pakeboi

To those that use daytime running lights , do you do anything else to be seen ?
Such as wear bright colors ; or do you think the lights are enough ?

LuckyPierre

Chris0516

hi-vis attire, lights on strobe, lane position

Ryan Olivas

Wear neon/light colors on your torso. I would suggest the colors yellow or green

Dyskolos

I use a flashing front light, a flashing rear light/radar on my seat post, and a flashing red light on my left drop bar. I also use a mirror, hi-viz jersey, hi-viz shoes, and hi-viz socks. In my experience, hi-viz on moving parts of the body, such as feet, attract more attention. I also make a concerted effort to be predictable and to always communicate my intentions. I use lane position to decrease the occurrence of unsafe passes.

Milton Keynes

I wear neon colored yellow, red, green, or orange shirts, mainly yellow. Can't be too visible, and the yellow should stand out for a long distance. Lights are a white strobe on front and red flashing on rear.

caloso

The most important thing is lane positioning.

seeker333

+1... I also use hi viz long sleeve shirts and front and (redundant) rear flashing lights - the brightest I can afford.

Number400

I am having better luck being seen by people pulling out of side streets with my headlight on steady, not blinking. I am not sure if they think I am on a motorcycle or it if it is just easier to judge my distance and speed better with the solid light. I was getting frustrated that despite having a super bright, blinking headlight and hi-vis orange, people did not seem to see me.

mcours2006

You mean controlling the lane?

mcours2006

Bright colours. Which ones depend on the time of day and time of year. Blinking or strobing front light and flashing/blinking in the back. Helmet light for morning in addition, and extra front light in the morning.

rumrunn6

strobes front & rear + a cycling shirt w a good color, usually hi-viz-ish. I also have a 2nd rear facing strobe on my left drop bar, which helps reduce getting buzzed by passing motorists

CliffordK

Staying out of the way of cars.

I don't use daytime lights most of the time. But, I have chosen to wear bright colors with reflective tape. And, now have picked up short sleeve high vis vest that I like.

The only problem with the high vis vest is that I keep getting stopped while shopping and being asked if I work there. Apparently the other customers don't equate carrying a backpack and helmet in the store as a cyclist.

5teve

Bright colors, lights, reflectors, lane position, clearly signaling my intentions when appropriate. Not getting hit by a car is one of my favorite parts of a ride!

mcours2006

I don't know how much better having hi-vis clothing and lighting is for being seen than not having it, I mean in broad daylight. But I suppose I am not willing to forego them, even if it makes a miniscule bit of difference.

Hoopdriver

Solid dyno powered LEDs fore and aft all time augmented by solid battery powered lights and reflective gear when dark. I don't usually wear high vis during daylight hours, but will in bad weather where visibility is compromised. I don't run flashing lights because 1) I think solids are more reliably visible given the way motorists scan the road. Flashing lights are given the respect normally given to cyclists, that is - not much. Motorists have a bit of challenge figuring out what is behind the solid bright so they treat you with more caution. and 2)It really irritates me to see others with flashing lights. Don't know why, it just mashes a button.

DrIsotope

Is it time for one of these threads again?
Why cycling in high-vis may not be as safe as you think
High-vis clothing doesn't make cars pass you more safely

The most recent studies have shown that the color of your feet-- the part of the body moving most quickly-- is the part seen from the furthest away, and the part that registers in a driver's mind that a person on a bicycle is in front of them. You can wear the brightest yellow jacket you want, and it is no more conspicuous to the average driver than a black jacket (visibility is about contrast against the background-- so a black jersey riding into the sunset is more visible than an orange or yellow one.) Get a blinky light and clip it to the back of the shoe on the traffic side (left shoe for us Muricans.) Or buy some brightly colored shoes.

In my thousands of miles riding mixed in with cars, the color I'm wearing makes no difference whatsoever. Getting cut off or close-passed is either 49.5% inattention, 49.5% indifference, or 1% malicious intent. They either never saw me, they didn't care, or they did it on purpose. Bright colors have no chance of changing any of those numbers. Unless the jacket is bright enough to smack the smartphone out of the driver's hand.

vol

Time to review this thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting...oofball-2.html

Dyskolos

bbbean 

Lights, bright colors, lane position, route choice, situational awareness, etc. Why limit yourself?

rumrunn6

sometimes I feel foolish on a bright sunny day. but I know under the shade of a large street side tree I would otherwise disappear to a sun glass wearing auto driver

WNCGoater

I wear hi-vis with flashing front cygolite and rear hotshot. Hi vis helmet, & have some hi-vis ankle velcro doohickys.

There is a reason the DOT makes hi-vis chartreuse or day-glo orange signs. And road construction workers are required to wear hi-vis vests. No way is bright hi-vis neon, NOT more visible. Having said that, distracted driving is pretty color neutral, you may say. You have to be looking to see anything. Yet people pull out in front of huge dumptrucks or run into cars stopped in their lanes and claim they didn't see them.
So I've seen all manner of claims that bright colors offer no advantage, believe it or don't (I don't).

But NO ONE nor their lawyer will ever be able to use the excuse of my wearing muted colors or no lighting to shuck responsibility of hitting me by saying "He wasn't visible enough".

Number400

Driver reactions seem to have improved for us on our tandem when my Wife started wearing a safety vest. I would hope that when a passing motorist sees that we are concerned for our safety, coupled with being attentive to passing cars, that we get better treatment. Even I get frustrated with guys riding two abreast chatting it up and who make no effort to move over or to assist in a safe pass by waving us by or holding out a hand to alert not to pass.

salcedo

This a thousand times

KD5NRH

This; I've come up on three joggers who were wearing hi-viz, and saw them from nearly a mile away. Since one was in hot pink while the others were in yellow-green, I could even tell there were three, and plan accordingly. What I couldn't tell until I was much closer was that there were two others with them wearing standard sweatshirt hairball gray that blended in pretty well with the pavement.

Also this. However, if they happen to have a lucid millisecond or two, being the most visible thing around gives you a better chance of being noticed during that time.