Tips for safe night riding

[benadrian]

Holy cow, thanks for all the replies! Keep 'em coming.

I've heard about the whole "moving light attrating more attention" study, and I like that concept. I even saw a photo of someone who hot glued small blinkies onto their shoes ?!?!

Cheers!

[93KgBike]

1) Wear neon yellow or clear glasses - no grays.

2) Car-counter-intuitive routes (eg if a car traveling to your destination would go straight, turn off to a different street; if it would turn right, turn left etc.) until your route is roughly double the car-direct route.

3) Dyno hubs powering front and rear lights.

4) As many froggy-blinkies as possible. They are cheap and run forever on watch batteries. Use them on your bags, helmet, and sideways on your frame.

5) Choose weather appropriate tires, not just one all-weather type, and/or build more than one commuter bike/wheelset so you can easily ride different conditions.

6) Carry 2nd skin, bacitracin, cotton gauze, and extra-cash in your tool kit.

7) Wear bright commuter clothing or accessories, which are weather appropriate.

8) Don't ride after drinking alcohol.

9) Don't let drivers choose what you do. Even wonderful people get impatient and intolerant behind the wheel. Expect the worst and anticipate accordingly.

[72gmc]

I didn't check to see if this has been mentioned yet, but the altitude of your lights above the road surface makes a difference. I've not yet gone the helmet light route, but in my years of night riding the two most significant changes I've made were EU-spec lights (Busch & Muller battery lights) and moving the light from handlebar height to rack mount height.

I now have my lights on Paul Gino mounts on my mid-fork rack bosses. The lower light placement gives me much more road detail, and I can still set the angle of my B&M so that I'm comfortable riding at pace.

[xnetter]

More on the theme of moving reflective patches, you can also attach stuff to the spokes to increase side-view visibility (like full-Fred department store bikes have :-)). Several option exist, including a DIY job with some 3M tape.

Rivendell carries these velcro ones that look neat:
https://www.rivbike.com/collections/...heel-reflector.

KJ

[Ozz]

This looks fun....not sure about tape on the braking surface....works with disc brakes though:

[CMiller]

Cheap blinkies that attach to the spokes are astonishingly good. I ride with an expensive dynamo set-up and the wheel lights are what I get the most comments on for sure. Side visibility + moving light. I am thinking of putting 1 on every bike.

Something like this:
http://a.co/d/eHShTmn

[benadrian]

Originally Posted by Ozz

This looks fun....not sure about tape on the braking surface....works with disc brakes though:

All Tron Everything!

[kookmyers]

Remember folks, drivers need to be looking up long enough to see any of this...

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by kookmyers

Remember folks, drivers need to be looking up long enough to see any of this...

Here you go:Cell-Phone-Jammers

[pobrien]

Ozz,

Are the cell phone jammers legal? I really like this.
The options are ... endless!

[Llewellyn]

Originally Posted by pobrien

Ozz,

Are the cell phone jammers legal? I really like this.
The options are ... endless!

Well I just found out that they are illegal in Australia (worth up to 2 years in the pokey). Bugger.........looks like the perfect cycling safety accessory

[kookmyers]

My guess is that would have the opposite effect as the person would focus all their energy into getting it working again.

[kookmyers]

And then once they have hit you, nobody around will be able to call 911. Oops.

[rab]

Make a few flags on spokes by wrapping the reflective tapes (3-M, Nathan etc) around the spoke and back onto itself. Just a half inch will give a pretty good appearance from the sides. I’ve also thought about putting a few pieces on the heelcups on my shoes, especially after reading some of the comments.

Great stuff, thanks for starting this/contributing to this thread!

[Peter P.]

A single taillight or headlight is not sufficient. All drivers see, even with their headlights pointed toward you, is a single point of light. It doesn't tell them the shape or size of the object, which would give them a better idea of how to behave in the presence of whatever it is that they're approaching.

So, either augment your lights with more lights, or use reflective tape to help provide that outline of what you are.

You can choose from a wide variety of reflective tapes at Identi-Tape.
You can get tape in virtually any color (including black!) so it can be practically invisible during the day, preserving the look of your bike if that's your concern, although white/silver goes the greatest distance.

If you don't want to decorate your bike, then wear reflective clothing or sew reflective material on your clothing. Helmet Halo straps over the perimeter of your helmet. I put reflective stickers on mine but have used the Helmet Halo in the past and it works well.

Amphipod makes a couple reflective vests that are mesh-breathable or so slim they won't interfere with your cycling clothing.

I didn't realize ankle bands were so effective. I made my own with 2" wide material, lined with wool felt for comfort!

Choose lightly traveled routes or neighborhoods if you can. Heck; I've done hill repeats on the same street with great effect. If you're commuting, you have less route flexibility, of course.

Put wider tires on your bike. In the dark, you are less able to see potholes and debris, and changing a flat in the dark can suck.

FYI: If anyone wants some sew-on reflective material, I've got way too much and can send some your way for free. PM me for details.

Here's a look at my helmet, one of my vests, and my ankle bands I've made.