buzzman

Okay, I've been thinking lately of buying a relatively cheap flashing front bike light and mounting it on the milk crate on the back of my bike and aiming it at my back.

That way, especially if I'm wearing reflective or light colored clothing, drivers would see this flashing form of what is obviously a cyclist. I'd still have a red tail light as well.

I just find that no matter how bright the tail light it's difficult to judge the distance and identify it as a bicycle light.

Crazy?... Good idea?... What do you think?- Has anyone else done this?

Carley P.

That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea. Are you planning on having a front light on your handlebars too? If not, no one would see you from the front.

If you have anything reflective on your bike, it might activate your reflectors too, causing even more visibility.

The only thing I'm worried about is that, since the light would be so close to your back, I'm not sure if the light would have time to spread out. That is, I'm scared you'd have a four inch wide circle of light on your back, rather than a light that illuminates your entire body.

If you try this out, let us know how it works!

chaadster

I'm not sure I buy this whole "identify as a cyclist" thing...I mean, is the scenario that a driver sees a cyclists flashing red taillight and, because they don't ID it as a bicycle, decide it's alright to go ahead and hit it? I haven't looked at the statistics coming out of nighttime, from-behind collisions between bikes and cars, but I have a hard time imagining a driver saying, "Yeah, I saw the light, but I didn't know what it was and couldn't tell how far away or fast it was moving, so I hit it." What am I missing?

Needless to say, I think your idea is overkill, and question whether the reflective material would bounce any light back towards a car anyway given the light source being on your rack.

BarracksSi

I could see it reflecting "back" towards the driver since they're on the same line-of-sight as the light.

I might think about using a red light instead, though. Anyway, rig it up and have a friend see how it looks; maybe post some pics if you can.

10 Wheels

That is a very good idea.

exile

I usually run two lights on the rear with one flashing and one steady. I also have reflectors. In theory it sounds like a novel idea, but in practice it doesn't sound like it would work as intended.

I'm assuming car lights will be shining on you and illuminating your reflective material. The little variances in motion between you and the car would be greater than having a spotlight on your back. Basically the motion between the two light sources (active and passive) would be greater than a single light source which seems like would drown out the other.

Carley P.

Chaadstar, I can see how people would want to be identified as a cyclist. I often commute on a road that has a speed limit of 45 and people go well over that speed limit. There are a lot of businesses right next to the road, along with crosswalk signs, advertisement signs, and other lights that sit right next to the street. Since the motorists are moving sometimes almost 55 miles per hour, it's probably hard for them to realize I'm even moving, since they're going almost five times as fast as me. If they don't think I'm moving, they're likely to think I'm not on the road, but on the side of the road. They could think I'm a lit-up mailbox, a crosswalk sign, or something else. If they can actually see someone on a bike moving, they'll realize that I'm on the road and that there is more danger to hitting me than just losing a side-view mirror.

Even so, I don't think you can ever have TOO much lighting. I have five lights and two reflectors (not counting my pedal reflectors) on my bike and I still sometimes get nervous when there is a lot of traffic zooming past me.

mechBgon

I don't see why motorists would have trouble associating blinkies with bicyclists, or at least humans in general. Nothing else on the road uses a light like that.

Regarding the original idea: in a high-threat situation like a fast road with no shoulder, or dense fog, that could be quite helpful. And the sheer unusualness of it might help cut through the mental fog of the cellphone zombies.

In the past, I've sometimes dangled a little keychain light from my jacket's zipper pull, and turned it on in areas where there's lots of parking-lot entrances and such. The swinging light makes an eye-catching effect on a bright-colored jacket. Whatever works...

atbman

And don't forget that only about 5% of collisions are rear end ones - tho' they do seem to be fatal pretty often

xtrajack

I felt safer, i.e. drivers gave me more room when passing, when I was using my Down Low Glow. I have an abundance of lights on my bike. Some of my co-workers crack jokes about my being lit up like a UFO or a Christmas tree. I'm all ok with that.
I want drivers to notice that there is something there, even if it is a second or two, before they realize that it is just a crazy guy on a bicycle.

chaadster

I appreciate the reply, but you make all the assumptions that I doubt, namely that drivers decide to hit things (you mention signs and mailboxes) but don't hit things they recognize as bicycles. It doesn't make sense to me.

Drivers hit things because they either don't see them or because they aren't paying attention. A modern, bright taillight is sufficient if the driver is paying attention, and nothing is sufficient if they aren't.

xtrajack

This says it all.

AlmostTrick

I like my new reflective leg bands. These things are 2 and a half inches wide and extremely reflective. Nothing says "cyclist" sooner at night than the pedaling action of your feet.

Standalone 

As a sometime motorist, I'd appreciate being aided through lighting to more easily ID a cyclist as such.

And heck, even if it doesn't actually help safety, it would look very cool on your bike. Go for it.

DX-MAN

Anything that aids in illuminating your presence to catch the notice of the motoring tards is a good thing. There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to being noticed.

I have a rather unusual headlight, it's a 61-bulb LED, with 1 hi-output LED in the end (flashlight-style), and a 4x15 grid in the side of the thing, pretty bright and noticeable. It's aimed so the grid shines forward. Puts out good glow, and is easy to see....

So I thought; it was bright enough for illuminate the driver's use of his cell phone as he narrowly missed me during my commute home the other evening! He didn't even notice, not even when I cussed him out!

wisaunders

Let's see it!

thenomad

When i get a rear rack I'll rig up my old headlight aiming backwards and putting a red or amber filter on it. This would make a nice big solid for the rear along with my superflash and flea.

Carley P.

How often do you ride at night, and how much of that ride is on a street lined with businesses, streetlights, tail-lights, and other things? It sounds odd, but when I'm in a place that is pitch-dark I'm never scared of someone not seeing me, because I'm the only light on the road. However, when I'm riding on a high-traffic, fast paced road with lights everywhere you look, I want motorists to know I'm not just another light; I'm a living person.

I don't think a motorist would intentionally hit anything with a light. What I'm nervous about is people going around a turn, seeing a red light on the right side of the road that doesn't look to be moving, and thinking it's just another light on the sidewalk. Of course they'll probably notice I'm on the street sooner or later, but it could be too late.

If someone wants to add another light to their bike, it probably means that they're not comfortable at night with the amount of light they're putting out now. If you don't think his idea right now is beneficial, I'd suggest a way that he could be lit-up in a different way so he's more confident when riding. I've ridden with one blinking rear light and it was not enough light for me to feel confident on a bike. Now that I'm satisfied with my lights, I seldom get that temptation to hop in a car to get where I want to go if the sun is down.

chaadster

I understand what you're saying, and certainly don't think "lighting up" is going to hurt anyone's chances of being seen. I'll even concede that indulging a paranoid fear is fine if it helps assuage that fear.

However, I simply don't see any plausible argument for the position that red blinkies aren't immediately recognizable as bikes. As mechBgon pointed out above, nothing else uses that kind of light. You say drivers may not be able to determine if you're on the road or the sidewalk with just a blinkie, or that you're not a mailbox or sign, but honestly, I just can't believe that. I ride night urban almost exclusively (vs. rural), and have done so virtually non-stop since '88. It has never occurred to me that drivers can't tell I'm on the road--as opposed to the sidewalk--with my blinkie; I've never been given cause to consider it. I've never heard a driver say it, I've never experienced it while driving...and I drive fast, with the license points to prove it.

So what it gets down to, for me, is that if a driver can't tell by your blinkie you are on the road, I see no reason to believe that a reflective vest is necessarily going to make any difference. And if a reflective strip or two look less like mailboxes and roadsigns than a bright blinking light...well, I'm just a monkey's uncle, I guess.

Speaking of monkeys, I did recently start running Monkeylectric Monkey Lights on the rear wheel of my commuter, and do get an extra sense of security from the very bright, attention getting lights. Nonetheless, I wouldn't claim they're essential to safe night riding, and as such, are indeed overkill.

chaadster

I should hasten to add that I hope this discussion remains purely academic for all of us, that none of us are wrong, and that we all enjoy many, many nights of safe riding whether we're running reflective vests or tires, 1 light, or ten lights!

badrad

if you want some additional light on your vest - try this one out:
https://www.blt-lights.com/product/signal_vest/

IknowURider

latest ghetto-rig, Requires a cat-eye 180 reflector housing and trimming the hook part off a Planet Bike Superflash by a few MM so it will go all the way down the slot. I burned the slot into the top of the reflector with a soldering iron.

I have a fleet of ten bikes, and get tired of fumbling with plastic mounts. This clips right in, put some tape around the clip to increase "friction" so it won't rattle loose. Now it's aimed perfectly also and not covered by your spare . I also had a helmet blinky but it broke. I had a lot of motorists tell me they like the system and I was quite visible. Keep in mind though that stattisically most collisions happen as "left hooks" and cars pulling out from the right, so get a good headlamp, better yet, a bar lamp and a headlamp . I also have pedal reflectors and wheel reflectors, but reflectors can fail, they require the beam hitting at the perfect angle, they are useless in fog, and if the headlight on the vehicle is out or poorly aimed . also how many cars do you see driving without headlights!? I also use a police whistle, has saved my ass many times.

MileHighMark

White lights generally denote "front." I saw a rider recently with a flashing white light on the back of their light, and it was confusing as hell. Not only did I equate white with front (i.e., coming towards me), the flashing aspect made it harder to judge the distance between me and said rider.

Sixty Fiver

I cannot understate the effectiveness of a good helmet mounted light... bike mounted lights work well in quieter situations but a high mounted blinkie will be right in front of a driver and not get washed out in a sea of other tail lights.

I have had motorists stop me and comment on how visible I was and ask where I got the cool helmet not realizing that the blinkie was an extra... and a few helmet makes have integrated led lights into their helmets as well.

Carley P.

That's a lot more experience than I have, so you might be right. I've never had someone hit me from the back while I just had one blinky, and it's hard to decipher an "I can't see you and almost hit you" honk from an "I'm impatient and don't think cyclists should be on the road" honk. Even so, I don't feel all that safe with just one blinky, so I'll choose to look like some type of UFO just for a calm sense of mind. There's not much worse than riding your bike home and continuously thinking a car is going to run you over any second.

Post Script:
I hope you didn't misunderstand my tone. I wasn't getting mad at you; I was just making sure Buzzman didn't feel like an idiot for wanting more than one rear light. Having one rear blinky (especially if it's a dinotte or something equally as bright) can be enough, but in order to feel totally confident I'll keep at least two rear blinkies and some reflectors.

Buzzman, if you decide to do this set up, try to take a picture that shows how well it works. Like I said, I think it's an interesting idea as long as the light illuminates your entire body - not just a 4 inch circle on your back.