Safe Speed Forums

Another interesting letter in CW this week.

Chap from Norwich writes that his neighbour does not ride a bike and works as long distance lorry driver on night shifts. He commented to the author of the CW letter that he



Now this is interesting as our CW contributor opens up a what could be a good point for debate



Indeed ...

Well


Most of the accidents in the dark - NO lights at all.. DARK clothing as well

Have drivers who tell me they do not like the red rear flash and find it difficult to see as they appear a weaker red to them... but don't think we have any conclusive research one way or the other. Perhaps our cycling pals know of some papers? (And from a "proper" Uni PLEASE!)

_________________
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Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

my experience is that its difficullt to tell how far away a lighht is when looking directly at the light source, there's nothing to focus on.

if the light is on continuously you gain the advantage of an extra dimension, time, so you can track the light and gleen more information on where it is and where it's going.

certainly you can do this with a flashing light but if its off 50% of the time maybe it'll take twice as long to get the same confidence in the information.



i recall when i was younger cycling home through a park, where the yoof frequently gathered. it was just about light enough to follow the path and i knew where it went so i switched my lamp of to avoid attracting attention and charged down the path.

ahead of me i saw a small yellow LED light appear and then dissappear, i blinked a bit and sure enough it appeared and dissappeared again. i had no information from seeing the light how far away it was so on the two samples of seeing it i only had a bit of information on the headig of this lgiht source.

puzzled i switched my lamp ablazing to illuminate another cyclist coming head on the other way about 6ft off... he looked startled and fortunately we dived opposite directions and missed each other.

so i was silly and unilluminated, his LED lamp on flashing mode didn't help at all !
which is why i'm cautious about using flashing lights.

(admittedly LED lights have got alot better since then)

I can't quote evidence but as a cycling motorist I certainly notice a flashing rear light quicker than a steady one. What I mean is that my attention is drawn to the fact that there is a cyclist ahead who is unlikely to be travelling at more than 15 mph and who I will need to pass safely giving plenty of room.
Observation as a cyclist using a mirror indicates that my flashing LED rear light is working for me in the same way. A flashing front light also makes it less likely that I will be run down by an overtaking motorist.