Increasing Your Visibility on the Bike

Let me preface this piece by saying that I hate any discussion that implies that cycling is a scary or dangerous activity.  Sure there are inherent risks, as in any thing in life we do, but I believe that 1) bicycling is far safer than perceived by non-cyclists or beginners, and 2) that any small risk is far outweighed by the many benefits of cycling.

Now, on to the safety message:

If you look at the statistics about when bicycle/vehicle collisions occur, anywhere from 40%-60% of injuries and fatalities happen during the hours of darkness, despite the fact that there are actually a very small fraction of cyclists out riding then.  Here are more details on why this disproportionally higher accident rate exists during evening and overnight hours exists, but the good news, and the focus of this article is that there are things you can do to make yourself safer at night.

I suppose you could promise yourself that you'll only ride during daylight hours. But the fact is, for many bike commuters, riding in darkness is a fact of life, particularly during the winter when the daylight hours are so much shorter. Plus, you'd also miss out on a lot of fun riding opportunities, whether that is for mountain biking at night or another one of those crazy and fun bike events that spring up in different places.

The key is to be visible to others on the road, and that involves the use of lights and reflectors. So here are ways that you can light yourself up in a way that grabs the attention of other users on the road, and that is also fairly easy on your pocketbook.

Read the article here: Lights and Reflectors: Increasing Your Visibility on the Bike

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