CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
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I've just driven past what I thought was a typical unlit ninja on Glasgow Road. I spotted him from a distance as I saw his silhouette as he crossed at the pedestrian lights at the Marriott.
It wasn't until I passed him some way down the road that I noticed that he had a fairly bright light attached to his helmet that was completely obscured from behind by his large backpack.
Make sure your lights can be seen!!!
That doesn't fulfil the requirements.
Crumbs DM,how high was the back pack? My helmet lights are on the top of the lid. Lucky he crossed revealing his silhouette at the Marriott. Which is part of the problem of course, as people do take the risk of getting away without lights.
if you are on a drop-bar bike, a rucksack (particularly one bought from an outdoor store, which often sit quite high up) can easily obscure a helmet.
I tried a rucksack for commuting and gave up when I found that it fouled the back of my head and restricted ability to turn it when hunkered down.
Good point Monsieur Kapootnique. I had definitely in my head thought Marriott man was on an upright, with a huge pack rising above his head
I confess I once travelled to Steveo's house to collect 75kg of his garden with a light that was obscured by my trailer.
He lent me a blinky to see me home, with the wise words 'you're going to die' which thankfully turned out to be overly pessimistic.
I recently saw a bike with the front light mounted behind the basket. I wish I was joking.
Left office at 6ish, dark and raining - 3 ninjas before I even got past chateau Uberuce, dearie me.
How these Darwin Award candidates make it through the week is beyond me.
Apparently St Leonards bike plod are out and about Marchmont / Sciennes spot fining those without lights.
Appreciate they were a bit 'heavy handed' with their day of action last week, but as an occasional driver its really not fair on other road users (again, I know its not often I am sympathetic to drivers!!)
A more effective Police tactic would be a forced sale of £15 of bike lights, on pain of a £60 fine.
there's a £60 fine for people riding what are probably £60 bike station bikes.
That's like a £15,000 fine for speeding. Which is maybe a good idea?
@k - great minds think alike - oddly enough I said the self same to my wife yesterday when she told me about the fines - i.e. convert fines to lights, kill two birds and all that.
Agree about the average value of the bikes - what most of the students (and, as you know I am not taking liberties, most are students) dont realise is the value of their life.
Wonder if anyone has considered putting this idea to the police?
There is precedent, certainly down south where car drivers get the option of a Speed awareness course instead of points in some cases.
+2 on lights as fines
Income adjusted speeding fines in Finland supposedly took $100,000 off mr vanojki of Nokia, though it was in euros and he appealed. 'twas for riding his Harley Davidson too quickly.
also "October 15th's Stupid Cycling"
You might have to crank up screen brightness to see them!
You think the NWC was bad...
I'm sure I've heard of the lights for fines being done here before? It is a good idea.
As I was coming through Haymarket yesterday evening, a mini-peloton of four cyclists came past - all had lights (although one had them attached to the top of his rucksack, which wasn't ideal). On my journey home I saw some other cyclists with lights coming the other way, and 1 unlit cyclist.
EddieD - and those cyclists would be seen as the height of carefree cyclechic nowadays!
Aye!
I wish I could find the other two PIFs I remember from my youth - one was about the need for cars to give cyclists the same space as a car, and the other was about the need for cyclists, actually, all two-wheelers, to shoulder check (imaginatively titled "Look Back", with a New Seekersesque soundtrack) - they were both very good.
Agree that everyone at night should have lights on (and I do), but as far as I'm aware not a single one of the cycle deaths in Edinburgh in recent years was in the dark with an unlit cyclist. I'm sure Dave has queried before, if it's so dangerous then why aren't unlit cyclists being killed left right and centre?
Again, I think it's simply a good idea to have lights, but it feels a little like claims that people towing kids in bike trailers are putting their kids' lives in danger, despite the fact, again, I've never heard of a single death of a kid in a trailer in this country (though someone may now prove me wrong).
Is it just plain luck? For every single unlit cyclist?
The briefest google indicates that you're correct regarding trailers WC - I know of one serious injury to a child in a trailer, but that was a pre-meditated assault, and Canadian figures indicate that no child has died in one (but one adult has).
There are a few reports of unlit cyclists being killed though.
Yes, we should always have lights after dark.
However, motor vehicle headlights are so bright that when drivers of said vehicles are within striking range, they won't see your lights. Thus I'd argue reflectors/reflectives on the bike and on the rider are more important for safety after dark.
Also lights facing fore and aft do not make you more visible side on, eg. at junctions and especially roundabouts.
No point having couple of blinkies if you're all decked out in black, on a matt black bike with black rims and spokes, etc. (with apologies to Douglas Adams).
* - though rain can be a problem for bottle dynamo driven systems, as I was reminded last night as my dynamo wheel kept slipping on the tyre wall, resulting in a very flickery main beam.
I posted some video last winter that touches on lights v reflectors at http://mccraw.co.uk/from-the-driving-seat-bike-lights-reflectors/
It's not difficult to set up a bike so that more red light is reflected back at a driver than a legally compliant tail light puts out... make of that what you will ;-)
I frequently see the 3M on the rider before their lights.
This is mostly because I mount a light on my helmet, so the angle is almost perfect and it's a blinky so it's eyecatching. It's surprising how effective this is, given that it's a bargain bin 2AA effort.
I suspect the angle is the overwhelming factor, but since I'm unwilling to ride with my main light on my head, and even less willing to have it on strobe, I'm yet to investigate properly.
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