On 3/18/2017 3:54 PM, sms wrote:
On 3/18/2017 11:46 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

snip

While the vests are unlikely to solve the problem, they do help and
are cheap enough.

Will they 100% solve the problem? Of course not. Will they help?
Definitely. We've had fatalities in Silicon Valley of pedestrians
walking at night on roads with drivers that have not been charged
because they legitimately claimed that they just did not see the
pedestrians.

There's this false narrative out there of "if there's not been a
double-blind study done, then we should ignore common sense, because no
one has conclusively proven XYZ."

There's also the false narrative saying if something may help to any
degree, it's foolish to not use it. However, the main proponent of that
"logic" still has not explained why he and his family don't use the
six-foot-tall bicycle flags of the 1970s.

https://americansafetyvest.com/wp-co...4/BikeFlag.jpg

There's no study that proves that making yourself more conspicuous at
night (or in the daytime for that matter) makes it less likely that
someone will inadvertently run you over, though in this case you might
want to accept the empirical evidence, extrapolate data from related
relevant studies, and use some common sense. Or not--if you have an
agenda that you're pushing.

In fact there has been at least one study on DRLs for bicycles,
https://www.bikelight.ca/pages/safety-first-study.

I've commented on that "study" in another post. It's right up there
with "Gleem toothpaste makes you 35% sexier."


If someone is expecting a graph of lumens or lux versus bicycle crashes,
then they will be waiting a long time.

The bottom line is what this article states: "You Have No Excuse Not to
Bike with a Light, Day or Night."
https://www.outsideonline.com/2064501/you-have-no-excuse-not-bike-light-day-or-night.

Take a look at the photo in that article. It appeared in an
advertisement in some bike magazines. What do you see? I saw a car and
a bike.

https://www.outsideonline.com/sites/...?itok=1zHaOkga

The photo was on the back cover of the magazine, lying face up for
several days before I even noticed what they were advertising. I
thought "Wait, what's this ad about?" Then I saw it was for the
taillight. Then I realized that the cyclist in the photo actually has a
taillight. Just as in real life, the cyclist - even in black clothing
against a dark background - is far more visible than the light.

I would advise him to get at least into the right tire track, though.
He's inviting close passes and adding to his risk of goat head or debris
punctures.


--
- Frank Krygowski