Be seen

[Jackrat]

What do you lot think about these stick on ya, helmet brake lights.Wait until enough weidos start using these things an they will become law.Whats next an orange flashing light on top???
I can,t help but think if I come across someone wearing one of these things,They are going to have a real bad day,an we won,t go into how I feel about the money grabing oppertunist shit that
came up with this bloody thing.
:argh: :angry2:

[riffer]

We could also put on those pop-out indicators like they used to have on old cars - though that could look kind of silly as I split through the rush hours traffic :p

I don't think I'll be getting one.

[Motoracer]

What I would like to do is get the most powerfull/brightest hallogen lights and blind every one. That'll make them see me! :mad:


*being on the other side of this is highly anoying however. I hate thoes people who have the new mercs or bmers and point their birght white/blue lights rather high, blinding everyone just to make them look at their flash new cars more*

[riffer]

I was reading on a motorcycle safety site, can't remember which one now, but the person was advocating using a dimmer control on your headlight to vary the intensity of the headlight during daytime riding.

Not too sure of the legality of it here, but they provided a reasonable amount of anectodal evidence to make me think about it. Apparently a varying headlight is a lot more visible that one just on all the time...

[Motoracer]

I think strobe headlights would work best and it'd look pretty cool as well. I always liked the lights on cop cars/bikes.

[James Deuce]

Bear in mind that any protruberance on a helmet that causes your head to maintain it's attitude in relation to, say, the road while your body whips about can lead to a neck injury. The stupid helmet brake lights are dangerous and should banned. So there.

[marty]

i'd like one of those searching side to side lights like kitt had on knight rider....

[Motoracer]

I think you can get them for a 02' & 03' R1 brake light.

[Slingshot]

I don't get it...it's a well known fact that cage drivers don't see us!!! :argh:
Now a product has come out that is designed to improve the visability of us and you guys a writing it off!!! :brick:
Other than aerodynamics over the helmet at speed, I can't think of this being a bad thing & it was most probably designed by a biker!

I have a friend who was rear ended at an intersection and maybe this little device may have prevented it:roadkill:


ANyway, that's my two cents

[Jackrat]

Some amusing replys folks,But as pointed out I don,t want a broken neck because someone came up with another bright idea
to get his hands on my money when the root cause is not even my doing.This sod is just reinforcing the ideal that if a car driver runs up a bikers back end then it was the bikers fault for not being more visible.
Dang,be alert we need more lerts.

PS,slingshot I have also been hit from behind,a red flashing light would not have made a diff, when the guy wasn,t looking in the first place,His own admission,My point is that the onus should be on the driver not the biker,Every biker I know already keeps an eye on whats going on behind,maybe drivers should be forced somehow to keep an eye in front.
OH bugger i,m going for a drive in my 4x4.Be alert we need more lerts.

[Nouseforaname]

No matter how many flashing things you put on ya bike it's not gona save ya from a person who isnt looking.

To take this from another post

QUOTE]Originally posted by SILVER SUZI
Interesting what you say about the Titanic on castors. When I first moved up to Auckland I was driving a truck! Red as it happens and plenty of people pulled out on me. Go figure. 10ft high, 8ft wide, 40 odd ft long with a container on the back.
:angry2: [/QUOTE]

Im not writing it off, it does sound like a good idea, but as i say, if ya person isnt looking, then they arnt gona see ya.

[Nouseforaname]

O and just another thing, if they cant even see your rear brake light.... then why would they see a light on the rear of ya helmet?

[wkid_one]

Fuck - at the end of the day - if they can't see a bike, brake light and rider - what difference is a light on your helmet going to do?

[wari]

If yiv ever seen "The Castle" yule remember that "he's an ideas man" Steve invented one ... which is of course a pointer to its creditability.

[Jackrat]

Yeah,The lawyer with the photocopy machine,Ha,ha,ha
Kind,a reminded me of somebody,oops,me:angry2: :o

[Firefight]

Originally posted by Jackrat
Yeah,The lawyer with the photocopy machine,Ha,ha,ha
Kind,a reminded me of somebody,oops,me:angry2: :o



dam good movie," whads he askin forit,"

":yea tellihim hes dreamin !!



:Offtopic: but :whocares:

[SILVER SUZI]

You guys are missing the ponit all togeather. This sounds like a great gadget(I've not seen it). It's not so that cage drivers can see you before they hit you. It's so after youv'e ben wiped out and your'e lying 50m from your torn and twisted wreck with the brake lever still grasped in your steely white knuckled grasp, the ambos will be able to locate your helmet beacon, instead of spending half a hour looking for you.:doctor: :argh:

[Jackrat]

Ah a personal locator beacon,
LOL,whats next GPS,AIR BAG JACKETS,PARACHUTES,
Gawd I hope this site isn,t being watched by the wrong people.
What me paranoid??Who said That??
So officer,You on the take or what?? <_<

[Nouseforaname]

I hate to tell you this Jackrat, but they do already have airbag jackets, i was reading a review in a Perfomance Bike mag. You attach a wire to ya bike somehow and in an accident when the wire is dis-lodged it inflates ya jacket.:o

[wildfire1]

Helmet brake light - great idea

If it catches the attention of just one (It only takes one to screw up your day) cage driver from plowing into the back of you it is worth every hard earned penny.

Bitching about how it was the others guys fault while flat out in the hospital bed is just sad - and keeps you from where you could be - on the road - is'nt that the whole point!

If you don't want one - don't buy one!

my 1.5 cents worth (kiwi dollar devaluation):beer:

[wkid_one]

And the fact that when stopped you are looking left and right - thereby devoiding yourself of the benefit of a rearward facing helmet mounted brake light means nothing???&nbsp; Waste of money.

The biggest problem with bikes is that the rear lights have now become more of a fashion accessory than a functional device.&nbsp; They need to make them brighter.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

[Jackrat]

Wild fire,sorry but I totaly disagree with you.
I already take due care,I,m just PO,ed that some people think we should all be lit up like a christmas tree,so fools that can,t keep their eyes open have yet another out.The clown that ran up the back of me was tuning his radio.Like it has already been stated,If they ain,t looking,what diff, would it make.Eye level tail lights are proven not to work every time somebody runs up the back of another car/van that has them.I don,t know where you live, but on Aucklands southern motorway that happens a dozen times a day each time in rains.
To put it in plainer terms I am sick of having to compensate for people who can,t drive,An I,m buggered if I will be happy about dressing like a bloody road sigh for them.
Cheers.

[MikeL]

Another case of the law of diminishing returns. Remember the tiny stop lights on cars built in the 50s ? (Anyone younger than 40 can ignore this). Admittedly they were often hard to see in bright daylight, so the next generation of cars had brighter, stronger brake lights. Very visible. Then some research proved that high-level stop lights were even more visible (scarcely rocket science) so all cars had to be equipped with those as well as the conventional ones. Result: we don't look at the lower ones at all. If the high-level light isn't working, half the drivers will probably plough into the back of the car despite the others working (if this were not true, why would the high level lights be needed??)
Next lot of research will show that red and green strobe lights on the roof are even more visible...

[wari]

MikeL ... fookin good points mate ... made me think ... if we didnt have alerts would people BE more alert?

I must confess to be ing a bit paranoid about be ing shunted from be hind ... I pump the brakes (thereby flashing the brake light) and keep an eye on my rear view mirror mostimes if I suspect the alertniss of the following driver is a bit wayward. Also position the bike for evasive action if need be. But the one time I dont do it ... remember murphies law ?

[Slingshot]

Jackrat...I assume that you've unpicked any reflective material on your motorcycle jacket with a quote like :

buggered if I will be happy about dressing like a bloody road sigh for them.
And I guess you have your headlights switched off while during the day cause you wouldn't want to increase you chances of survival by making yourself easier to see.

The whole thing of people not seeing us because they weren't looking can be helped by this gadget, if a driver is looking at the radio and in their peripheral vision the see a red light flash on it may be just the thing needed to alert them to the pending collision.

I've done some googling and found these websites

Signalfly Helmet Brake Light (http://www.webbikeworld.com/Reviewed-motorcycle-products/signalfly/)
RiderLight Helmet Wireless LED Brake Light (http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/riderlight/)

[Jackrat]

Slingshot,both your assumtions and your guess are totaly wrong.
Guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
Stay safe.

[wkid_one]

Sorry - but I have to agree with Jackrat here - if we intended to get on our bikes and ride for every other nutter on the road and account for every possible scenario with some stupid safety device (Air Bag Jackets, Helmet Stop Lights, training wheels) we would never get on our bloody bikes.

At the end of the day - those other drivers have to take accountability for their inactions.&nbsp; By using a Helmet Light - all you are teaching the driver is to look at the back of your head - what about the next rider who isn't wearing one???&nbsp; Is the driver then more likely to plough up the date of this rider?

I think it also has to be said - that many motorcycle riders don't ride around traffic with a 'car' mentality.&nbsp; I 100% think that when around other traffic you should think and ride like a car driver - put yourself in places where they EXPECT you to be and not in places where they wouldn't, do things they expect you to do.&nbsp; We, as a rule, ride with an air of superiority to car drivers - and at the end of the day - we are entirely inferior in terms of emergency actions, size, weight, safety.

No amount of safety gear will beat plain old common sense when riding around traffic.

[ManDownUnder]

Originally posted by wkid_one
Fuck - at the end of the day - if they can't see a bike, brake light and rider - what difference is a light on your helmet going to do?

If cars manage to hit each other, it kind of suggests it aint visibility that's the issue...

Now if we had something attached to the bike that gave anyone rearending us a 20,000 Volt shock - I think THAT would work?

I am all for increasing safety for riders but if it means attaching something to my helmet that will reduce the amount of protection given (al la broken neck because of something sticking out the back of it)... I will take a little convincing it is a good thing

MDU

[Jackrat]

MDU,I like that idea.
I have an old electric fence unit around here somewhere,now if I run a wire from here to Hmmmmmm,A few days in the shed is in order me thinks. :2thumbsup LMAO.

[ManDownUnder]

Roll up roll up... get your dickhead zapper here!

If they run into you from behind it is going to hurt... THEM

Quaranteed to blow out all 4 tired on the car, give them a perm and an accident they'll NEVER forget (if they can remember it at all).

As an unexpected benefit - if the accident was due to heart failure or similar - this may well shock 'em back into life!

:)

MDU.
PS I have often thought something similar would be good to get the towies away from the car. Get it hooked up, get 100m down the road and *KA-ZAKKK* - all the elctrics in the towtruck go dead.

It'd only be fair to warn them of course... maybe a tiny sticker in the back window? :)

[Coldkiwi]

I like your way of thinking MDU!

as someone pointed out, what if we removed all brake lights? I wonder if that would make drivers&nbsp;a lot more alert (i'd sure be paranoid) and prevent tail gating like never before?&nbsp;

for the record, the most visible brakelights I've ever seen have been a ludicrous flashing arrangment of 4 lights on the back of a Goldwing. Looked dopey as but it sure as heck worked and would get your attention (probably also makes a few people think that they're tailing a planiclothes copper! What better way to keep idiots at bay?)