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visibility of DRL
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#33
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visibility of DRL
On 4/4/2019 7:51 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/4/2019 8:31 PM, AMuzi wrote: "tiny, induction powered front light prevented bicycle accidents" I resemble that remark. Haven't died in traffic for some 50 years of regular riding. My 6v tire drive dynamos & SA GH6 DynoHub are a real upgrade from French Wonder leg lights (even I have some minimal standard). I just got back from an evening ride. On that bike, a B&M Eyc headlight is powered by an old Union rim driven dynamo (it used to be tire driven). I noticed once again that it lit up stop signs roughly a quarter mile away. If the light rays are bright enough to make it to the sign then bounce back to my eye, they will certainly be bright enough in the eye of a motorist who's that far away. Andrew, what bulb are you using in the Dynohub headlamp? I've wondered about the NL432 LED bulb from Reflectalite: http://www.reflectalite.com/LEDpage.html#anchor78877 See the section "STURMEY ARCHER VINTAGE DYNOHUBS" down the page a bit. Soubitez halogen tail lamp bulb. It's the killer app for the underpowered GH6, albeit still miserable by modern standards. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#34
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visibility of DRL
On 4/4/2019 7:59 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 4 Apr 2019 20:32:48 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 4/4/2019 6:56 PM, wrote: On Thu, 4 Apr 2019 11:07:35 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 4/4/2019 10:09 AM, sms wrote: Studies show the benefit of DRLs on bicycles, but it doesn't make any difference to those that don't believe in scientific studies. The study that's most often cited by Daytime Running Light fans did, indeed, purport to show that the lights caused fewer crashes. The assumption, of course, is that because the cyclists were more visible, cars and pedestrians avoided them more often. But that study was funded by the company that manufactured the lights and gave them away to the subjects of the study. It would be hard to dream up a more biased way of conducting a study. And indeed, the study's data tables showed that those using the lights suffered far fewer _solo_ crashes. Those are crashes where the cyclist simply falls on his own, perhaps running into a curb, losing balance when starting out, slipping on wet leaves, etc. It's proof of bias built into the study. But to a person like "sms" (AKA Stephen M. Scharf) those fine points don't matter. Any study that confirms his prejudices is just fine, no matter how badly it's done. And his main prejudice is that bicycling is terribly dangerous! SO terribly dangerous that one must always use lights front and back that blind others, and one must never ride without a funny plastic hat, and cities must build cattle chutes to hind cyclists behind parked cars, and you really ought to have a flippy flag sticking out sideways from your bike, and you're foolish if you ride without a loud electric horn on your bike... Given that bicycles, in all states I believe, are deemed to be vehicles that have a legal right to use the public roads and highways why shouldn't they be equipped as other vehicles are? After all, if vehicle "A" must be equipped with a horn, stop lights, turn lights, etc, why shouldn't vehicle "B" be equally as well equipped? One simple reason is that the laws don't require the same equipment on a bike as on a car. By law, bicycles don't need two working headlights, two working taillights, brake lights, windshields, wipers, turn signals, seat belts, air bags, and much more. Yes, I am aware of that but given that the bicycles seem to be demanding special considerations for themselves, one assumes because it is so dangerous to ride a bicycle on the public roads and highways, that they must have special paths, why should they not comply to the safety equipment demanded for other vehicles. It is to make themselves safer but they seem to want to avoid this on the one hand and demand their own safe paths on the other. Or are bicycles somehow God's chosen people and have rights that are denied to the other users of the highway. Perhaps some might advocate changing the laws to require all that stuff and more on bikes. But based on my (admittedly limited) experience getting bike laws changed, I know there would be extensive committee discussions on the desirability and practicality of such changes. And you can be sure the bicycle industry would put up strong arguments against such changes. And they would be very reasonable arguments. If you really want to get into specifics, we can discuss. As a sort of warm up, I'll note that the equipment requirements for tractor-trailer rigs are different than those for private cars. Sure, because they are longer, wider and higher than many other users. But is that a reason for the tiny insignificant bicycle to be without safety features whatsoever? Cyclists are God's Chosen People; everyone else must die: https://ktla.com/2019/04/03/hes-shoo...e-and-lynwood/ -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#35
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visibility of DRL
On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 3:01:46 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-04-04 12:15, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 11:15:40 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote: On 2019-04-03 18:56, David Scheidt wrote: From time to time, we have discussed the visibility of daytime running lights. I commute on a bike with B&M Cyo, which I leave on all the time, because I can't tell the difference if it's on or off. I found myself on google street view on my ride home last fall. I got passed by the car, and then passed it, and got passed again. So I, and the bike, are in a bunch of pictures, from the front and behind, over several blocks. This one gives a good view of the headlight. It's more visible than I'd have expected. This was about an hour before dark, and overcast November day. https://goo.gl/maps/NQURJ9dps3p Not bad, for a StVZO light. However, I went virtually behind you in the street view and it seems you need a better rear light. And as a male toddler I wouldn't want to be seen sitting in that rose-colored baby seat :-) Really? https://tinyurl.com/y5v8pva3 He's more visible than the gray Hyundai ahead of him. I would have absolutely no problem seeing him if I were in a car or on a bike. Next to the red car behind it, less visible: https://goo.gl/maps/dNQBiRm4z672 I am not talking about you or me seeing him. I am talking about the slightly soused dude who is keeping an eye on his smart phone. What about the moth effect! https://www.poconorecord.com/article...NEWS/207150316 What if the soused dude who is keeping an eye on his smart phone has a seizure induced by the flasher! What if he is so distracted, he wouldn't notice the second coming -- let alone a retina burning blinky! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! -- Jay Beattie. |
#36
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visibility of DRL
On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 5:35:52 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/4/2019 3:15 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 11:15:40 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote: On 2019-04-03 18:56, David Scheidt wrote: From time to time, we have discussed the visibility of daytime running lights. I commute on a bike with B&M Cyo, which I leave on all the time, because I can't tell the difference if it's on or off. I found myself on google street view on my ride home last fall. I got passed by the car, and then passed it, and got passed again. So I, and the bike, are in a bunch of pictures, from the front and behind, over several blocks. This one gives a good view of the headlight. It's more visible than I'd have expected. This was about an hour before dark, and overcast November day. https://goo.gl/maps/NQURJ9dps3p Not bad, for a StVZO light. However, I went virtually behind you in the street view and it seems you need a better rear light. And as a male toddler I wouldn't want to be seen sitting in that rose-colored baby seat :-) Really? https://tinyurl.com/y5v8pva3 He's more visible than the gray Hyundai ahead of him. I would have absolutely no problem seeing him if I were in a car or on a bike. For some "Danger! Danger!" people, it's not enough to be clearly visible. They're not satisfied unless they are absolutely the most noticeable people on the street, visible from a mile away. What's next? Several of these per bike, with lights fastened to the top? https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Flags-...=fsclp_pl_dp_2 -- - Frank Krygowski I see a fair number of pedestrians these days wearing high-visibility workmens' vests complete with the multiple reflective strips. It seems to me that the "DANGER! DANGER!" thing is getting into everything. Cheers |
#37
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visibility of DRL
On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 7:17:35 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Thu, 4 Apr 2019 10:55:46 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 4/3/2019 9:58 PM, David Scheidt wrote: David Scheidt wrote: :From time to time, we have discussed the visibility of daytime running :lights. I commute on a bike with B&M Cyo, which I leave on all the :time, because I can't tell the difference if it's on or off. I found :myself on google street view on my ride home last fall. I got passed :by the car, and then passed it, and got passed again. So I, and the :bike, are in a bunch of pictures, from the front and behind, over :several blocks. This one gives a good view of the headlight. It's :more visible than I'd have expected. This was about an hour before :dark, and overcast November day. :https://goo.gl/maps/NQURJ9dps3p And one that will make Frank happy: https://goo.gl/maps/S1QRDrdpBhz I used your Street Views to track you along the street for quite a while. Looks to me like in most photos, the light is visible only as a white dot. (I suspect the photos where it looks brighter happened to capture a moment when your handlebars twitched a big more toward the Google car.) Overall, I doubt very much that it will make any more difference than, say, if you painted a white circle on the middle of your chest. Which is not to say your light - or a white circle - has zero value in daylight. There's data out there showing that motorcyclists who choose white helmets get hit a bit less than motorcyclists who choose dark helmets. However, that doesn't justify forcing all motorcyclists to wear only white hats. Some here will say that the problem is your Busch & Mueller headlight, which is designed for lighting the road but not glaring in the eyes of other road users. They have called for super-bright lights with unsophisticated round beams, the kind that can irritate or even blind others. I've read you and others going on about lights that blind oncoming riders but frankly I don't see how that happens if the light is aimed to illuminate the road. I use a regular single cell (3.7 VDC) flashlight with the normal "unsophisticated" round beam and if I aim it to illuminate the road it does not shine in the eyes of oncoming riders, in fact after reading your various posts about blinding lights I tested my lights. I tested this, in full darkness, by parking the bike and walking a distance in front of the bike and then turning and walking back toward the bike. If the flashlight is aimed to illuminate the road it doesn't shine in my eyes. At other times I have observed where the light shines on autos that I overtake in traffic and the beam seems to hit a car at about the level of the tail lights. Thus it would appear that blinding bicycle lights are simply aimed to shine in approaching traffic's eyes. I might point out also that a normal bicyclist's eyes are at a height above the roof level of the average modern automobile. This is not to say that it can't happen rather that it appears to be just one of the usual short comings of the bicyclist. A couple weeks ago, my wife and I were on vacation in a city south of here. On a riverside bike path at night, we were assaulted by one of those glaring beams used by a rider coming the opposite direction. We had to stop by the side of the bike path and shield our eyes until he rode by. But I'm sure he felt very virtuous as well as safe. We were passed by only one other cyclist. She had no lights at all. So much for the Golden Mean. -- cheers, John B. I was coming back into town around dusk but not fully dark when a bicyclist with a very bright strobing light was riding towards me. His light was so blinding that I had to stop and turn my head because I could not see a dang thing because of his light. He never offered to adjust his light so that it didn't shine in others eyes. I often wonder; what would happen if a bicyclist blinded another road user that was driving/riding around a curve or if there was debris on the road? Is it possible that the other person could have an accident? Cheers |
#38
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visibility of DRL
On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 8:32:52 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 4/4/2019 6:56 PM, wrote: On Thu, 4 Apr 2019 11:07:35 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 4/4/2019 10:09 AM, sms wrote: Studies show the benefit of DRLs on bicycles, but it doesn't make any difference to those that don't believe in scientific studies. The study that's most often cited by Daytime Running Light fans did, indeed, purport to show that the lights caused fewer crashes. The assumption, of course, is that because the cyclists were more visible, cars and pedestrians avoided them more often. But that study was funded by the company that manufactured the lights and gave them away to the subjects of the study. It would be hard to dream up a more biased way of conducting a study. And indeed, the study's data tables showed that those using the lights suffered far fewer _solo_ crashes. Those are crashes where the cyclist simply falls on his own, perhaps running into a curb, losing balance when starting out, slipping on wet leaves, etc. It's proof of bias built into the study. But to a person like "sms" (AKA Stephen M. Scharf) those fine points don't matter. Any study that confirms his prejudices is just fine, no matter how badly it's done. And his main prejudice is that bicycling is terribly dangerous! SO terribly dangerous that one must always use lights front and back that blind others, and one must never ride without a funny plastic hat, and cities must build cattle chutes to hind cyclists behind parked cars, and you really ought to have a flippy flag sticking out sideways from your bike, and you're foolish if you ride without a loud electric horn on your bike... Given that bicycles, in all states I believe, are deemed to be vehicles that have a legal right to use the public roads and highways why shouldn't they be equipped as other vehicles are? After all, if vehicle "A" must be equipped with a horn, stop lights, turn lights, etc, why shouldn't vehicle "B" be equally as well equipped? One simple reason is that the laws don't require the same equipment on a bike as on a car. By law, bicycles don't need two working headlights, two working taillights, brake lights, windshields, wipers, turn signals, seat belts, air bags, and much more. Perhaps some might advocate changing the laws to require all that stuff and more on bikes. But based on my (admittedly limited) experience getting bike laws changed, I know there would be extensive committee discussions on the desirability and practicality of such changes. And you can be sure the bicycle industry would put up strong arguments against such changes. And they would be very reasonable arguments. If you really want to get into specifics, we can discuss. As a sort of warm up, I'll note that the equipment requirements for tractor-trailer rigs are different than those for private cars. -- - Frank Krygowski In Ontario Canada bicyclist are supposed to have at night working front light a reed rear light or reflector, reflectors on the front and rear wheels, reflective tape on the front forks and rear seat stays and also a working horn or bell. That's the LAW here. Yet most bicyclists I see have none of those at night. The odd one will have front light that's hardly discernible even without other traffic. Fortunately very few bicyclists hereabouts have bought into the ultra-bright lights camp. Cheers |
#39
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visibility of DRL
On 4/4/2019 8:47 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 5:35:52 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 4/4/2019 3:15 PM, jbeattie wrote: On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 11:15:40 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote: On 2019-04-03 18:56, David Scheidt wrote: From time to time, we have discussed the visibility of daytime running lights. I commute on a bike with B&M Cyo, which I leave on all the time, because I can't tell the difference if it's on or off. I found myself on google street view on my ride home last fall. I got passed by the car, and then passed it, and got passed again. So I, and the bike, are in a bunch of pictures, from the front and behind, over several blocks. This one gives a good view of the headlight. It's more visible than I'd have expected. This was about an hour before dark, and overcast November day. https://goo.gl/maps/NQURJ9dps3p Not bad, for a StVZO light. However, I went virtually behind you in the street view and it seems you need a better rear light. And as a male toddler I wouldn't want to be seen sitting in that rose-colored baby seat :-) Really? https://tinyurl.com/y5v8pva3 He's more visible than the gray Hyundai ahead of him. I would have absolutely no problem seeing him if I were in a car or on a bike. For some "Danger! Danger!" people, it's not enough to be clearly visible. They're not satisfied unless they are absolutely the most noticeable people on the street, visible from a mile away. What's next? Several of these per bike, with lights fastened to the top? https://www.amazon.com/Safety-Flags-...=fsclp_pl_dp_2 I see a fair number of pedestrians these days wearing high-visibility workmens' vests complete with the multiple reflective strips. It seems to me that the "DANGER! DANGER!" thing is getting into everything. Yellow Vests haven't even moved Macron in twenty weekends and he's a lightweight compared to you or any cyclist. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
#40
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visibility of DRL
On 4/4/2019 8:52 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 7:17:35 PM UTC-4, wrote: On Thu, 4 Apr 2019 10:55:46 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 4/3/2019 9:58 PM, David Scheidt wrote: David Scheidt wrote: :From time to time, we have discussed the visibility of daytime running :lights. I commute on a bike with B&M Cyo, which I leave on all the :time, because I can't tell the difference if it's on or off. I found :myself on google street view on my ride home last fall. I got passed :by the car, and then passed it, and got passed again. So I, and the :bike, are in a bunch of pictures, from the front and behind, over :several blocks. This one gives a good view of the headlight. It's :more visible than I'd have expected. This was about an hour before :dark, and overcast November day. :https://goo.gl/maps/NQURJ9dps3p And one that will make Frank happy: https://goo.gl/maps/S1QRDrdpBhz I used your Street Views to track you along the street for quite a while. Looks to me like in most photos, the light is visible only as a white dot. (I suspect the photos where it looks brighter happened to capture a moment when your handlebars twitched a big more toward the Google car.) Overall, I doubt very much that it will make any more difference than, say, if you painted a white circle on the middle of your chest. Which is not to say your light - or a white circle - has zero value in daylight. There's data out there showing that motorcyclists who choose white helmets get hit a bit less than motorcyclists who choose dark helmets. However, that doesn't justify forcing all motorcyclists to wear only white hats. Some here will say that the problem is your Busch & Mueller headlight, which is designed for lighting the road but not glaring in the eyes of other road users. They have called for super-bright lights with unsophisticated round beams, the kind that can irritate or even blind others. I've read you and others going on about lights that blind oncoming riders but frankly I don't see how that happens if the light is aimed to illuminate the road. I use a regular single cell (3.7 VDC) flashlight with the normal "unsophisticated" round beam and if I aim it to illuminate the road it does not shine in the eyes of oncoming riders, in fact after reading your various posts about blinding lights I tested my lights. I tested this, in full darkness, by parking the bike and walking a distance in front of the bike and then turning and walking back toward the bike. If the flashlight is aimed to illuminate the road it doesn't shine in my eyes. At other times I have observed where the light shines on autos that I overtake in traffic and the beam seems to hit a car at about the level of the tail lights. Thus it would appear that blinding bicycle lights are simply aimed to shine in approaching traffic's eyes. I might point out also that a normal bicyclist's eyes are at a height above the roof level of the average modern automobile. This is not to say that it can't happen rather that it appears to be just one of the usual short comings of the bicyclist. A couple weeks ago, my wife and I were on vacation in a city south of here. On a riverside bike path at night, we were assaulted by one of those glaring beams used by a rider coming the opposite direction. We had to stop by the side of the bike path and shield our eyes until he rode by. But I'm sure he felt very virtuous as well as safe. We were passed by only one other cyclist. She had no lights at all. So much for the Golden Mean. I was coming back into town around dusk but not fully dark when a bicyclist with a very bright strobing light was riding towards me. His light was so blinding that I had to stop and turn my head because I could not see a dang thing because of his light. He never offered to adjust his light so that it didn't shine in others eyes. I often wonder; what would happen if a bicyclist blinded another road user that was driving/riding around a curve or if there was debris on the road? Is it possible that the other person could have an accident? He would if you had your Taser along. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
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