A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Surviving on the Roads • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by dsfyu404ed » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:39 PM UTC

lloeki wrote: post #33

As a former pilot wannabe I do apply a similar set of practices and they do work wonders. Some other tips I carried over from training: - Don't look at bright lights at night, look slightly off, for two reasons. First retina persistence will occur somewhere in your (larger) peripheral vision, rather than in the small hi-res patch of your retina that is critical to conscious sight. Second we are naturally driving towa…

Expecting the general population to do a pre-trip more involved than "yup, my tires don't look flat" is a recipe for disappointment. It's also not efficient. Mechanical failure causes a negligible portion of road accidents and the overwhelming majority of those only affect the vehicle that had the problem.

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

#42

Post by nsnick » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:41 PM UTC

mitko wrote: post #3

This was eye opening (pun not intended) and make me a bit worried as a recreational cyclist - many of my clothes are dark and it seems worth investing in brighter ones. As a driver, I found that using BGE setting of the side mirrors (it's wider out, slightly overlapping with rearview mirror), coupled with keeping an eye on the road gives me a much better situational awareness, and prevents the need to turn my head in…

Saying cyclists should wear bright clothing is blaming the victims of vehicle violence.

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/stop-victim-blaming-cy...

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

#43

Post by komali2 » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:42 PM UTC

baud147258 wrote: post #28

mitko wrote: post #3

This was eye opening (pun not intended) and make me a bit worried as a recreational cyclist - many of my clothes are dark and it seems worth investing in brighter ones. As a driver, I found that using BGE setting of the side mirrors (it's wider out, slightly overlapping with rearview mirror), coupled with keeping an eye on the road gives me a much better situational awareness, and prevents the need to turn my head in…

>many of my clothes are dark I've taken so many risks like this when I was using a bike: dark grey coat: check, black pants: check, dark grey backpack: check, black shoes: check. And usually my light (only in the back) is barely visible because of using old batteries and forgetting to change them.

>check out the middle cyclist

>https://www.portsmouthctc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/...

That part of the article blew my mind. That cyclist is practically invisible. I consider myself an extraordinarily safe driver and I know I would not see that cyclist.

Time to get a high viz vest for the motorcycle and bicycle rides.

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

#44

Post by beepbeepbeep1 » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:42 PM UTC

icc97 wrote: post #25

beepbeepbeep1 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> if every vehicle had lights on you would no longer stand out From reading this article I don't think that applies. It's typically only one car or bicycle that needs contrast against the background so that you don't miss them. It's not about trying to pick out one car amongst a sea of other cars. Even then as long as you're aware there's something there you can avoid the psychological problem of assuming nothing is…

Effectiveness of daytime motorcycle headlights in the European Union, 43 page report https://www.swov.nl/sites/default/files/publicaties/rapport/... .

In the summary section it says the conspicuity of motorcycles is improved with daytime lights although may be less if cars have daytime lights.

It’s been a long time since I read that report but it has lots of real data and research.

Cars are easier to spot regardless of lights due to them being much larger than a motorcycle or cyclist and the reports being biased towards protecting the most vulnerable road users.

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

#45

Post by pc86 » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:46 PM UTC

usrusr wrote: post #18

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.

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.

If your car cannot be operated legally, it should not be operated. You don't need automatic DRLs, you can always just turn your lights on.

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

#46

Post by hardlianotion » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:49 PM UTC

nsnick wrote: post #42

mitko wrote: post #3

This was eye opening (pun not intended) and make me a bit worried as a recreational cyclist - many of my clothes are dark and it seems worth investing in brighter ones. As a driver, I found that using BGE setting of the side mirrors (it's wider out, slightly overlapping with rearview mirror), coupled with keeping an eye on the road gives me a much better situational awareness, and prevents the need to turn my head in…

Saying cyclists should wear bright clothing is blaming the victims of vehicle violence. https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/stop-victim-blaming-cy...

And still good advice.

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

#47

Post by taejo » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:49 PM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #45

usrusr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If your car cannot be operated legally, it should not be operated. You don't need automatic DRLs, you can always just turn your lights on.

I think usrusr is referring to non-car road users. Bicycles and motorbikes need to stand out from cars, but can't keep up with them in a lighting arms race due to power and weight.

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

#48

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:51 PM UTC

nsnick wrote: post #42

mitko wrote: post #3

This was eye opening (pun not intended) and make me a bit worried as a recreational cyclist - many of my clothes are dark and it seems worth investing in brighter ones. As a driver, I found that using BGE setting of the side mirrors (it's wider out, slightly overlapping with rearview mirror), coupled with keeping an eye on the road gives me a much better situational awareness, and prevents the need to turn my head in…

Saying cyclists should wear bright clothing is blaming the victims of vehicle violence. https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/stop-victim-blaming-cy...

[deleted]

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

#49

Post by crispyambulance » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:53 PM UTC

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…

Yes, "visibility" is as much about expectation and context as it is about being physically visible.

Example: Parking lots, of all places, are some of the most dangerous places a cyclist can ride into.

One would think a parking lot is relatively safe because of the slow speeds and lack of intersections, but actually, they're peppered with distracted people going backwards trying to avoid hitting other cars and slow-moving pedestrians. They're not expecting to dodge cyclists and aren't "looking" for them and thus cyclists aren't seen even when in plain view.

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

#50

Post by ocdtrekkie » Tue, Sep 04, 2018, 12:53 PM UTC

nsnick wrote: post #42

mitko wrote: post #3

This was eye opening (pun not intended) and make me a bit worried as a recreational cyclist - many of my clothes are dark and it seems worth investing in brighter ones. As a driver, I found that using BGE setting of the side mirrors (it's wider out, slightly overlapping with rearview mirror), coupled with keeping an eye on the road gives me a much better situational awareness, and prevents the need to turn my head in…

Saying cyclists should wear bright clothing is blaming the victims of vehicle violence. https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/stop-victim-blaming-cy...

I've seen pedestrians cross the street without a walk light in a downpour where visibility is five feet at midnight on a poorly illuminated intersection while wearing all black.

Cars have lights not just so they can see, but so others can see them. Pedestrians absolutely should have the same, or at least something approaching reflective clothing.