Invisibility
Sometimes when I’m riding I feel like I have a certain superhero power. Which turns out isn’t all that super.
Because I’m not made of steel.
And even if I could find a use for this superpower…
…it still wouldn’t solve anything.
Invisibility is dangerous. I want drivers to see me, I want their attention.
But even if I tried all this it wouldn’t solve the problem. I’m the elephant on the road, costume or not.
I know, I know, whatever we wear, it’s never enough to capture a driver’s attention. I have the same prblem when crossing at a cross walk in our neighorhood. There’s a neon green reflective sign in the middle of the road and drivers often do not stop. I stared down an ambulance driver who only looked at me and waved while continuing on through. Jeesh!
I ride a fully enclosed human powered vehicle, AKA a Velomobile. Powerful head lights along with tail/brake lights, a 400+ lumen rear flasher and turn signals. People will ask me if I’m afraid of not being seen, being hit by a car. I tell them that I ride in the safest place that I can be in. In the middle of the travel lane. I stay out of bike lanes. I’ve ridden this “bike” 22,000 + miles in the last 38 months. I have gone from car light to car free over a year and a half ago. I do all my errands in this machine. It’s 14 degrees out right now and I’m about to head off to the grocery store for much needed vittles.
http://www.commutebybike.com/2011/04/24/vinyard-dave-mild-mannered-velomobile-maniac/
Oh man, this is such perfect timing. The drivers here in Grenada seriously do not see cyclists. It’s the worst I’ve ever experienced in the world. I just came home from another ride where at least 3 people almost hit me and your post was the first thing I saw.
Let’s hope drivers can start seeing us out there.
Darryl
I still drive once every few weeks or so, and what strikes me most about the transition from bicycle to automobile is the decreased level of perception of the world and events going on around you which is enforced by the speed and enclosure of a car compared to a bike. In the words of xkcd, http://xkcd.com/1075/ “You’re in a box on wheels hurtling along several times faster than evolution could possibly have prepared you to go.” Throw in distractions of cell phones, nav systems, kids bouncing around in the backseat, and the isolation of attention that drivers end up with while piloting their (our) two ton machines is indeed somewhere between challenging and outright dangerous. Cyclists, moving slower and being more in the open, have the ability to pay more attention, and that includes to checking out which drivers see us and which ones don’t. Because as surely as drivers often drive too fast and pay too little attention, some just are not looking, so seeing them not seeing us can raise the odds in our favor. Sometimes, it’s very possible to hook their attention by doing something, whether that’s wearing an elephant costume or riding assertively and politely. It seems to me that attention-to-them is often the best way of getting attention-to-me, in the human nature rodeo, which can also help knowing when you’re not getting attention-to-me from someone hurtling along in a metal box, Plan B should be triggered.
You’ve SO put your finger on it…. it amazes me the number of things people do to avoid driving their car while driving their car. People would never text while holding a running chain saw….