Night Riding Safety?

I want to do some night riding - mostly on the road, and some trail
riding. I'm new at this so I need some advice.

For the road, it seems that the more light the better - to be seen -
not necessarily for my own visibility.

I see motorcyclists riding during the day time with their powerful
lights on.

So the reasoning goes, fork over the bucks and get a HID light. Maybe
even two (one for the handlebars, one for the helmet).

So I'm thinking about getting just that, night rider blow torch and
storm. Cost a lot, sure. But how much is one's life and health
worth?

Also, is that kind of a dream set up for trails?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Thunder9

Thanks. I'm researching night riding safety, and just stumbled upon a
great quote:

"Ride like you're invisible"

BTW, where do you get the reflective clothing and tape? Is Illuminite
any good?

Also, does anyone use sound blasting devices like horns?

Thanks,
Thunder9

Also, does anyone use sound blasting devices like horns?

Thanks,
Thunder9


Horns are useless. None are loud enough to get the attention of some
dozy car driver with his stereo and a/c on. For errant pedestrians and
other bicyclists, yelling is colorful, reliable and virually instant.

--
Ted Bennett
Portland OR

Not really. I could have used a horn last evening when there were a bunch of
deer on the path.

take care
Liz



Hey! Look what Ted Bennett wrote :

Horns are useless. None are loud enough to get the attention of some
dozy car driver with his stereo and a/c on. For errant pedestrians and
other bicyclists, yelling is colorful, reliable and virually instant.


Like I said: yelling would work better. Try a blood-curdling scream on
those deer.

--
Ted Bennett
Portland OR

I had a back pack made from Illuminite and it didn't seem to help much. I
made a big X from reflective tape I got on sale after Halloween and my
co-workers really spotted it.

My thoughts... most danger is from cars coming up behind you. I use the
NiteRider, very bright, and another Vista blinky up high on my backpack. As
far as front lights???Ride a little slower at night at you can get by with a
6 to 10 W light. I now use a NiteRider and only use the 32W on downhills and
flats. Better to be overlighted than under if you can afford though.
If I see a car backing out our turning in front of me, I "wiggle" the handle
bars slightly to bring attention to the light. The movement seems to catch
the driver's eye and they notice me.
Jim
"Thunder9" wrote in message
...
I want to do some night riding - mostly on the road, and some trail
riding. I'm new at this so I need some advice.

For the road, it seems that the more light the better - to be seen -
not necessarily for my own visibility.

I see motorcyclists riding during the day time with their powerful
lights on.

So the reasoning goes, fork over the bucks and get a HID light. Maybe
even two (one for the handlebars, one for the helmet).

So I'm thinking about getting just that, night rider blow torch and
storm. Cost a lot, sure. But how much is one's life and health
worth?

Also, is that kind of a dream set up for trails?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Thunder9

On 30 Jul 2003 22:02:56 GMT, (TBGibb) wrote:

In article ,
(Thunder9) writes:

I want to do some night riding - mostly on the road, and some trail
riding. I'm new at this so I need some advice.

For the road, it seems that the more light the better - to be seen -
not necessarily for my own visibility.

I see motorcyclists riding during the day time with their powerful
lights on.

So the reasoning goes, fork over the bucks and get a HID light. Maybe
even two (one for the handlebars, one for the helmet).

You don't need an HID to "be seen" a simple 1.25 W halogen will serve without
spending 30X as much.

I've read this before, and I don't buy this argument. The fact of the
matter is, most people even if they rode with no lights at all...
would never get into a serious or life threatening wreck. Similarly,
most airbags are never deployed. Yet they save lives, and increase
your odds of surviving "the big one" and with vastly reduced injury.

Motorcyclists often talk about the time they are hit... the driver was
looking right at them, but the driver didn't "see" them because the
visual-footprint of the motorcyclist doesn't register in the mind of
the average driver.

The fundamental issue is one of statistics, and can be thought of like
this:

1. What is the probability of getting hit at night with 1 W halogen,
with 2 W halogen, with 10 W halogen, with 20 W halogen, and with 40 W
halogen. Of course, there is no data for this, but the probability
could be estimated if police around the world were to start compiling
data on crash rates. There would be many other factors such as
country, city, traffic type, weather, etc. but with enough data, one
could theoretically keep many variables constant and look at light vs.
safety.

2. Then determine how does this compare to other dangers in your life
and how much do you spend to protect yourself from those. This puts
the saftey increase in perspective. If it increases your safety
factor by the same amount as using your seatbelt in a car, then for me
the cost would be worth it. If it increases the safety factor by a
very small amount, then maybe it isn't worth it.

But alas we don't have all this good data. We only have peoples
opinions and anecdotal stories. So we must mentally determine the
probabilities and risk vs. benefit vs. cost.

I am duely impressed by the passion behind the anecdotal stories. The
bottom line seems to be that "cars respect you more" when you use HID
on the street. People have noticed clear behavioral changes of
drivers when they ride with HID. This leads me to believe that HID
does make a significant safety impact at night. I can't quantify it,
but I'm now convinced /* there's a good chance that */ it is worth the
money.

If I didn't buy HID, I would in all probability be able to regularly
ride at night without ever having an accident. But I think the
increased safety benefit is significant. And I feel its part of my
responsibility as a parent to make this purchase. Besides, its also
kewl as sh..

Regards,
Thunder9

"Thunder9" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I'm researching night riding safety, and just stumbled upon a
great quote:

"Ride like you're invisible"

BTW, where do you get the reflective clothing and tape? Is Illuminite
any good?

Illuminite is not nearly as good as the advertising hype (who wudda
guessed). I have a jacket that gives off an underwhelming glow when hit
with bright light. Of course, It is useless for rear illumination if I
am carying a backpack. 3M reflective strips are good, especially on
moving parts -- and a strip up the back of the booties is excellent.
The fabric treatements are far less effective than the plastic tapes.

IMO, you should buy the brightest light that you can afford which also
meets your needs in terms of run time, weight, durability, etc. I have
ridden with people with HIDs, and the light seemed rather odd to me --
it was blinding to took at, but it was not all that illuminating on the
roadway. Maybe it was a lense problem. A good bright flasher is a must.


The invisible thing is especially true when encountering cross traffic.
A dim bicycle light often fades into the background of car lights,
business and other light sources, and my most common problem at night is
having cars pull out in front of me, even when using a 20+ watt
set-up. -- Jay Beattie.

Ted Bennett wrote in message news:tedbennett-

For errant pedestrians and
other bicyclists, yelling is colorful, reliable and virually instant.

works a charm on the odd driver too, if you put some oopmfh into it.
and so satisfying..

theres nothing like the look on a driver's face when he almost kills
you, you dodge him, blow by his window, and let him know how you feel
about him

a) backing into the 'empty' road when you are doing 30 down a hill
b) opening his door into the 'empty' road.
c) swerving into the 'empty' lane without indicating.

etc..

but back on topic- if you were having close calls, as i do from time
to time (apparentely i am a stealth biker), one of those disposable
airhorns really would be impressive. they are inbeleivably loud. i
think i could zip tie one to my handlebar, and just about wake up any
driver within a block, nevermind the stereo. makes me smile to think
of it.

Jay Beattie wrote:
Illuminite is not nearly as good as the advertising hype (who wudda
guessed). I have a jacket that gives off an underwhelming glow when hit
with bright light.

I have to agree. I am not impressed with its reflectivity. The
only way I've been able to get a good reflection off of it is
with a camera flash; which is very unlike a car headlight.

3M strips work pretty well as does reflective tape.

Avoid Illuminite. It's a rip-off.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

In article ,
(Thunder9) writes:

You don't need an HID to "be seen" a simple 1.25 W halogen will serve
without
spending 30X as much.

I've read this before, and I don't buy this argument. The fact of the
matter is, most people even if they rode with no lights at all...
would never get into a serious or life threatening wreck. Similarly,
most airbags are never deployed. Yet they save lives, and increase
your odds of surviving "the big one" and with vastly reduced injury.

You don't buy which argument? The idea that a 1.25 W halogen will get a
driver's attention or that one should have an HID to be noticed?

Tom Gibb