Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 42 total)
  • Fed Up Of Smidsy
  • lewismorgan
    Free Member

    Just got back from a ride and the amount of cars that dont see you. Its got me so wound up that i think im really going to give it a good campaign!
    Was thinking of making some Smidsy T-shirts?
    What do people think?

    druidh
    Free Member

    Try riding with lights?

    mikey74
    Free Member

    Smidsy?

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    mikey74
    Free Member

    Having been hit three times in as many weeks earlier in the year, all in broad daylight, I agree that it is a real problem.

    I also drive and I find bikes easy to see during the day, even without any lights or hi-viz stuff. The problem is that I think people are in too much of a rush and just don’t look properly.

    It appears to be worse out here in the sticks: When I went to the doctor after my last incident, she had just moved down from London where she cycled everywhere.

    After riding into the surgery a few times, she decided it was far more dangerous than London and has now given up.

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    druidh its daylight and you need to pull your head out the laws arse.
    And Mikey its Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You
    http://www.stop-smidsy.org.uk/

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    Out in Lincolnshire, its a nightmare, road surface doesn’t help either!

    SurroundedByZulus
    Free Member

    lewismorgan – you own druidh an apology. what you said there was uncalled for.

    may i suggest that you stop riding in the gutter and give drivers a chance to see you.

    LeeW
    Full Member

    Since riding with my lights on in broad daylight I’ve had a lot less problems with other road users.

    All the motorcyclists I know use their lights in daylight for the same reason.

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    I suggest this whole joke making of no lights is dropped then, I’ve been hit by a car, my friend was killed and I will suffer the injuries for the rest of my life. I can promise you i do everything i can to be seen and more,
    car drivers need to be told.

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    I’ve never really found it much of a problem. That’s not to say I’ve never been affected by it, but I’ve commuted daily by bike for 25 years and have only had a few sorry mate I didn’t see you moments. Plenty of ‘I’ve seen you but don’t really give a fack’ though.

    druidh
    Free Member

    lewismorgan – Member
    I suggest this whole joke making of no lights is dropped then, I’ve been hit by a car, my friend was killed and I will suffer the injuries for the rest of my life. I can promise you i do everything i can to be seen and more,

    [url=http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/laws-of-bikes]Even after all that you can’t be arsed to fit working lights at night[/url]. I think you’re havering.

    duckers
    Free Member

    car drivers need to be told.

    I am sure all the car drivers in the world will join STW just to read this post and immediately change the way they drive; wow, thats great work for a sunday, you’ve changed the world.

    LeeW
    Full Member

    car drivers need to be told.

    Starting with Druidh eh?

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    Thats it yes, because i love talking about my friends dieing Druidh,
    No, but if people supported Smidsy then cyclists can make a difference.
    Druidh the fact i was going on a 3 or 4 minute ride to the curryhouse and was crossing the orad seems pretty minor to the cars pulling out in front of me.
    LeeW i couldn’t agree more!

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    My guess druidh was joking/in practical & immediate terms there’s not a lot one can do.

    He’s an OK bloke in “real life” – a bit of a dick, but OK.

    druidh
    Free Member

    LOLs at Al.

    How’s the head?

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    Jokings not really funny about life long injuries and cyclist deaths.
    Anyway im not going to squabble.

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    Why stop now?

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    To be honest, a good bright flashing light is pretty useful in the daylight too. And there’s clearly people who think it’s a good idea, due to the introduction of DRLs on motorbikes?

    Problems being a) It’s harder for us to carry a very bright light and b)eventually everyone will run lights all the time and the effect will be cancelled.

    Drivers don’t look too well, it’s true. That’s why you cycle with the assumption that everyone is going to do something stupid, and just hope they don’t.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    A bit sore, 400m swim in the Forth sorted most of that though.

    cheez0
    Free Member

    You got a m8 who was killed, do ‘all I can to make myself seen’ and yet dont bother with lights to nip down the road to the chinky.

    You dont think you can be killed right outside your house then?

    Seems like the problem is with you m8, if you ride your bike so that people in vehicles can see you, and I dont just mean getting lights but also road position etc then you will be safer and less likely to get plod on your back, or worse, a forty ton truck.

    plonker tbh.

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    To be quite honest dont normally excpect cars to drive on cycle paths,
    I ride 2 foot from the path, with reflective jacket on (in daylight) and i always read traffic. When car drivers dont see you its bike vs. ton of metal.
    Statistics for RTC’s explain everything,
    dont stand up for car drivers.

    I drive a car and bike, but i will always leave as much room for a cyclist as i would car!

    project
    Free Member

    There is a certain type of driver who just has to get in front of you, no matter what is coming the other way, hteyre usually women for some reason.

    Buy yourself a small Muvi type camera fix it on the bike or your helmet, youll be surpriosed at the amount of near mises you have especially if you mount it facing backwards.

    So sorry to hear about your freind and your injuries, but at least youre still riding a bike, and helping to keep up numbers of cyclists on the road.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    druidh is right – ride with lights even in daylight. You’d be amazed at how invisible cyclists are a lot of the time especially in this grey/wet weather and with the rider wearing dark colours.

    I’ve got an Exposure Flash/Flare combination, visible in daylight and cars give you a noticeably wider berth when riding with those flashing away.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    lewismorgan – Member
    I suggest this whole joke making of no lights is dropped then, I’ve been hit by a car, my friend was killed and I will suffer the injuries for the rest of my life. I can promise you i do everything i can to be seen and more,

    Even after all that you can’t be arsed to fit working lights at night. I think you’re havering.

    Epic fail, Lewis.

    lewismorgan
    Free Member

    People like you are the disgrace to the MTb world. With an arrogance like that your friends are probably only cyber ones. If you dont believe the death of a cyclist you best start living

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Aye. Whatever.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    WTF lights on during daylight? Don’t be ridiculous! You’re telling me that a flashing LED front and rear is gonna get me noticed on a sunny day? Don’t think so!

    anotherdeadhero
    Free Member

    Oops. The chap I see riding home each night who I helpfully remind that he has left his lights on must be pretty sick of me by now.

    Man, summer for me is 8 months of NOT having to recharge my lights every night. Is there any actual evidence, or is this purely anecdotal?

    rootes1
    Full Member

    You’re telling me that a flashing LED front and rear is gonna get me noticed on a sunny day? Don’t think so

    i do have mine on when the sun is low in the sky but only super bright ones – can’t do any harm

    oldgit
    Free Member

    No such thing as smidsy’s IMO, they just really can’t care less about you, either that or they are registered blind.

    No ammount of campaigning will change the mind of someone that is prepared to risk killing a cyclist to save him/herself a few seconds of their day.
    That and the sheer ammount of dreadful cyclists on the road, you know the ones…no lights in the dark, hop from pavement to path whenever it siuts them, jumping of lights etc etc. I’m affraid we are all lumped in with that lot.

    I’d say just be bold, stand your ground, own the road, inspire confidence, make yourself big ride like you have a right to be there.

    elliptic
    Free Member

    You’re telling me that a flashing LED front and rear is gonna get me noticed on a sunny day?

    Yup. Buildings, trees, hedges etc giving deep shadow across the road. It’s amazing how invisible you can be from the point of view of a driver with eyes adjusted to bright sunlight, especially if you’re wearing dark clothes. Flare on windscreens, general dazzle factor make it even worse when the sun is low.

    And I’ll never understand why people ride on the roads in all-black kit, on any day of the year.

    yossarian
    Free Member

    I can promise you i do everything i can to be seen and more,

    Having read the other thread its clear that you don’t.

    No-one finds the death of your mate funny or inconsequential. We are laughing at your hypocrisy.

    Is that clear now?

    oldgit
    Free Member

    Yup. Buildings, trees, hedges etc giving deep shadow across the road. It’s amazing how invisible you can be from the point of view of a driver with eyes adjusted to bright sunlight, especially if you’re wearing dark clothes. Flare on windscreens, general dazzle factor make it even worse when the sun is low.

    That’s very true. I suppose us folk expect to see/come across walkers, runners cyclists horses etc as we’re used to seeing that. And when we encounter that annoying sunny/dark light you get in leafy roads we adjust to the possibility of unseen dangers and ride acordingly. On the other hand I don’t think motorists do for one minute.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    Hmmm, unless the contrast is high i.e. in shade then your light isn’t going to be seen. Take for example heading towards the sun, a motorist still isn’t going to see you from behind, regardless of lights. Only in high contast situations are lights going to be of any possible benefit. The sooner cars have a full 360 degree coverage motion sensors the better!
    Ever looked at some peoples windscreens inside? Im amazed some of them can actually see out of them at all.

    oldgit
    Free Member

    Ever looked at some peoples windscreens inside? Im amazed some of them can actually see out of them at all

    Was going to say that.

    Pawsy_Bear
    Free Member

    +1 for lights. I’m running the Light exposure flare and flash. It seems to work. Also make sure I cycle to command the road when needed. Those lights are very visible even in daylight. Every bit helps to lessen the % chance of an accident.

    MentalMickey
    Free Member

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVzPxRi4E24[/video]

    shedbrewed
    Free Member

    Lights make very little difference in daytime, and will make even less of a difference when the Daytime Running Light (DRL) legislation comes in next year, when all the lights will just blend in together and you will be even less visible.
    Also, more pertinently, when a car driver is at a junction, or looking at the traffic ahead they are not registering shapes that aren’t large boxes, ie cars, vans and the like. On two wheels your silhouette is far smaller and although they will have seen you in the sense that you are in the landscape, you are not perceived as being worthy of note by the brain that is scanning, as it is looking for the large boxes as mentioned before. There have been several studies done on this with regards to motorcycle accidents, and as a full time motorcyclist I am against compulsory DRL also.
    Sorry to drag this back up, but there’s more you can do to help yourself be recognised (that cog ie cognition part is important), you can physically move yourself across a foot or so when coming up to a junction, and that change in your position in the landscape will register in the vision of the car driver at the junction, you can make sure you don’t dawdle along in the gutter, and you can position yourself with authority at lights and crossings.

    thomthumb
    Free Member

    WTF lights on during daylight? Don’t be ridiculous! You’re telling me that a flashing LED front and rear is gonna get me noticed on a sunny day? Don’t think so!

    haven’t read the thread but was amazed to see how bright a light was in the day when i was driving. lunch time. i’m definately tempted to use lights more often.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 42 total)

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