idiots without lights

Drysuitdiver

or lights that are in the wrong position that means they can't be seen thus rendering them useless.

back to riding in at my normal time now and its dark . I stuck the Cateye flasher on the front and a solid white on the front so i could be seen . checked the rear lights are Ok and visible. sorted.

why i did i dson't know. 90% of those on bikes who i passed ( or those who RLJed while i was waiting at line ) either didn't have lights or had them so badly adjusted they were worthlerss WHY FFS. you made a conscious effort to fit lights, was it so hard to check they were set correctly.

Mr Plum

Yeah, idiots the lot of them - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LYRzlU9Qr8

:roll:

Gazzaputt

Rode in at 7am today. It was dark and the amount of car drivers with no lights was staggering.

Edit: Oh every cyclist I saw had lights on!

Initialised

Relax and let evolution take It's course.[/code]

Long_Time_Lurker

I had to drive in this morning - passed 6 cyclists.
3 with lights, 3 without.
Of those, 2 were scrotes on BSOs, so I wasn't suprised.
However the other was fully lycra-clad (all black) on a Ribble, travelling at full pelt. Must have a death wish.
It's another reason why cyclists get a bad name, and why drivers hate us.

Greggyr

Aye, too many riders in dark clothes & no lights. No change there, then..

It seems that folks haven't yet dug the reflectives out of the cupboard as well.

Gazzaputt

Counted over 2 dozen car drivers with no lights and one cyclist today

bails87

Gazzaputt wrote:

Oh every cyclist I saw had lights on!

Well, that's kind of the problem isn't it

gtvlusso

Saw a guy with an orange front light t'other day.....thought they were illegal. Was quite annoying when cycling towards him.

bails87

gtvlusso wrote:

Saw a guy with an orange front light t'other day.....thought they were illegal. Was quite annoying when cycling towards him.

I don't know if they're illegal, it's more that they're not legal.....if you see what I mean. Riding in the dark without a white light is illegal, but if you were to have another orange light on the front, that might be fine. So it's not that having an orange light is illegal, it's not having a white light that's illegal.

But then riding without a BS approved light front and rear, and without orange pedal reflectors and a red rear reflector is also illegal, and I bet most people on here don't meet all of those, even the most illuminated, million lumen light user!

Edit: where do you even buy an orange bike light?! :?

squired

What about all those pedestrians dressed in black with no lights?! Seriously though, some of them are practically invisible and most standard bike lights aren't bright enough to pick them up.

I always love this time of year. People on bikes with lights that aren't actually turned on, lights where the batteries are pretty much flat, lights the wrong way round (red at front, white at back) or no lights at all. However, some really go for it. I saw a guy last night with six rear lights! I couldn't help but imagine someone who'd just rear-ended him saying that they didn't see him despite him being visible from the moon.

Peejay56

You see loads of them about - can't afford a few quid for some lights - some price on their life.

The other thing that always pi**es me off with this gang and RLJ's is - you give them some friendly advice, speaking to them in a decent manner, and what do you get - a load of foul mouthed abuse.

Why bother? If they're stupid enough to do it, then they must face the consequences.

I feel sorry for the poor car or truck driver who ends up hitting them.

That's enough whinging - enjoy riding my fellow "proper" bikers.

Pete.

jds_1981

I've just taken to cycling past & telling them that their rear lights aren't working.

joelsim

Peejay I'm with you all the way mate.

Bloody RLJers and I get tarred with the same brush.

Regarding lights, 3 at the front, 3 at the rear and 2 on the helmet now. Well it's nearly Xmas...

Initialised

I fancy modding these as rear rights, one set down each rear triangle.

http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/case_a ... _kit_-_red

bigmat

jds_1981 wrote:

I've just taken to cycling past & telling them that their rear lights aren't working.

That's a good approach - somebody did this to me last night; I had left main rear light at work, thought I'd get away with helmet light but apparently not. I do think that on busy, street-lit roads, we are pretty visible anyway but I'm all in favour of making yourself as visible as possible.

kingstongraham

I can only assume they have never been hit by a car. It hurts.

gilesjuk

Many car drivers would be able to see cyclists in dark clothing if they stopped tinting their windows. Saw a VW camper with illegal tints the other day, could barely see the occupants through the windscreen and side windows.

asquithea

Going out this evening at 18:30ish, I was waiting on the pavement to cross a main road, looking into oncoming traffic. Several cyclists came past, all without lights, and all basically invisible until about 6 ft away, due to the glare of oncoming headlights. No high-vis. Nutters.

From the driver's point of view, I'm sure tinting really doesn't help, but it's really damn difficult to spot someone without anything reflective or lit. The slightest bit of mist, rain or glare on your windscreen, and you've got no chance of seeing them. A few years back, I nearly completely failed to see a jogger in the road - she was dressed all in black, running in early morning, and dashing across a junction where I was turning right. I just glimpsed her legs as my dipped beams shone on her trainers -- I can't have missed her by more than 2 ft. Dunno what she thought, but I nearly crapped myself.

bails87

asquithea
I had something similar on a NSL country road, (with a pavement, FFS!) a guy dressed all in black, walking in the gutter with his back to traffic. I was in the car and only saw him because due to the curve in the road, the headlights of a car coming the other way were momentarily blocked by the guys legs, that made me realise something was there and I just about spotted him.

And on Wednesday I saw a black Merc waiting at traffic lights with no lights on, at about half 7, so it was properly dark. I was going mental flashing my light at them, but the driver was completely oblivious :roll:

shouldbeinbed

squired wrote:

What about all those pedestrians dressed in black with no lights?! Seriously though, some of them are practically invisible and most standard bike lights aren't bright enough to pick them up.

In law and at least in theory they invariably have a seperate footway to use that cars and bikes shouldn't be driving on, so they don't (legally) need to be making themselves visible in the same way those of us in shared spaces with very significant mass and speed differentials do.

gilesjuk

[quote="asquithea"

From the driver's point of view, I'm sure tinting really doesn't help.[/quote]

Especially when it is illegal tinting, which some fitters seem willing to apply even though it breaks the law.

I can understand the frustrations of drivers not seeing cyclists. But there's a culture of motoring lobby groups like the RAC Foundation and ABD trying to add additional rules and inconvenience to other road users.

It's almost like other road users are groups of people being tolerated and granted permission to use their roads so long as they conform to the rules they dictate. The roads are for everyone to use and it was cycling that brought the smooth tarmac surfaces into existence as cobbles were the norm before then.

I'm not saying break the law and ride without lights, but there's too much emphasis on non-motor vehicles to "be seen" rather than car drivers to obey speed limits and pay attention instead of fiddling with phones, sat navs and looking in the glove box.

Nancy Luger

BigMat wrote:

jds_1981 wrote:

I've just taken to cycling past & telling them that their rear lights aren't working.

That's a good approach - somebody did this to me last night; I had left main rear light at work, thought I'd get away with helmet light but apparently not. I do think that on busy, street-lit roads, we are pretty visible anyway but I'm all in favour of making yourself as visible as possible.

Not always, I drive a lot at night and even on well lit roads once it's properly dark cyclists can be hard to see until you're pretty close, unless they've got a hi vis jacket on. Bike lights generally are WAY too small, no matter how bright they are. I often think that some of the cyclists I see at night must never actually drive at night, cos if they did they'd be surprised how difficult they are to see from any distance and they'd make themselves as visible as poss. IMO it's essential to wear a hi vis jacket in the dark, it makes a HUGE difference from a drivers point of view.

fossyant

Nancy Luger wrote:

BigMat wrote:

jds_1981 wrote:

I've just taken to cycling past & telling them that their rear lights aren't working.

.

Not always, I drive a lot at night and even on well lit roads once it's properly dark cyclists can be hard to see until you're pretty close, unless they've got a hi vis jacket on. Bike lights generally are WAY too small, no matter how bright they are. I often think that some of the cyclists I see at night must never actually drive at night, cos if they did they'd be surprised how difficult they are to see from any distance and they'd make themselves as visible as poss. IMO it's essential to wear a hi vis jacket in the dark, it makes a HUGE difference from a drivers point of view.

I would get your eyes checked.

Hi viz jackets. FFS. They only work (reflectives) if headlamps reflect off them. Hi Viz without reflectives is no good at night. Some of us use high powered lights to make sure we are seen, reason being is the slippery slimey drivers will try and get out of an insurance claim if they can. Fortunately, the woman that drove over me three years ago hadn't a leg to stand on - "I didn't see you" - Fail - 6 lights on bike, 4 flashers on rucksack. Shame I've now got pain for the rest of my life (at least another 40 years) due to p1ss poor driving.

bails87

...assuming there isn't a black backpack covering the vest

As for illegal tinting I remember one of the cop/camera shows where a woman in a brand new Range Rover was made to peel the tints off her windows at the side of the road.

"You'll have to remove the tints madam"
"But the garage fitted them"
"That might be, but they're illegal"
"....no, it's a new car, the garage fitted them"
"I can see that, but they're illegal. You can either remove it, or I'll have the car impounded"
"No, because the garage fitted them, my husband got them to do it"

She ended up ruining her false nails peeling the tint film off, I'm sure the husband was in toruble when she got home too!
I see it so often though, it's clearly (pardon the pun) not properly enforced.

On a vaguely related note,I saw an Aston Martin today with bits of black tape on the reg plate, to turn an S into a $, and change some other letters too. I can't believe people think that having number plates would end all transgressions by cyclists, as if drivers are saints!

bearfraser

"Darwin Award" for them all

Nancy Luger

fossyant wrote:

Nancy Luger wrote:

BigMat wrote:

jds_1981 wrote:

I've just taken to cycling past & telling them that their rear lights aren't working.

.

Not always, I drive a lot at night and even on well lit roads once it's properly dark cyclists can be hard to see until you're pretty close, unless they've got a hi vis jacket on. Bike lights generally are WAY too small, no matter how bright they are. I often think that some of the cyclists I see at night must never actually drive at night, cos if they did they'd be surprised how difficult they are to see from any distance and they'd make themselves as visible as poss. IMO it's essential to wear a hi vis jacket in the dark, it makes a HUGE difference from a drivers point of view.

I would get your eyes checked.

Hi viz jackets. FFS. They only work (reflectives) if headlamps reflect off them. Hi Viz without reflectives is no good at night. Some of us use high powered lights to make sure we are seen, reason being is the slippery slimey drivers will try and get out of an insurance claim if they can. Fortunately, the woman that drove over me three years ago hadn't a leg to stand on - "I didn't see you" - Fail - 6 lights on bike, 4 flashers on rucksack. Shame I've now got pain for the rest of my life (at least another 40 years) due to p1ss poor driving.

Nowt wrong with my eyes clever shite. Funnily enough when i'm driving at night I have my headlights on . . . . . Hence they reflect off the hi vis. . . FFS :roll:

You might have been done up like a christmas tree when you were hit but most cyclists aren't, they have one light on the front, one plus a reflector on the back. Try going for a drive when it gets properly dark and you'll see what I mean.

Guess it's too late for you to go back to her insurance to claim for some therapy to help you sort out that anger? Three years man, get over it.

bails87

Nancy Luger wrote:

Guess it's too late for you to go back to her insurance to claim for some therapy to help you sort out that anger? Three years man, get over it.

:roll:

fossyant wrote:

I've now got pain for the rest of my life

Nancy Luger

bails87 wrote:

Nancy Luger wrote:

Guess it's too late for you to go back to her insurance to claim for some therapy to help you sort out that anger? Three years man, get over it.

:roll:

fossyant wrote:

I've now got pain for the rest of my life

Boo hoo. We've all had an off that's left us in pain. My very own right knee has a limited lifespan as a result and will DEF give up on me one day. But I don't come on the internet and whinge about it.

If you begin a post with a sarky comment, especially in reply to one that was essentially offering a bit of advice/point of view, then whinge on like that, you really ain't gonna get any sympathy. And what are you, his big brother? Jog on.

Kerguelen

Nancy Luger wrote:

Boo hoo. We've all had an off that's left us in pain. My very own right knee has a limited lifespan as a result and will DEF give up on me one day. But I don't come on the internet and whinge about it.

Nooooo, no-one in your world is allowed to complain about permanent injuries or chronic pain are they.

If you begin a post with a sarky comment, especially in reply to one that was essentially offering a bit of advice/point of view, then whinge on like that, you really ain't gonna get any sympathy. And what are you, his big brother? Jog on.

Classy. Do you take that attitude with you when you get behind the wheel?

If so, let me know where you are so I can keep the f*** away from you.

rolf_f

Nancy Luger wrote:

Boo hoo. We've all had an off that's left us in pain. My very own right knee has a limited lifespan as a result and will DEF give up on me one day. But I don't come on the internet and whinge about it.

You just have............