Originally Posted by Shinjukan

You raised another valid point about those safety lights. My take on this is that not all cyclists know when to use which mode that their light(s) is/are capable of. I've encountered countless number of times those that are going on the opposite way in which they are either on FLASH mode, or worse, the CHASE mode with their lights. And it's way past sunset. I'm okay if there's still some ambient light as the flash is not that intrusive to the eyes. And what forces me to dismount and wait for them to pass by is when it's already dark and we're on a MUP (I'm giving the Schuylkill River Trail as example). I truly feel like I've just entered a discotheque without any booze! And my eyes still need a few seconds to get accustomed to my surroundings long after the flasher has gone by. For me, I use the Flash mode only on daytime. At night, it's the steady mode. I always put the other drivers into consideration that I'm sharing the road with. And I know other snob cyclists will brand me as a dork because I deck myself with lots of high visibility gear whenever I'm out on the road at night time -- safety vest, reflectorized ankle band with built-in lights, two rear lights (on steady mode of course), light-colored clothing and some passive reflectors on my bike frame. And of course I pay attention to those that I can't see like what's coming up behind.

When we talk about night riding at 3:30am, naturally I try to picture in my mind what the road looks like in my area. I don't live in the city so the road condition where I live is something like this. One may see a police car patrolling the area, but more often than not they're not in the same place at the same time. That makes it a bit unnerving if something bad were to happen, as those spineless drivers can just speed by and leave you on the road with whatever condition you're in. I think riding in the city is a different scenario, as there's some activity and a good number of people out by then.

Originally Posted by squegeeboo

Are you guys using metric time or something? I've never even heard of 3:30am as a real time unless I'm still up from the night before.

Originally Posted by kingsqueak

When you do see a car, make every assumption that it is a kid or a drunk, or both. Truly, that is mostly who is out at that time of the morning.

Originally Posted by kingsqueak

When you do see a car, make every assumption that it is a kid or a drunk, or both. Truly, that is mostly who is out at that time of the morning. The advantage is that it is a lot more obvious when they are there (vehicles), the down side is that the odds they are impaired in some way is higher. Just treat them as such.

When I was a kid I never understood while minding my own business at 3AM I always got stopped. At nearly 45, now I know why heh. Not many people have a normal reason they are driving at that hour.

Originally Posted by stdlrf11

My experiences are much different.
99% of the people I encounter are shift workers commuting to work, or workers already in their work trucks. We see each other every single day. Same cars, same intersections, same time.
The kids and drunks do stand out, but they are few and far between.

Originally Posted by Medic Zero

...The only negative experience I had with other drivers at that hour was a guy in a big SUV who tried to run me over because he saw me planning on running a light (I was approaching it at 35+MPH right at the end of a long descent). I didn't think he was drunk, just an entitled jerk.