2011...all cars to have permanent lights on

Originally Posted by Daimo

We're bikers, we are at risk, we also go faster than cars, its our responsibility. Don't just "expect" everyone to move out the way/pay full attention to everything around. Yes people SHOULD be paying full attention, but in reality, it don't happen, so its down to you to protect yourself as much as possible.

Seems appropriate to put here, and in response to the above, so I shall.

Last sunday I went out for a blast on the bike, and I admit, I was hooning it a little. It was raining lightly too, so I had my waterproofs on (high vis - police look jacket). Visibility was good though, and grip wasn't really affected by the rain (not much metal work on the floor).

Bare in mind I was on my pointy, so have dipped beam on all the time regardless of what I want.

I found approx 10 cars that saw me coming up behind them, indicated left, then pulled over & stopped, just so I could pass them (after I passed, they pulled out & continued again).

I can only make the assumption that they saw me, the high vis jacket, the positioning and speed of the bike, put 2 & 2 together, and came up with 14. By the time I was past them, and they saw that my jacket didn't actually say "police" on it, it didn't matter. I did wave to say thanks though.

I saw a marked change in some people's driving from as much as around 500m away from them!!

Moral of the story? If you want to be seen when everyone has DRL's enforced, wear high vis. It definately gets you noticed.

I fully admit that DRL's will probably reduce visibility of bikers on the road, but high vis can make up for this loss. As for cyclists, again, high vis. Hell, make it mandatory for cyclsts to wear some form of high vis!!

If anything, high vis probably losses it's effectiveness during darker hours (as it's only illuminated by light hitting it) and it's only effective in areas with adequate street lighting.

EDIT: Normally I don't hoon around like I did last sunday, but it's just that I was moving fast that day.

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

i agree that you disagree with me, you're still wrong though

+1

We're right, you're wrong Daimo!!

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

and this is relevent how? by this logic if the magnitude of attention you devote to driving/riding is proportional to the chance of injury to yourself in a collision it's ok for me to not pay attention to motorcycles when i'm in the car because i'm less likely to be injured?

Given the way the woman in a tank-like 4x4 I was following yesterday was driving, many road users operate on exactly this 'logic'.

I ride with headlights on all the time.

When driving the car, I drive with no lights unless the ambient light is anything other than bright. Then I switch headlights on. Even if it's just a little overcast I will switch headlights on. I do this for the exact same reason that I leave my headlights on the bike on all the time. So that I am more noticeable to other traffic.

If it becomes compulsory for all vehicles to have side lights on then I see that as a good thing. I have seen on a number of occasions, vehicles travelling down the road without any lights on at all (I'm talking about at night here). If sidelights came on automatically, then at least it would give everyone a better chance of not getting hit.

I understand that bikes would be less conspicuous if everyone had headlights on. But why should someone willingly make themselves less conspicuous and visible so that others stand out more If I were a car driver who made every effort to make myself as visible as possible by turning my headlights on, and then had a biker give me a hard time because of it. I'd tell him/her where to get off.

When I'm driving the car, I normally have my most valuable contents in it. My family. I'll do all I can to keep them safe and out of harms way. If that means having my headlights on, then I'll do it.

Until they make it illegal of course.