Spotted a 60 plate silver Ford Mondeo the other day on it's way to Chippenham
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Spotted a 60 plate silver Ford Mondeo the other day on it's way to Chippenham
Whats the difference in wearing a fluorescent jacket riding a bike or a black one?......... you die in a fluorescent jacket instead of a black one! (Sorry just my sick humour).
I ride with lights on, I drive with lights on. Luckly riding 35K a year commute on a bike for years, only ever had one car pull out on me. I popped over the brow of a hill and there it was ...crossing over. But hey ho thats why you have to slow down on blind summits etc ....
Last edited by shiftyblake; 03-02-14 at 07:56 PM.
here here, as a biking community we tend to see things in more detail than the average car driver... but that still does not justify the high ground that most bikers tend to take in the ' they did not see me attitude'Originally Posted by shiftyblake
I ride a camouflage bike most of the time in some form of camo no reflective stuff, in the rain at night and still over take, it does not mean that Im some form of nut nut on a one way path to death. I ride and always have ridden with the attitude that cars, lorries or just about anything that is on the road can and will change its mind , direction and speed in a second and that is why I ride a bike.
If it was me i would not of given hand gestures as id be to busy hanging on ...lol
Last edited by 8_ball; 03-02-14 at 07:17 PM.
Personally I don't believe bright clothes makes you an more visible to people who aren't looking anyway. I would put money on people having pulled out in front of 'Dynorod' vans back in the days before the went all toned down and started putting black not fluorescent orange bonnets on them.
I have my driver head on here, not motorcyclist. 'Dayglo' what does it mean? uh, bright in the day? (I'm getting at cyclists here more than motorcyclists) after dark you may as well be wearing normal clothes, you are no more visible. White would be better. The only thing that really cuts it if you want to be seen surely is reflective clothing or covering yourself in scotch-tape?
What happens if, god forbid you get knocked off your bike, say on a bend or you end up 30ft down the road? we aren't used to seeing the unexpected. A perfect example which I experienced first hand a couple of years ago:- bright summer day, I am in the middle of a town doing little more than 10mph, brain goes 'what's that in the gutter at the side of the road?' a shape, bag/clothes? it was actually an old lady who had tripped down the kerb and wasn't yet moving (couple of people helped her, I parked my car so no one ran over her, went off OK in an ambulance with cut head) I consider myself a very observant driver, that my head took a time to sort out - you don't expect to see people in the road. Had you been spat off a bike or pushbike like that after dark I hate to think what could happen. Worth thinking about. Since then I never go out after dark even on the scoot without something reflective on
hi vis is pointless in the dark if your headlight is working, cars will see the headlight first before the hi vis. Hi-vis also looks very ghey.
I agree I think a bright headlamp and a white helmet stands out more than dayglow, plus you still look good
I ride in black leathers or Goretex and, yes I admit it, don't wear Dayglo as I don't like the look of it - not going to try and justify my decision on any other basis. I do have a helmet with 50% dayglo colouring and reflective panels but I like the styling (don't suspect many others will).
I ride with my headlight on at all times and drive with them on as well (have to really as I drive a Volvo!) but don't understand why most vehicles don't use dipped headlights all the time, it's not as if we're still driving mkII Escorts with dodgy charging systems.
I very rarely come across bikes being ridden without their headlight on, when I do it's usually an 'older' rider on a classic bike and I put that down to possibly bikes charging system not up to permanent headlight on and older rider having spent many (uneventful) years riding sans headlight - oh how I love a bit of stereotyping!
We are all saying the same thing here.. I've lost count of the number of times people have pulled out while actually looking straight at me.. Last time was riding out of Royal Wootton Bassett a few months back. I was riding towards the interface roundabout.. The sun was shining..the roads was virtually empty and dry.. As I approached the roundabout it was clear to my right .. the roundabout was clear and one MPV was well back to my left. I checked again and entered the roundabout.. I looked at the MPV which was still 30 metres from the give way lines and the driver was actually looking at me and appeared to be smiling. Round I went..only for her to enter the roundabout without slowing and she decided to occupy the piece of road I was heading for.. I covered the rear brake and prepared to follow behind her.. What did she do!! She came stop a stop on the roundabout..while mouthing the words "Sorry" and throwing her hands in the air... What happened next... I hear you ask..
well I discovered that you can change direction on an 820lb motorcycle very quickly when you have to.. Just with a gentle scrape of my foot boards on the floor.. And my eyes on storks.. Mmm give way to vehicles coming from your right on roundabouts... I'm sure we've all had similar things happen.
In this case it was the fairer sex... But I've had the same from all ages and sexes over the years
You could be lit up like a xmas tree, it won't stop stupid cagers thinking that their 2 ton car is faster than your bike.
Most effective thing I've done to be noticed is lose all baffles in my pipes....... no more tailgaters, no more pedestrians strolling across the road infront of me and markedly less cars pulling out on me. On the downside it gets me pulled over unless I short shift and keep revs down when police are about and it makes yummy mummies scowl at me because their toddlers cry when I go past.
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