Running with lights in daytime

deimosjohnny

New to road and have to say with a death in the news which seems to be every couple of days I have to say I am a wee bit paranoid. So choice of where I am riding i affected, trying to stay clear of the main roads.

I put a pair of Knogg blinder 4 on the bike really bright and hopefully will never know if they make any difference but they have to be better than nothing. If it is good enough for bikers to run with lights and now most cars run with lights why do more cyclists not chose to do so.

I come from a skiing race background and the whole helmet no helmet argument is the same. Guys I know will just never put a helmet on, I do for two reasons one I want my kids to wear theirs and two till now just don't know how lucky you have been, saying that i have never banged my head on the slope and only fallen in race or training rarely if ever in free skiing. It only takes the once and you can shuffle off this mortal coil.

I ride out of town country roads not that I can see you would n't do in town.

New to cycling on road so not really bothered if it is faux pas, newbie/ all the gear... or sniggered at. When I hear something big or fast coming up behind me I know the lights will have made me easier to see.

beski

Personally I wouldn't use lights in daytime unless visibility is really bad, I think hi-viz clothing is more effective and good positive road positioning. Some of the lights are so bright nowadays that they can be dazzling for drivers if not dipped enough.

kayakerchris

I generally have a light on flashing. I think flashing lights catch the attention more than Hi-viz and Assos don't make Hi-viz!

ElectronShepherd

As more and more cars are fitted with DRLs, I think front lights in the daytime will become more important for cyclists. Motorists will get into the habit of "looking for the lights" rather than "looking for the road user" at junctions.

Monty Dog

No amount of flapping, fluorescent nylon and daytime flashing lights will make you visible to the willing blindness of motorists - it only reinforces the perception of others that cycling is 'dangerous'.

chrisaonabike

I have a flashing front light on during daylight.

My rationale is that if a driver isn't looking where he's going, he's going to ram me from behind whether I have a light at the back or not.

Whereas a much more likely accident scenario is a car pulling out of a sideroad in front of me, or turning right from the other direction across my path.

In which case a bright flashing light is likely to attract their attention.

Empirically, it did seem that people pulled out in front of me less after I started using the light, but for obvious reasons it's hard to test.

Druidor

I have flashers front and back whenever I go out irrespective of the time.

Mikey23

Visibility not good today so flashing lights front and rear and hi viz tabard. Depends on the conditions but I'm mindful that they can change quickly so safety first...

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Interesting article here from an RAF guy as to why cyclists and bikers are sometimes not seen by motorists etc.
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilo ... -cyclists/

p1tse

Wander if it would head towards like cars DLRs

But you can get pulled over if no lights in bad conditions

So a judgement call for now

davep1

A mate has a Knog Blinder - had to ask him to turn it off when I followed him on a ride, did what it said!
Fighter pilots back in WW2 would scan constantly looking for movement and often they would see an enemy plane in their peripheral vision and would pick it up on the second or third scan.
Lights and high viz clothes make a lot of sense - it staggers me the amount of sense"cool" cyclists I see all in black and as for Assos not making high viz that is just retarded

nawty

I always run with a rear flashing light unless I'm in a group and if it's anything other than bright daylight I'll probably use a front too.

I use an Exposure rechargeable Flash/Flare combo which is great and very visible but for all day duties I use a 2 x aaa Smart rear light which is dead bright and runs for 200 hours or so so lasts for ages!

butcher of bakersfield

I run lights during the day quite a lot. Rear one at least, anyway. Even in bright sunlight there are conditions which may make it difficult for people to see you. Wooded areas casting dark shadows for example, followed by bright sunlight, creating a kinda strobe effect. Or simply bright sunlight straight into a drivers eyes. A light could make all the difference. And it's not like it's a hindrance. The same advice to drivers is to use lights in such conditions, so why shouldn't we?

Foggy, wet, miserable, dank, conditions, lights are nearly always on.

ednino

I find motorists will see you...but just pull out anyway because they are in a car & feel they have right of way

I don't think visibility has been an issue when I've had near misses or when I got knocked off last year. I avoid town & treat every junctions/roundabout very carefully. I don't get upto any speed unless im out of town on a good road. Its madness doing 25mph in town where pedestrians step out infront of you without looking.

That's my thoughts on being safe

DHA987S

Hi-vis doesn't always work. Having come across a rider in hi-vis with the sunshine in front of me and the rider, it was almost impossible to see them. A rear light would have made them more visible in these circumstances.

markhewitt1978

I generally have a flashing front all the time and two flashing at the rear unless it's bright sunshine when you can't see them anyway.

MountainMonster

DaveP1 wrote:

A mate has a Knog Blinder - had to ask him to turn it off when I followed him on a ride, did what it said!
Fighter pilots back in WW2 would scan constantly looking for movement and often they would see an enemy plane in their peripheral vision and would pick it up on the second or third scan.
Lights and high viz clothes make a lot of sense - it staggers me the amount of sense"cool" cyclists I see all in black and as for Assos not making high viz that is just retarded

It may have something to do with with the fact that people only ride in Switzerland and in the Austria (Alpine region) wearing clothes they know will last for the day, and the weather conditions do not change as drastically, or quickly, as they do here in the UK. Somehow, on every single ride in Austria that I went on, they managed to see me. It may have something to do with the fact it is much sunnier.

It also has a lot to do with attitudes on the road. The Swiss, Austrians and Germans are very cyclist aware, and know to look for them a bit harder. That is, sadly, not an attitude adopted in the UK. High-vis is not as necessary when people naturally look for you.

Premium brands don't need to have hi-vis, they are fashion, not form (to an extent.)

Hollow-legs

I think i will buy one of these ,,see what reaction i get from motorists at night


http://www.policebikestore.com/Merchant ... bike-light

Pity its only effective at dusk /dawn night time !

CXrider

I reckon lights on cycles will become the law, along with Insurance... Cycling is growing at such a rate, it is inevitable. I also worry that cyclists will have road tax..

Anyway, yeah, use lights in the day. They MUST help. If its makes 1% of a difference then it's worth it.
Motorbikes and some cars have lights on all the time for a safety reason.

Blinking is best - front and back. It catches the half-asleep motorists' eyes better, even in the periphery.

It might save your life or those riding with you who haven't got them. Everyone should do it.

cookeeemonster

CXrider wrote:

I reckon lights on cycles will become the law, along with Insurance... Cycling is growing at such a rate, it is inevitable. I also worry that cyclists will have road tax..

Lights on cycles are already the law (at night), insurance only exists due to the huge amount of damage cars etc are capable of (unlike bikes) and road tax doesn't exist for anyone.

slowbike

CXrider wrote:

I reckon lights on cycles will become the law, along with Insurance... Cycling is growing at such a rate, it is inevitable. I also worry that cyclists will have road tax..

Anyway, yeah, use lights in the day. They MUST help. If its makes 1% of a difference then it's worth it.
Motorbikes and some cars have lights on all the time for a safety reason.

Blinking is best - front and back. It catches the half-asleep motorists' eyes better, even in the periphery.

It might save your life or those riding with you who haven't got them. Everyone should do it.

The more we do it, the more likely it will become law that we should.
Lots of things can improve your safety - doesn't follow that we should always do them all.

Blinking keeps the eyeball moist - very handy, but normally only in the front of your eye...

veronese68

I run with an Exposure Joystick flashing on the front in daylight now. It may help someone see me when they otherwise may not. The eye is attracted to movement, the flashing is movement so hopefully it will attract their attention. That's good enough for me.

iPete

I run a Hope District rear light all year round.

On any single ride you may encounter shaded areas, low sun, changing weather etc.

Gazzer1230

After seeing other cyclists with lights flashing while ive been in the car ive seen how much extra visibility it gives the bike , so yes flashing lights always on

BrandonA

I don't think a light on a bike in the daytime would make a lot of difference, I therefore only use mine when its dark.

slowbike

BrandonA wrote:

I don't think a light on a bike in the daytime would make a lot of difference, I therefore only use mine when its dark.

It can get dark in the daytime ... do you use one then?

tmg

I run a Knog Blinder on the rear of my bike during the day on flash mode, whether it improves my visibility or not it makes me feel more comfortable riding with it on.

I had considered using a light on the front during the day until I saw a guy nearly get wiped out, he was infront of a car coming down a hill approaching a turning on his left, driver coming out of said turn pulled out in front of him, fortunately he was able to avoid smashing into the side of the car. The driver was very apologetic but pointed out that with his position on the road, the flashing light and the car behind him it had been interpreted in their brain as a car turning left (didn't see the cyclist) so safe to pull out

diy

I tend to run a flasher on the rear most of the time and I have a cheapo flasher on the front in case I ever get too adventurous and not make it back in time.

I tend to take the view that if there is no evidence it does any harm and I don't compensate for a perceived benefit then why not. A bit like helmets.