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A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

portsmouthctc.org.uk

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Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#11

Post by grecy »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #6

> Remember, lights are just as much about being seen as being able to see I cannot emphasis this enough. It's terrible the amount of drivers who think "I can see fine, I don't need to put on my headlights". Whenever I'm driving on open roads (100 km/h areas) I'll always turn my headlights on. Like aeroplanes, I think that anything on the road should have lights on it for visibility.

In Canada all vehicles since 1989 must have Daytime Running Lights. They come on as soon as you put the car in gear and take off the e-break. It's brilliant.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#12

Post by sandermvanvliet »

ruddct wrote: post #5

Interesting read, up until this point. “[As a cyclist], look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen.“ Please, please do not rely on this. Correlation is not causation, a driver’s head might face your direction for lots of reasons (focusing on something behind/in front of you, spacing out, looking at their phone…

One of the campaigns here about truck drivers and the blind spot of trucks has focused on “if you see me, I see you” which, while not an absolute guarantee, still helps me as a cyclist to get some indication whether I would be visible in the first place. As sibling post mentions: lots of little things that can help you mitigate risks.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#13

Post by heavenlyblue »

beepbeepbeep1 wrote: post #9
toomanybeersies wrote: post #6

> Remember, lights are just as much about being seen as being able to see I cannot emphasis this enough. It's terrible the amount of drivers who think "I can see fine, I don't need to put on my headlights". Whenever I'm driving on open roads (100 km/h areas) I'll always turn my headlights on. Like aeroplanes, I think that anything on the road should have lights on it for visibility.

There was a lot of debate about this when daylight running lights where made mandatory on all new motorcycles in the EU. Most of it was on the lines of if every vehicle had lights on you would no longer stand out, you are just another light which is also harder to judge distance in the mirror. Where as if yo have lights on but cars don't you are more likely to stand out for thr fact there's less motorcycles so not as…

They are not there to stand out, they are there for you to see an object that exists specifically at a point x. Are you instead proposing the situation where half of the drivers are invisible and the other half is (probably) safe?

Just as much as you shouldn't be driving into a motorcycle you should probably not drive into a car.

All in all: you're saying is a horrible experience, but you're not giving any better solutions.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#14

Post by IneffablePigeon »

cube2222 wrote: post #8
toomanybeersies wrote: post #6

> Remember, lights are just as much about being seen as being able to see I cannot emphasis this enough. It's terrible the amount of drivers who think "I can see fine, I don't need to put on my headlights". Whenever I'm driving on open roads (100 km/h areas) I'll always turn my headlights on. Like aeroplanes, I think that anything on the road should have lights on it for visibility.

It's actually mandatory in most (if not all?) of the EU. You must have your headlights on at all times.

I think it's mandatory that new cars have always-on lights, rather than being mandatory to turn on your lights all the time (if you've got an older vehicle). That's how it is in the UK, anyway.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#15

Post by goodcanadian »

ruddct wrote: post #5

Interesting read, up until this point. “[As a cyclist], look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen.“ Please, please do not rely on this. Correlation is not causation, a driver’s head might face your direction for lots of reasons (focusing on something behind/in front of you, spacing out, looking at their phone…

I understand your point, but I still think it is worthwhile advice. This trick saved me very recently when it was clear that a driver had not seen me (and my 4yo!) on my bike. I was able to start braking hard even before she pulled out and thus avoid the collision. So, while you are correct that just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they see you, it is also true that if someone doesn't look at you, it means they almost certainly didn't see you.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#16

Post by _pmf_ »

ygra wrote: post #10
cube2222 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually mandatory in most (if not all?) of the EU. You must have your headlights on at all times.

Motorcycles maybe, cars have (by now) mandatory daytime running lights, but at least in Germany for older cars it's not mandatory to have lights on during daytime.

I remember that one country reverted its decision for mandatory daytime light for cars because it decreased visibility of motorbikes (for which daytime lights were mandatory).

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#17

Post by aaaaaaaaaab »

ruddct wrote: post #5

Interesting read, up until this point. “[As a cyclist], look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen.“ Please, please do not rely on this. Correlation is not causation, a driver’s head might face your direction for lots of reasons (focusing on something behind/in front of you, spacing out, looking at their phone…

I look at drivers not because I want to verify that they see me, but because I know that the brain is better at picking up faces in the peripheral vision.

Still, my ultimate judgement is based on their vehicle’s position and movement.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#18

Post by usrusr »

cube2222 wrote: post #8
toomanybeersies wrote: post #6

> Remember, lights are just as much about being seen as being able to see I cannot emphasis this enough. It's terrible the amount of drivers who think "I can see fine, I don't need to put on my headlights". Whenever I'm driving on open roads (100 km/h areas) I'll always turn my headlights on. Like aeroplanes, I think that anything on the road should have lights on it for visibility.

It's actually mandatory in most (if not all?) of the EU. You must have your headlights on at all times.

Definitely not all of them, Austria even rolled back because it removed the visibility advantage of motorcycles and because daytime running lights are an arms race that some legal road users cannot keep up with. It makes those with no light (or with significantly weaker lights) practically invisible because drivers will inevitably reduce attention to the common case.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#19

Post by TheGrumpyBrit »

ruddct wrote: post #5

Interesting read, up until this point. “[As a cyclist], look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen.“ Please, please do not rely on this. Correlation is not causation, a driver’s head might face your direction for lots of reasons (focusing on something behind/in front of you, spacing out, looking at their phone…

If I'm approaching a junction where a vehicle is waiting to pull into my path, I watch their front wheels. I find this often gives an earlier indication that the driver is about to move than their head or eye movements, as you can see the change in weight distribution when a driver prepares to move away.

Re: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads

#20

Post by lloeki »

_pmf_ wrote: post #16
ygra wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Motorcycles maybe, cars have (by now) mandatory daytime running lights, but at least in Germany for older cars it's not mandatory to have lights on during daytime.

I remember that one country reverted its decision for mandatory daytime light for cars because it decreased visibility of motorbikes (for which daytime lights were mandatory).

That would be France. The idea is indeed to increase visibility of the most vulnerable vehicles. Motorbike riders behave differently than car drivers, hence it is critically important to be able to distinguish them easily in traffic (we downright suck at evaluating movements of light sources compared to solid objects). This is also a factor as to why always-on daylights are mandatorily placed lower than headlights.
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