To-be-seen lights on helmet

Barrie the Slow

The other day I was cycling along a road in the evening so it was dark. But the road was very well lit.
The traffic on the other side was moving very slowly because they were being backed up by a roundabout. I wanted to take the next right so I moved over to the right hand side of the road. A gap appeared in the oncoming queuing cars where the junction was. I thought nice. And so did the guy who wanted to come out of the junction and turn right. We both stopped a few feet from each other in the middle and I thought 'moron'.
To be honest I don't know who is in the right in that situation. He can come out as slowly as he wants (which he didn't) but once he is in a position to see me the first 4 feet of his car is already in my lane. And I was not going slowly because it is not smart to linger in middle of the road even with my extended arm indicated the right turn. And also I was checking down the inside of the queuing traffic looking for undertaking bicycles, mopeds, etc.
In hindsight he probably couldn't see my handlebar mounted lights because the queueing cars were blocking them as handlebars usually are about the same height as where the door changes from clear glass to metal.
So, I think I need some lighting that is higher up. Just something to be seen which flashes. Probably chest height or higher would suffice. Any suggestions please ?

Avenger197396

I've got the Exposure Link as above. Cracking light, only real issue is that the on/off/mode switch can be tricky.

I've been wearing mine on my helmet (oooh matron) for a few months now and have been told by other cyclists that it makes a positive difference to my visibility.

It's on my "indispensable bits of kit" list now. Frankly I dont believe a single front and rear light at saddle level is sufficient in this day and age when commuting in a city.

mike1-2

I've got one of these:

https://www.evanscycles.com/lezyne-macr ... t-EV212921

I've found with it pointed down slightly I can use it as a 'looking' light, and the rear flashing combined with my standard rear light on my rack on solid, drivers generally give me a wide berth in the dark.

cougie

You can mount any torch like light to a vented helmet with a bit of padding and an old livestrong band.

Then - where you look the light goes. It doesnt have to be massively bright.

Barrie the Slow

I think for visibility purposes it has to have a much wider spread than a torch. I have seen - so maybe it works - cyclists with torches on their helmets but I have also been struck with the thought that when they weren't pointing at me they were rather lost in all the other light sources in a typical busy street.

mr_eddy

Try the LED light strips - They are waterproof and come with 3M sticky backing - You can wrap a white LED version around the front and front/sides of your helmet and the same on the back with the red LED strip. They are a £4 on eBay and are battery powered with easy to replace AA or AAA batteries. A bit of electrical tape around the batter seal and zip tied to your helmet and bingo you have 350 degree lighting. Ok the battery boxes stuck to the helmet may look a little silly but they are only small (small matchbox size) and are not exactly heavy enough to make you notice.

I have done the above for one of my road bikes - I wrapped the hole bars with white LED strip and covered in clear bar tape - The battery box is zip tied neatly under the stem out the way. You can also do the same for your seat post or seat stays

Cheap and very effective.

prawny

Another Link user here, great bit of kit.

benws1

I have a Topeak Headlux. Bit cheaper than the items posted above.

asprilla

I used to have an Exposure Joystick with a Red-Eye on the back. Following Michael Schumacher's condition as a result of falling on a helmet mounted Go-Pro I didn't bother putting it back on a year.

bendertherobot

If you can swallow the cost a Lumos for winter is a good investment.

simon_e

Even with a helmet light, 1,000 lumens on your 'bars, reflectors everywhere etc etc you should always assume that the driver hasn't seen you (or won't stop for some piddly cyclist). And I'd definitely not bank on them seeing an extended arm.

32 second video of a right-turning car that takes out the cyclist:
https://twitter.com/BrokenLegs/status/8 ... 0009434112

The most important question to ask yourself on seeing this kind of thing is not "who was in the wrong?" etc but "what could I do to prevent this happening to me?"

fenix

Weird clip - no amount of lights on the helmet would have worked there - I doubt the car driver could see the cyclist when he turned.

Yeah if it was me cycling there I'd like to think I'd be looking out for idiots like that.

cowsham

Looking for a helmet light with detachable batteries -- not too worried whether they are rechargeable or not as long as I can take more batteries with me cos I may not have a recharge point on a 5 day trek and don't want to take solar panels or hub chargers etc. Must be a fairly bright front and helmet mount rear so my baggage don't cover it.

Thought this might do
Cree Opticfire T6-ZOOM Rechargeable helmet light set

Mr_Cellophane

Avenger197396 wrote:

and have been told by other cyclists that it makes a positive difference to my visibility.

But what have drivers told you, because they are the ones you need to be visible to !
I see one cyclist with 2 bright lights near my home on quiet well lit suburban roads and his helmet light isn't quite as strong as the handlebar one. A couple of weeks age I saw another cyclist on an unlit main road and his lights were equally bright. For both of them it took me a little while to work out what was coming towards me as two lights are usually side by side horizontally and not vertically. It could have been two cyclists riding in line down a hill, a HGV with one set of lights out.
There is a reason why car headlights are restricted to a maximum of 1500 mm and minimum of 500 mm from the ground. That is where pedestrians and drivers expect to see lights and, on the whole, where they look.
And as for cyclists who only have helmet light, not only is that illegal, but in my opinion it is asking to go unnoticed.
Years ago I was given a light which had a forward pointing light to see by and a low light which pointed back and up to illuminate a hi-viz jacket. The forward light was rubbish which is why I hardly ever used it, but the idea was good.

daniel_b

bendertherobot wrote:

If you can swallow the cost a Lumos for winter is a good investment.

As the man said.

froze

I agree no light would have helped, but that accident is was the responsibility of the cyclist! If you watch the tape the cyclist is completely ignoring the fact that he's approaching in intersection where the view is blinded on the right by cars, and ignores the two cars ahead of him that had their brake lights on and stopped, but he continues to speed along ignoring observing and rationalizing why the cars have stopped, even when the nose of the car first appears he's still just behind the bumper of the second car more than enough time to apply the brake and come to safe stop but continues to speed along.

Sorry, but that cyclist needs to stay off of streets for his own safety.

cowsham

The cyclist was in the right here because the driver didn't check to make sure both lanes of traffic were clear before making the turn -- that is very obvious -- but the cyclist, for his own safety, should have seen that because his lane had parked cars ahead of him a driver may have assumed that lane was also stopped and had a gap cos there is nowhere for a car in the inside lane to go and that the driver may not take cyclists into account that may be intending to filter between the parked / stationary cars on his lane and the stationary cars on the outside lane. Nevertheless the law will be on side of the cyclist in this instance. Ultimately the cyclist usually comes off worst against cars so it's in his interest to be aware of these types of situations. Just because it's your right to be on a certain patch of road in the eyes of the law --- it doesn't mean that's the healthiest course of action. You can't buy your health back with compensation every time.

Here's a graphic example of the same incident only the motorcyclist is definitely at fault -- his guilt only proved by his own helmet camera -- if it hadn't been for that the poor motorist may have been wrongly accused -- how can you account for a Motorcycle doing 90mph through a major road junction..? Unfortunately this Chap didn't get away with just broken legs so don't watch if your of a nervous disposition.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/mot ... video.html