4 ms·
I'm a daily commuter cyclist. I try hard to be the most visible thing on the road. I always wear hi-viz clothing, always have front and rear lights (even in bro
by btrettel 4y ago
I'm a daily commuter cyclist. I try hard to be the most visible thing on the road. I always wear hi-viz clothing, always have front and rear lights (even in broad daylight), put reflective hi-viz tape on my bike and helmet, make eye contact with drivers, and politely wave at them as appropriate. (Surely other things as well; this is all from memory.)
Despite all of this, I still regularly run into drivers who clearly don't see me. I'm lit up like a Christmas tree! The only conclusion I can come to is that a lot of drivers aren't paying attention. I think all the visibility changes I've made probably make a difference, but there's little I can do to for those who won't see me no matter what I do.
Acting like other drivers can't see you leads to particularly conservative cycling. I do often wait for a road to be clear if I'm going through a dangerous stretch of road, but this adds a significant amount of time to my commute.
The only thing I've found that works decently for drivers who clearly aren't paying attention is noise. I used to have an air horn, which I should start using again. I've been shouting as needed lately, which works but probably isn't good for my throat.
- jackson1442 4y agoI've been paying attention to my surroundings a bit more lately, and it's _shocking_ how many people don't even bother using hands-free technology with their phones. I frequently see people holding their phone 6 inches from their face, presumably on speaker phone (but probably using it more actively than that), which blocks a good 50% of their windshield. Even before I had a car with bluetooth capabilities, if I _needed_ to make a call on the road (which is already a very high bar), I would use the voice assistant to place a call on speaker phone and talk loud enough that it could catch my voice from the cupholder.