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 agree with where this strip is coming from, but I also believe in using different approaches to visibility for different streets and situations. When I’m tooling around town during the day in low to mid speed traffic then covering the equipment requirements in the vehicle code should be adequate. However, if I’m in a high speed area at night, or a rural area with little to no street lighting, a place where cyclists are not expected, riding in fog or the rain, etc, then I’ll increase my visibility as appropriate. Another aspect of visibility is me having enough lighting so I can see the pavement conditions, reflective street signs, & other cyclists who are riding ninja-style.
Getting drivers to be attentive is another issue, and one that can partially be solved just by getting more cyclists on the street so they become more expected. The biggest detaining factor as to whether someone bikes or not is their confidence level, so if boosting it means them wearing “all the lights” and a high viz jumpsuit then I’m all for it.
Reminded me of this, which was rediscovered after an intense round of Googling: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2007/12/03/cyclists-furious-as-council-paint-everything-else-luminous-green/
Hilarious. That put a bit of levity back in the conversation. Thanks for the link – going to think to that on my blog…too funny not to.
Fantastic! Posted that to our social networks yesterday, and garnered lots of likes and shares. I’m in your debt.
Reminds me of “The Art of Urban Cycling” by Robert Hurst — my main takeaway was to assume that I am invisible and ride accordingly. And one can still get hit riding lawfully wearing a brightly colored shirt in broad daylight because the driver “didn’t even see me”. Argh. (me ok due to acrobatic reflexes, bike front end crumpled)
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/
As somebody on advrider commented in a topic on yet another driver turning left right in front of a bike (ummm, the heavier kind of bike):
“As far as visibility, you could have been wearing a giant pink penis costume on the back of a chartreuse rhinoceros with blinking titties and I’m guessing the asshole still wouldn’t have seen you.”
They had colorful pictures to illustrate too.