It’s happened to all of us: driving along at night, and suddenly you see them—a pedestrian or cyclist wearing all dark clothing, basically invisible. Sometimes they don’t appear until you’re very close, they’re so hidden. You might have come close to hitting them if they were crossing the road ahead of you.
You shout in your head, or in your car, or out the window: “What are you doing, moron?!” (Or another, more colorful and creative epithet).
Don’t be the moron who can’t be seen. Safety should be the highest priority for a cyclist—no ifs, ands, or buts. And making sure drivers can see you is a crucial part of staying safe.
To that end, you should be employing a “defense-in-depth” strategy. In the I.T. industry, that means having multiple ways of keeping your data center safe from the cyber hackers. You don’t just teach them not to open email attachments from strangers—you also implement firewalls, microsegmentation, penetration testing, and other geeky measures to stop the Bad Guys.
It’s the same for cycling visibility—it isn’t just one or two things, but employing a combination of clothing and devices to ensure that everyone can see you, whether it’s day or night.
Let’s start with clothing. Here’s me on a recent ride:
Red helmet, yellow and orange jersey (and a cool Cinelli one at that). I wear lots of yellow, orange and red clothing. Those are colors that shout to drivers “Hey, cyclist over here!” I have some jerseys that are dark, but with a wide white or red stripe across the chest. That also stands out to drivers.
I have exactly one black jersey, but it has plenty of reflective patches. In addition, I’d never, ever wear that one if I was riding on roads at night. Even with the reflective bits, I wouldn’t trust a driver to see me.
All of my cycling jackets are highlighter yellow. I have two wind vests, one yellow and one red. My helmet is red with a white “Giro” logo. I would not recommend a black helmet, although lots of cyclists wear them. In other words, it’s impossible for me to be invisible.
Now, some cyclists are very concerned about how they look, and spend real, actual time making sure their clothing (or “kit”) is stunningly coordinated. I couldn’t care less about how I look (this is obvious to anyone who knows me. I spend my money on bike stuff, not clothes.)
Looking great on a bike is fine if that’s what you’re into—as long as you’re highly visible. But sacrificing visibility for style is a potentially lethal mistake you shouldn’t make.
In terms of devices, I have lights both front and rear. The rear one is my Varia radar unit, and I set it to flash. Same as my front Bontrager light. Flashing lights are spotted more easily than solid lights (although those are much better than not having lights at all.)
Lights, on both the front and back of your bike, are another imperative as far as I’m concerned. They are the key to your being seen from much further away. This is doubly, triply, and quadruply true if you have a black bike.
So my visibility-in-depth strategy is clothing, helmet, and lights front and back. Some cyclists take it even further, with helmets that light up like a casino and LED lights on their wheels. Some of that stuff gets pretty wild:
It feels to me like a bit of overkill to go to those lengths, but one thing is for sure: they will be seen.
Will being visible ensure that you don’t get hit? Unfortunately not. If drivers aren’t looking at you, and instead they’re head-down staring at their digital leashes, i.e. their phones, you could be wearing a Santa suit and they wouldn’t see you. But it does give you the best chances of being seen by drivers who are paying attention.
Excellent points👍