Don't Be Invisible

I'll always remember an incident that occurred late one night, many years ago. I was heading south on Sherbourne Street and was planning on making a right at Bloor Street. The sky was fully dark, and a heavy rain was falling. The bright street lights were reflected in the wet roads and sidewalks. As I approached Bloor, I signalled right, did a shoulder check, and made my turn, seemingly without incident - or so I thought. After a few moments, I was surprised by an angry cyclist pounding on my passenger-side window. I can only assume that I had cut him off when I had made my right turn.



At first I was mortified. I could have badly injured the cyclist or even killed him! However, as I watched him bike away, I noticed a couple of things that made me feel considerably less guilty: He was dressed entirely in dark or black clothes (as I recall, he was wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans), and more importantly, he had no lights on his bike. Now, I'm normally a very careful driver, and I always check over my shoulder before making turns. I'm sure I didn't see the cyclist because, with the light conditions as they were, he would have been almost impossible to see. I wish that I had had a chance to speak to this cyclist that night; I would have told him that he was actually lucky to be alive, and that it was not at all surprising that I had accidentally cut him off.



Every time I ride my bike at night, I am amazed at how often I see cyclists wearing dark clothing and not using lights. Those who do this are playing with their lives! Why be camouflaged? My philosophy is that cyclists should be unmissable at night.



Here are some recommendations:



Bikes should always be equipped with very bright front and back lights. These lights need to be bright, or they are next to useless. I set my lights to flash because they are much more noticeable this way. I recommend using rechargeable batteries for bike lights; even though these batteries are initially more expensive, over time they pay for themselves many times over. And with rechargeable batteries, it costs nothing to swap them out often, thus assuring that the lights are always at full strength. I also recommend wearing a bike vest or jacket; these come with very effective reflecting strips that are much more powerful than the reflectors that are put on bikes at the factory.



Even more than when cycling in the day, cyclists at night should never assume that drivers see them. It is up to cyclists to ensure that they are seen.