Frank Krygowski wrote: I'm arguing against the currently fashionable superstition that a blinky taillight makes a practical difference in ordinary daylight. I've seen no decent evidence that it does. ... I have, big time. Therefore, mine is lit anytime you see my bike on roads. On bike paths I turn it off during the day. ... I've observed many dozens, perhaps hundreds, of riders with daytime blinkies. In no case did I spot the cyclist only because he had a blinky. In almost every case, I noticed the cyclist first and only later saw "Oh, he's running his magic blinky." Just like in this advertising photo: https://www.outsideonline.com/sites/...?itok=QBL2UTKO I meant at a much greater distance and also not some li'l Walmart blinky but a real light. Joerg, that taillight in the link is advertised as specifically designed to be used in daytime. They claim it's visible in daylight a mile away, but it's still not as visible as the rider himself. There I disagree. From experience, as a rider as well as a motorist. In our paper they mentioned a Danish study of many thousand cyclists where daytime light reduced accidents by 16%. I believe that. You have the right not to believe it. We've discussed that Danish study before. Perhaps you've forgotten. One gem was that the participants who applied to be in the study so they would be given the lights (um... no bias there, right?) also reported far fewer single bike crashes than those who were not given the free lights. In other words, they toppled off their bikes less. Understand, those lights given away were not "see the road" headlights that might show up road obstacles. Their spoke-driven blinkies intended as "be seen" lights. Now why would free "be seen " lights cause a reduction in simply toppling off a bike? Unless, that is, the people who applied to get the lights and vouch for... oops, "study" their effectiveness were simply being a lot more careful than normal riders? Falling off a bike is not the main cause of injury or death. Colliding with motor vehicles is. Car collisions account for about a third of all bicycle related injury accidents nationally -- meaning two-thirds are not car-related. http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/factsheet_crash.cfm When was the last time you were hurt on a bike? Were you hit by a car? No but that is because I am primarily using a mountain bike, the way it was meant to be used. The reason I got hurt a lot as a kid was that I used a regular bicycle on motocross tracks without wearing any protective gear. Other people's accidents did not always involved a direct collision but many were caused by evasive action because of car drivers (often truck drivers). In case by "hurt" you meant any sort of injury and not just very serious ones, I had several vehicle collisions with a manageable degree of injury. For example: Driver pulled out into main road, said he grossly underestimated my speed ... *BAM* ... my body dented the side of his Volkswagen Polo (used to be called Fox in the US) so badly that I had to help the old guy getting out. The driver side door would no longer open from the inside. Lots of bruises, a pretzeled bike, and I vowed never to buy such a car. Another: I had a green light, stepped on it, the obviously impatient driver of a Mercedes 280S decided he can still do a left turn before I get there, floored it, didn't work ... *BAM* ... I hit the right rear fender. He fled the scene. Plus a few other incidents. Two of my university buddies were not so lucky. Both hit from behind, in the lane, in the city (Aachen, Germany). Serious with a hospital trip each. One had a ruptured spleen, the other lost a kidney. In one of the cases the offending motorist helped my half conscious friend to a phone booth close by to call an ambulance and then he quietly high-tailed it. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
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