Cyclists at night

[Santaclarita]

I'm not being unreasonable, I'm aware.

But please, for the love of God, if you plan on cycling, at NIGHT, in the dark, WEAR BLOODY HI VIS. It costs about £3 to buy a vest. Dunno how much hats are these days, but is the cost worth your life? Is £3 worth more than your life?

I was driving on an A road tonight, 60mph road easily. And some absolute bloody moron was cycling the other way, wearing black. No lights apart from the reflectors. No hi vis. No helmet. Saw him at the last second. I flashed him with my lights and put hazards on for people coming towards me so they would know there is a problem ahead for them.

If someone hit him, they'll no doubt get the blame. And they have to live with that forever. Just because he won't spend £3 on hi vis or buy lights. It annoys me so much. How lazy and stupid can you be?

Take care on roads incase there are other plonkers out there.

No lights at night is illegal. And really fucking stupid in town; on a high-speed DC it's suicidal.

So yeah, I agree, it really pees me off. They sell bike lights in fucking Poundland, there's no excuse.

It’s illegal to drive with your hazard lights on

Exactly. There is no excuse. The bike itself costs more than the safety equipment. If you can afford the bike you can afford the extras. Or get a taxi.

I put my hazards on for two seconds, so they would know there is something ahead of them. Would rather I do something illegal if that's even true than do nothing and hear someone hit him. Least with my way they may have been on the look out.

No if someone hit him and killed him they wouldn't have got the blame. They would have had to deal with loads of hassle and guilt.

Oh and hi vis doesn't show up at night, you want fluorescent stripes or a fully fluorescent top.

It drives me insane seeing cyclists behaving so obliviously.

Lack of high vis isn’t the only problem, can we talk about them wearing headphones, using mobiles, cycling two abreast, not wearing helmets, running red lights? 😂

I can’t believe the number of people that cycle without a helmet. A friend of mine lost his brother because he’d gone off on his bike without a helmet, fell off, struck his head & died. Such a waste. I think he was only in his 30s & left young kids fatherless.

We get a lot of people (99.9% men) going night fishing round here, saw one tonight heading to the coast with his fishing gear - but all in black and no lights 😐

There was a bit on the Police Camera Action program, I think it was, years ago about a man found dead on a motorway. Was riding a bike all in black with no lights. Worked out from some debris what had hit him, made enquiries and found a report from a young girl who thought she might have hit an animal on the road and didn’t want it to cause anyone else an accident. The police had to go and tell her that she’d killed someone. She was absolutely devastated. Turned out the bloke had been drunk and was known for riding his bike about under the influence. She wasn’t blamed in any way. Poor bloody girl had to live with it though.

Yeah you still have to live with it and the persons family could still blame you. You can understand why with the grief but it wasn't the drivers fault.

cycling two abreast

This is actually safer for cyclists. It makes them more visible, prevents car users from overtaking too close and actually makes it easier to overtake in may circumstances as you are overtaking over a shorter stretch of road - www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/chris-boardman-explains-why-cyclists-ride-two-abreast-in-new-safety-video-187215

Its not just cyclists. If you are using roads at night make sure you are well lit. Dog walkers seem to be amongst the worst but runners and anyone else need to think and use a bit of common sense if they value their life!

True sirzy. I only used cyclists as I had just recently seen one, but yeah someone had posted a picture a while ago of two riders out at night with no reflective gear. You could barely see them. It's so dangerous. Should be wearing reflective gear even in daylight. It makes you easier to see and therefore a bit safer. I still wouldn't ride on main roads though, too afraid of me and my horse getting hit.

Sirzy makes a really good point. And now that the clocks have gone back it’s dark from around 5pm, so all pedestrians should think about wearing something light coloured or reflective too. I was driving the other day and didn’t see a person who was about to use a zebra crossing until I was right there, because they were entirely dressed in black and the street wasn’t well lit at all.
When I’m cycling to/from work I always chat to other cyclists when we’re stopped at the traffic lights and I’ll always point out if someone’s lights aren’t on. Annoyingly it’s often more likely to be the ones who ignore the red traffic lights who also don’t have any lights on themselves!

cycling two abreast

This is actually safer for cyclists. It makes them more visible, prevents car users from overtaking too close and actually makes it easier to overtake in may circumstances as you are overtaking over a shorter stretch of road

Unless you are going round a corner, then you need to cycle in single file apparently (which makes sense - if a car is on the wrong side of the road around that corner you are less likely to be hit)
And also on country roads I believe you are supposed to go in single file

Oh yes
I have lights in my bike x 2 , helmet x 1 plus high vis

Baffles me

MsAdorabelle, I remember that episode and felt so sorry for that girl.

I was nearly run over crossing a road by an idiot cyclist with no lights.

This is my bugbear too. I'm mostly in town but yesterday I was on an unlit road and the guys light was obscured by his backpack. Have 2, 3 even 4 lights, be seen - stay alive. A cyclist actually cycled towards me on the road side of the road, no lights, no high vis on Saturday - a new low in stupidity.

I ride a bike, with lights, at night. I'll start wearing 'hi Viz' clothing when black cars have to.

@AudaciousCockerel I couldn't have put it better myself!

Ifailed. You certainly did. You failed to make a valid point. I hope its not you that I find underneath my black car on a dark winter morning.

Had someone like that every morning for years (used to get to work for 7am in winter).
On a country road, no lights, no safety gear.
He was still doing it three years later. I think he had a deathwish, but his poor guardian angel was being worked to death!

@MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig

Reading this thread made me think of the very same episode!