Originally Posted by
jon c.
If you have decent tail lights, I think you're more visible at night than at any other time. On dark rural roads, you can see a flashing tail light from well over a mile. I'm much more concerned with being seen when there's more ambient light. When it's pitch black, your lights are highly visible.
I always ride in the center of the lane as I believe your most visible there. And there's more chance of branches, road kill, or animals vying to become road kill when you ride near the edge. So I ride in the center and move to the right as the car gets close. I never have any concern over whether or not I'll see seen in the dark.
I too have little concern about being seen at night, especially from behind. Besides the high powered taillight, I like to add a reflective safety vest, and other bits like a leg band and helmet tape. If you've ever driven up behind a set up like this, it is strikingly noticeable from quite a long distance! The leg band especially identifies you as a bicycle rider (slow) due to the pedaling action.
My main concern in any higher speed taking the lane situation is when groups of tailgating cars come up from behind. If the lead driver holds the lane until the last moment, the tailgater behind him would have little time to react once seeing me. There's less chance of this at night, but still... I have found the farther left I ride, the sooner the lead driver figures it out and changes lanes or slows to my speed. So in any high speed situation I don't ***** foot around, I get out there fully in the lane.
I also insist on monitoring the action with my mirror. By varying my position and communicating with drivers with hand signals (reflective wrist band at night) and look backs, I can better encourage them to change lanes or slow to my speed sooner. It's kind of fun once you start doing it!
