canklecat

Maybe half the riders I see in Fort Worth have some kind of light. But even the "serious" cyclists on road bikes on the MUP aren't consistent in using lights. I've seen several near dusk and after dark riding without lights.

I'm more concerned about the salmons riding without lights. Several of those along my commute route. Mostly poor folks, or folks who've lost their licenses. They think they're supposed to ride against traffic, one of those persistent mom myths (my 77 y/o mom still thinks I should ride against traffic, because she seems to remember that's how she was taught).

The folks who participate in local group rides are consistent about using lights.

The serious cyclists who do use lights night and day are almost annoying -- too many of 'em have their lights aimed right into the eyes of oncoming cyclists and pedestrians. Never seems to occur to 'em to aim the lights downward a bit. I usually adjust mine up and down as needed for the situation -- upward on public streets, downward on the MUP. Hardly takes any effort for lights mounted on the handlebar.

I usually do carry some spare frog lights, white and red, strapped to my forks and seat stays. And some of those springy wrap-around yellow and red reflectors. They cost about a buck apiece at the dollar store. I give 'em away occasionally if I encounter folks riding at night who seem receptive to the idea. I don't fuss at 'em. I just ask if they could use some lights. If they say yes, I give 'em a front and rear frog light and tell 'em they're good for only a few hours but they can buy more at just about any dollar store, or buy the replacement batteries cheaply.

rekmeyata

How old are you? When I was a kid all they had for lights was nothing in regards to tail lights, and dim, or should I say very dim bullet, about the equivalent of a candle, some called them rocket shaped headlights that were built into the bike frame, and those bottle generator lights which were even dimmer! And any of those types of lights were rarely seen because with the bullet shaped jobs took batteries and parents weren't going to keep buying batteries, and the bottle generator ones never worked right.

Northwestrider

Yes, and flashlights were available then as they are now .

Moe Zhoost

Yep, and I use them during the day as well. Makes a difference.

making

I had to drive to work instead of ride yesterday. I was on my way home last night about midnight, when I noticed something dark which appeared to be standing toward the side of the road so I faded a little toward the middle of the road and there were two kids on bicycles on one side and toward the middle and the person standing wasn't standing at all he too was on a bicycle spread pretty much across the road coming toward me. Had I not been paying attention I would have hit at least one of those kids. Not a damn light among them. When I ride through that same area most nights I am lit up like an airplane. Some do some don't.

rekmeyata

Yup, but flashlights back then were super dim compared to today's. The brightest flashlight I saw in the 60's was a 12 D battery job, a little too long to be mounted on a bike, and even that light didn't come close to a small 3 AA battery LED lights of today!

howsteepisit

After reading your rant makes me not want to use a headlight or taillight just to see if I can make your head explode.

fietsbob

I do, , hub dynamo, Senso Day light , Brighter @ Night.

I'm Wiser in my Old Age.

jade408

Unfortunately in some neighborhoods, some police officers use the lack of lights as an excuse to stop and harass people of color. Claiming that the "match the description of a drug dealer, because drug dealers don't use lights."

Is it any wonder that many people of color try to get off the bike and into a car ASAP?

wrldtraveller

I admit I don't have either headlamps or tail lamps for my bicycle. i did buy one (tail lamp) but did not install it. I always ride during day light times so found it un necessary to use lights. But i do have the standard reflectors as required by law. If I plan to ride during dark hours, yes, I would use lights to make myself more visible.

Typically the only people I see that use both lights in front and in the rear are the daily commuters who go to work in the morning, and go home at night (we have late daylight and early dusk most of the year) Right now is the best time to cycle. Sunlight rises about 5 am, and sunset about 930 but still bright till 10 pm. but the worst time is in the winter when sun rises about 845 and set at about 430 pm.

p

Chris0516

CNN's website had a list of the 23 reasons blacks feared getting killed for by police. That was not among them. It should have been added to the list.

Stadjer

Here in the city it's about half. It's usually the students and other twenty-somehtings who don't use lights. When I was that age I didn't have lights either, but still I think they should. When I was their age there were no leds with batteries that fit into your pocket and were as cheap as one beer in a bar for a full set. I had to use a bottle dynamo that took a lot more of my watts than it put into the bulbs, the cables would get pulled off in bicycle racks and the light units itself damaged, and you would still be poorly visible waiting for a traffic light.

In these days, there's really no excuse, it's too easy to be well lit that it's impolite to your fellow roadusers not to make the little effort to make life a bit easier for everybody.

rekmeyata

WAKE UP!!! In some neighborhoods they have drug dealers, in those some neighborhoods there are people of color who sell drugs. And guess what? those same people will get into a car and sell drugs. The odd thing is, I know this for a fact, that drugs are sold by people on bikes (without lights but the without light thing is done by most kids) because they can actually get away from cops down narrow passageways that a car can't go through. So yeah, cops do profile and will stop, I see nothing wrong with profiling, profiling has been done for years and it works most of the time. A cop may use the excuse to that their looking for a drug dealer but they're looking for anything that is crime related.

Fact: Blacks Murder More Whites Than Whites Murder Blacks
https://www.allenbwest.com/michele/c...killed-by-cops

2manybikes

Seems like more do lately.

I ride I the dark twice a week. Mostly in rural areas, and then home to the suburbs.
I used to frequently see kids on the unlighted bike path with no lights, black clothes, and black bikes. My powerful light keeps me from hitting them. Don't see as many riders lately. The ones I do see have good lights.

I-Like-To-Bike

Wouldn't it be a lot easier and cheaper for them just to get a $10 light set to avoid this alleged harassment?

RichSPK

Maybe they figure they'll be harassed with or without lights, so they avoid lights in an effort to be invisible.

A friend who's a recovering addict used to buy from "Dominicans on bikes". I'm aware that there are probably more Dominicans on bikes who DON'T deal drugs than those who do, but it still crosses my mind whenever I see someone matching that description, especially in the inner city.

jade408

I love how everyone things that everyone has a spare $10 in their budget. And the $5 for replacement batteries every few weeks. Some people buy toilet paper one roll at a time because they can't afford a multipack. It is not as simple as buy some lights.

And for the person who said more people of color at drug dealers let me correct you right here. The actual drug data shows a few things:
Ethnic groups do drugs at similar rates with white people slightly ahead. Drug use for black people has also declined.

The selling of drugs is also the same across groups.

And most people buy drugs from someone in their own group.
So the logical follow up question is why are so many more black people arrested for drugs if everyone is the same?
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3941346.html

jade408

Yet 80-something percent of whites people are killed by other white's people. So it seems like if you were going to worry, it would be more prudent to worry about potential killers in your own group. Most people are killed by people in their own group because that is who they see.

jade408

One of my bike friends told me he never stops at red lights or stops signs. So now when I drive, particularly on quiet streets I am extra leery of cyclists. Even though I am aware most probably don't do that.*

*similar analogies we use to describe people of different ethnic groups are also thrown out way as cyclists and we get annoyed, and don't want to be judged by the behavior of a few.

I-Like-To-Bike

Aren't you the poster who said some people were getting off their bikes and into cars ASAP, rather than get harassed for not having lights on a bicycle?

Ya mean operating a car is cheaper than lights and batteries?

jade408

To flesh out the thought a bit more. There are 2 general problems with riding a bike. One, you feel extra vulnerable and exposed. Two, people assume you are poor. The car solves those things.

Considering how our country feels about poor people, you want to not seem poor as fast as possible. While it is no guarantee, sometimes perception of status can help in interactions with law enforcement.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is it correct to say that inability to afford bicycle lights as a catalyst for police harassment, and reasons why some people want to get off a bicycle and into a car ASAP are two completely different issues?

jade408

They are different issues. But are related to a larger issue called "why aren't their more people of color advocating for bikes."

As for no lights?
Some people don't know they are required
Some people can't pay for them or the upkeep

And law enforcement doesn't enforce the lights required policies evenly. Like everything else, your experience doing "illegal" acts can vary significantly based on your station in life.

italktocats

and i love yelling back at yelling people to stop yelling and mind their own business

here in cyclingland, most dont

italktocats

very relevant!