Cyclists, one question: why wear all BLACK?!

[Anonymous]

Natural selection hasn't bred this gene out of the population, so I guess it's not that dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a cyclist and I think it’s stupid to wear all black. People are not perfect, and I hate coming up to walkers or cyclists that are in black at night. They are almost invisible. Dumb.

This kinda means that people, in general, should not wear an all black outfit at night, right? Anybody who expects to be crossing or near to a road way should not wear black?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you wear special clothes to get from place to place in your car?

No. Because I’m IN my car. My car has lights on all the time. And it’s a bright color.

People should be able to walk from place to place, or roll from place to place, without the obligation being on them to change clothes for that purpose. As long as they are following traffic rules and the motorist is following traffic rules, their should be no problem.

The breaking of traffic rules is the problem. Not what people are wearing.

You are not hearing what people are saying. This isn't about breaking traffic rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a cyclist and I think it’s stupid to wear all black. People are not perfect, and I hate coming up to walkers or cyclists that are in black at night. They are almost invisible. Dumb.

This kinda means that people, in general, should not wear an all black outfit at night, right? Anybody who expects to be crossing or near to a road way should not wear black?

Yes. After my kids learned about needing to war reflector while trick or treating in our neighborhood (busy traffic area), they made DH wear reflectors to walk home from the metro at night. It actually helps a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you wear special clothes to get from place to place in your car?

No. Because I’m IN my car. My car has lights on all the time. And it’s a bright color.

People should be able to walk from place to place, or roll from place to place, without the obligation being on them to change clothes for that purpose. As long as they are following traffic rules and the motorist is following traffic rules, their should be no problem.

The breaking of traffic rules is the problem. Not what people are wearing.

“Here lies the body of William Jay, Who died maintaining his right of way— He was right, dead right, as he walked along, But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong.”

Wear what you like. It’s your life.

But here is the thing. There is a not a whole lot of evidence of "people wearing all black" being killed while walking or biking on a road at any higher rate than somebody who took the time out of their life to change into a reflective flashing vest..
There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence of drivers being annoyed that they actually had to pay attention and couldn't actually roll through a right turn or a stop sign because hey had to break at the last minute for one of these people.

Seems to me we need more drivers acting cautiously and paying attention, not more people in neon clothes.

There is a lot of evidence that reflective clothing reduces the chance of a pedestrian being struck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you wear special clothes to get from place to place in your car?

Yes

- Batman

[Anonymous]

It’s mostly younger guys and the worst ones are the electric scooters and those skateboard hybrid things. They go flying through red lights without a thought to safety. They don’t look left or right or slow down. Those are the ones most likely wearing a black hoodie with hood up and black pants.

It can be scary

[Anonymous]

Cyclists on the road don't seem to have a lot of common sense generally so this just fits in with a pattern. And if they're not concerned about their own safety, they are certainly not going to be concerned with anyone else's.

[Anonymous]

Same with the jaywalkers crossing streets in the dark wearing dark clothing.

If the complaint is about people wearing all black while cycling, that same applies to pedestrians.

Unless, of course, the complaint is from one of our rabid anti-cyclist posters. Shocking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you wear special clothes to get from place to place in your car?

No. Because I’m IN my car. My car has lights on all the time. And it’s a bright color.

People should be able to walk from place to place, or roll from place to place, without the obligation being on them to change clothes for that purpose. As long as they are following traffic rules and the motorist is following traffic rules, their should be no problem.

The breaking of traffic rules is the problem. Not what people are wearing.

“Here lies the body of William Jay, Who died maintaining his right of way— He was right, dead right, as he walked along, But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong.”

Wear what you like. It’s your life.

+1
You can be right and still be dead is the thing I told/tell my kids most often about pedestrian and bike safety. Also to assume the cars will do stupid stuff because they might do that. I also lock my house and cars even though stealing is illegal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a cyclist and I think it’s stupid to wear all black. People are not perfect, and I hate coming up to walkers or cyclists that are in black at night. They are almost invisible. Dumb.

This kinda means that people, in general, should not wear an all black outfit at night, right? Anybody who expects to be crossing or near to a road way should not wear black?

True. Maybe in an urban setting you are fine.
I wear all black a lot but I'm a suburban car driver. In winter walking the dog I have a light up vest that I deliberately put on over my black. Black dog has one too!

When I shop I now choose a few white outerwear garments. It's not my favorite but it's a sensible choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cyclists on the road don't seem to have a lot of common sense generally so this just fits in with a pattern. And if they're not concerned about their own safety, they are certainly not going to be concerned with anyone else's.

This. If they cared about safety, they wouldn’t be on the road with cars to start with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you wear special clothes to get from place to place in your car?

No. Because I’m IN my car. My car has lights on all the time. And it’s a bright color.

People should be able to walk from place to place, or roll from place to place, without the obligation being on them to change clothes for that purpose. As long as they are following traffic rules and the motorist is following traffic rules, their should be no problem.

The breaking of traffic rules is the problem. Not what people are wearing.

“Here lies the body of William Jay, Who died maintaining his right of way— He was right, dead right, as he walked along, But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong.”

Wear what you like. It’s your life.

But here is the thing. There is a not a whole lot of evidence of "people wearing all black" being killed while walking or biking on a road at any higher rate than somebody who took the time out of their life to change into a reflective flashing vest..
There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence of drivers being annoyed that they actually had to pay attention and couldn't actually roll through a right turn or a stop sign because hey had to break at the last minute for one of these people.

Seems to me we need more drivers acting cautiously and paying attention, not more people in neon clothes.

There is a lot of evidence that reflective clothing reduces the chance of a pedestrian being struck.

I have not seen any evidence of this. There are studies that tracked eye focus that showed that drivers SEE pedestrians at a further distance if they are wearing reflective clothing than when they don't. But there is no evidence that pedestrians without reflective clothing are struck at a higher rate.

This isn't really as pedantic as it sounds. The behavioral change required is in driver speeds and caution, not in attire of people trying to get from place to place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many other (more visible) colors to choose from. Bright yellows, bright greens, bright pinks. Why choose the least visible color for an activity that carries so much risk? I know, it’s none of my business and you do you and so on. But I’m really curious.

Dark clothes avoid detection and targeting by malicious drivers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you wear special clothes to get from place to place in your car?

No. Because I’m IN my car. My car has lights on all the time. And it’s a bright color.

People should be able to walk from place to place, or roll from place to place, without the obligation being on them to change clothes for that purpose. As long as they are following traffic rules and the motorist is following traffic rules, their should be no problem.

The breaking of traffic rules is the problem. Not what people are wearing.

“Here lies the body of William Jay, Who died maintaining his right of way— He was right, dead right, as he walked along, But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong.”

Wear what you like. It’s your life.

But here is the thing. There is a not a whole lot of evidence of "people wearing all black" being killed while walking or biking on a road at any higher rate than somebody who took the time out of their life to change into a reflective flashing vest..
There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence of drivers being annoyed that they actually had to pay attention and couldn't actually roll through a right turn or a stop sign because hey had to break at the last minute for one of these people.

Seems to me we need more drivers acting cautiously and paying attention, not more people in neon clothes.

There is a lot of evidence that reflective clothing reduces the chance of a pedestrian being struck.

I have not seen any evidence of this. There are studies that tracked eye focus that showed that drivers SEE pedestrians at a further distance if they are wearing reflective clothing than when they don't. But there is no evidence that pedestrians without reflective clothing are struck at a higher rate.

This isn't really as pedantic as it sounds. The behavioral change required is in driver speeds and caution, not in attire of people trying to get from place to place.

Dead cyclists don't change driver behavior, except in the martyr sense. Is that what you want?