A Lesson for Cyclists in Visibility to Traffic for a Safe Bicycle Commute to Work

Well, I biked to work once so far in 2011. Yesterday I got up early, found what I thought was all my bicycling gear, and headed out the door only to turn around a block down the road and go back for my helmet.

My lights were on as I headed out of town.  Most cars came by at a good, safe distance including a co-worker of mine. To stay visible to traffic I usually use two lights, a headlight and a taillight and I try to wear as much visible-wear (cycling clothes that are either bright or have reflective elements on them) as I can.  A lot of cycling equipment and clothes come with reflective elements already on them.  My helmet has a reflective tape in the rear, my shoes also have reflective fabric in thee rear.  The Jackets I wear are bright and have reflective tape on them.  This morning I was using a Beamer 5 as my headlight and a blinking 3 LED taillight.  I had only a small amount of visible wear visible.  My helmet and jacket were both visible, but because of the cold I was wearing an old set of neoprene booties that covered the reflective fabric on my shoes.  I thought this was enough.

During the coarse of the day I met up with the coworker that had passed me on our way in. The conversation that ensued made me rethink my being visible on the road. He had passed me as it was just getting light out.  He hadn’t seen me until he was very close.  I couldn’t believe it.  I had the blinky light on and he hadn’t seen it from much of a distance.  We discussed the visibility of my Jacket which he said that during that hour of the morning blended in to the pre-dawn light.  Then we discussed the blinky light.

I had placed the light on the back pocket of my jacket thinking that it would be most visible there.  It seems that was not the case.  We discussed it’s position and that it may have been partially covered by the fabric of the jacked, or it may have been facing more “up and back” than just straight back.  I came away with a frightening conclusion.  I was not as visible as I should be.

The proposed solution I have?  I am going to place a bracket on the bike and mount the rear 3 LED light to the bike.  Then, I will position the light to cast it’s light straight back.  Hopefully this will increase my visibility to traffic and make my commute a safer one.  I’ll keep you informed.

I, Mike Steffel, do here-by swear to try to bike to work every day that the roads are clear and (more…)