Why do I always get the vehicles with the cloaking device?

[Kogarashi]

Out running errands today (Santa shopping for the kiddos and Hubby's stocking), and I actually had a roadkill sighting worth mentioning (hasn't happened in a while).

So I made it to the first stop, the larger Dollar Store on the far end of town where there are two rather large shopping districts and everyone seemed to be doing their shopping there. I would've gone to the smaller on closer to us, but it didn't have what I needed (due to being half the size and crowded as all get-out). This Dollar Store is part of a larger plaza that includes a few restaurants, a sporting goods store, and other incidental storefronts.

So I pulled into the lot and started up one aisle to look for a parking space that would actually be open. I noticed ahead a car backing out of their space, so I politely stopped to wait so they could finish pulling out, rather than forcing them to stop just so I could drive past.

Not a moment later, I noticed the car just outside my driver side had its reverse lights on. And was backing up. I hesitated, figuring she'd spot our large minivan behind her, but nope. Older lady driving, and not looking at what she was doing. So I laid on the horn to let her know that hey, I was behind her. She stopped, sure enough, but I could see her face in her side-view mirrors looking absolutely surprised that there was a minivan in her way. Like I'd just suddenly showed up to spite her or something. But she at least didn't continue trying to back into our van.

Seriously, we just got this van last year, because I gave our red Jeep a face-lift with a guard rail thanks to some sudden slush on a back-country road. I don't want dents in it yet (or ever).

[wolfie]

You think you've got problems with people not seeing your vehicle - earlier this year someone didn't see my vehicle, and changed lanes into the space I was already occupying. Who the eff doesn't see an 18 wheeler?

[Kogarashi]

I always have to wonder about that whenever you post on one of those "they didn't see my vehicle" threads, because I know you've got the 18-wheeler.

[April]

That same thing happened to me a few weeks back. Was in a parking lot, a car started pulling out, so I stopped. The car that I was DIRECTLY behind started backing out. I don't think he ever even glanced behind him. I laid on the horn until he stopped. Then he flipped me off, like I magically transported directly behind him the second he decided to back out, and was not sitting there for 15 seconds prior to him moving.

[Chromatix]

It's entirely possible that these people look for head or tail lights instead of for vehicles and obstructions. Or, of course, that they don't look at all and just assume the way is clear for them.

On my bicycle, I simply can't mount the big headlamps that cars and motorbikes get. At the same time, my natural habitat is near the road edge, where I *really* need to see where I'm going, so that I don't end up off the edge of the tarmac or rattling through a set of potholes. The number of drivers who leave their high-beams on when I have to be clearly visible to them is unreal - only if I deliberately make a big wobble do they dip their lights and let me see past the glare.

[LoTech]

Yeah, it IS all too easy to get lazy and fixate on looking for moving traffic oncoming and forget to check for stopped cars behind when backing out of a parking space.

As for being seen on a bike, at least LED technology is always improving. Last year I bought an LED front and rear bike light set for $10 on clearance at Mall Wart. It has a half-watt, 25 lumen headlamp with a 45 hour steady burn time, and a 5-LED tail light with a 50 hour steady burn time. Best of all, both the head and tail lights have 6 or 8 blink patterns(including SOS) almost guaranteed to catch the eye of, if not outright annoy other motorists. And blinking extends runtime to 70/100 hours front/rear. I can about imagine how much better a new set might be if I were looking for one now.

[Strathclyde]

While I love lights on bikes (it's kind of scary how many bike riders speed in front of you dressed dark with no light or reflective wear in the dark mornings around here), but I really don't like the constant flashing. It actually messes up my own ability to see.

[Kogarashi]

My hubby can sympathize with the bike riding problems. Unless he absolutely needs a vehicle for some reason or it's raining, he takes his bike to work. He's commented on how many people seem to ignore the fact that there's an actual bike lane and he's in it.

[notalwaysright]

My hubby can sympathize with the bike riding problems. Unless he absolutely needs a vehicle for some reason or it's raining, he takes his bike to work. He's commented on how many people seem to ignore the fact that there's an actual bike lane and he's in it.

Driving a gray midsized sedan makes me invisible. People have randomly decided that they needed to swing wide to make a turn... So they swing into the lane I am currently driving in. Or speaking of bikes, people have the tendency to swerve into the oncoming lane in order to pass the bike. Yet, I'm in that lane. It's gotten so that I can predict when people are going to do this, and have my hand on the horn.

[LoTech]

While I love lights on bikes... but I really don't like the constant flashing. It actually messes up my own ability to see.

I agree that a constant rapid flash is more of an annoyance than a help, to say nothing of the risk of triggering an epileptic seizure.

The light I bought has a mode of alternating groups of four flashes and three flashes. The broken pattern makes it harder to ignore, while the slower speed makes it less annoying at the same time. I'm not sure that I'd care to use that mode on an unfamiliar route, however: the lower speed does mean longer periods of black between the periods of light. I'd hate to hit an unfamiliar pothole wrong.

[Chromatix]

It has a half-watt, 25 lumen headlamp...

That's basically the same as my newer lamp, which is essentially a torch in a clamp. I also still have the bike's original dynamo-driven lamp, which uses ye olde halogen bulb and is quite a lot dimmer - it has a built-in reflector, and the dynamo is in the front hub, so it's not worth removing.

But the lack of dipping happens just as often with *both* of these lamps lit as with just the dynamo on. There are also plenty of drivers who *do* dip as soon as I'm reasonably visible to them, even with only one headlamp lit. So I think it's due to failing to look for headlamps that are smaller than a car's.

I deliberately don't use a flashing headlight, but I do have flashing tail lights. I choose flashing patterns that appear to move rather than having dark moments, since that gives the desired advantage without becoming distracting or potentially dangerous.

[LoTech]

But the lack of dipping happens just as often with *both* of these lamps lit as with just the dynamo on. There are also plenty of drivers who *do* dip as soon as I'm reasonably visible to them, even with only one headlamp lit. So I think it's due to failing to look for headlamps that are smaller than a car's.

While I'm sure that other drivers not looking for smaller lights is PART of it, I think there's more to it. Personally, my driving instructor taught me NOT to look AT oncoming headlights, as doing so can contribute to a certain amount of "night blindness" which can cause a driver to miss seeing smaller, dimmer obstructions in his own lane. And, even with glasses, my peripheral vision is more than good enough to keep track of oncoming headlights without looking directly at them, but as a result, I think that I gauge distance to oncoming cars more as a function of separation between the headlights than apparent brightness. You see, I live in a state without required inspections to renew a car's liscence. As a result, a brand new car with HID or LED headlights can be followed by a rusty 30-year-old beater with sealed-beam headlights with rock holes knocked out of the lenses and the reflecting layer corroded into grey uselessness. Even at the same distance, one is brighter then the other.
So, I judge distance of off apparent separation between the headlights. Which works pretty good. Until the oncoming car has a burnt out headlight. Or is a motorcycle. Or bike.
Still, at speeds of 30 MPH/40KPH or less, nobody needs to be driving with their high beams on in the first place. Indeed, driving in most towns around here with your high beams on is actually illegal, so I don't know what the cars that you are meeting are doing with their lights high in the first place.

[eltf177]

Or speaking of bikes, people have the tendency to swerve into the oncoming lane in order to pass the bike. Yet, I'm in that lane. It's gotten so that I can predict when people are going to do this, and have my hand on the horn.

Yes, you are allowed to drift over the line to pass a bike. But no, you are NOT allowed to drift over the line to pass a bike when traffic is approaching from the opposite direction! I can't count the number of times this has happened to me in the past...

[Kogarashi]

Yes, you are allowed to drift over the line to pass a bike. But no, you are NOT allowed to drift over the line to pass a bike when traffic is approaching from the opposite direction! I can't count the number of times this has happened to me in the past...

Seriously, I've seen people do that too, and it freaks me out every time. I make sure that if I'm timed to pass a bike when there's oncoming traffic, I stay within my lane and slow down until there's a gap or I manage to fit past both sets of vehicles.

[Chromatix]

Still, at speeds of 30 MPH/40KPH or less, nobody needs to be driving with their high beams on in the first place. Indeed, driving in most towns around here with your high beams on is actually illegal, so I don't know what the cars that you are meeting are doing with their lights high in the first place.

I'm in a rural area, so I'm talking about an unlit highway with (I think) an 80km/h limit in most places - maybe even 100km/h, at least in summer. High beams are thus entirely appropriate when there's no other traffic in sight. In any case, almost all towns and cities in Finland have either dedicated off-road cycle lanes or footpaths that cyclists are allowed to use, so it would be a non-issue there.

Running lights or better are mandatory on motor vehicles at all times here (as they are in Sweden, which is why Volvos and Saabs have them built in). This probably reinforces the expectation that an approaching vehicle will have full-sized headlights visible.

Regardless, sighting distances are short enough on these roads that *any* visible light will be close enough for your own high-beams' glare to be a problem for the driver or rider behind it. Also, by the time that glare is such a problem for me that I can't see the road *despite* looking away from the oncoming vehicle, I should be visible as a cyclist *without* the aid of my own lights marking my position. I wear retroreflective armbands to compensate for my black coat and gloves, so at minimum they would see one of my arms raised to shield my eyes.

Despite this, there have been several occasions where I've had to deliberately wobble away from my side of the road before the oncoming driver got the point. That's an extreme tactic in my playbook, well beyond simply "flashing" my light by wiggling the handlebars; the latter is enough to attract less-observant drivers' attention to my presence.