Visibility - Black Bikes Are Easier to See

[Squeak the Rat]

I was travelling into the setting sun yesterday (yes, there was some sun). There was a lot of glare and I was having a hard time seeing. All of a sudden a bike passes me going the other way. The bike was red and had its light on and I simply didn’t see it coming.

Then off in the distance I saw another bike coming my way. Why could I see one bike and not the other? The difference was this bike was black and stood out against the bright background.

So, forget what your mum or ACC tell you – it’s sometimes easier to see black bikes….. when there is a very bright background. And if you’re on a bright coloured bike don’t assume that you’re more visible - there are times when you are harder to see.

Also consider whether it really is safer to wear the dayglo vest while travelling on the motorway during sunstrike hours.

Just some food for thought…. (As a matter of coincidence I had a read through the March edition of Bike when I got home and there was an article that mentioned this phenomenon.)
STR

[cowboyz]

i always thought yellow was the easiest colour to see. (no science backing this up BTW). Even though I ride a black bike and the only time cars don't see me is when they are talking on the phone or reading the paper

[Squeak the Rat]

Yellow is a very visible colour under "normal" conditions. Put a bright yellow sun behind a yellow bike/rider and it's not so good. It's all a matter of contrasts - the brain thinks "wait, that doesn't fit in"....

Another tip the article mentioned was to weave slightly so that your headlight isn't consistent. The peripheral vision is designed to pick up movement, so if you have the sun behind you and you're not sure if a car pulling out of a side road has seen you, move the bike around a little in the lane....

If car drivers always see you then either you practice good road positioning skills or you're damn lucky!

[MSTRS:Me]

Another tip the article mentioned was to weave slightly so that your headlight isn't consistent. The peripheral vision is designed to pick up movement,

I heard that there is something that can 'attach' to your headlight circuitry that makes the light flicker (for want of a better term) either that or loosen the mounts so that the light 'rattles'...

[Motu]

Eons ago in the dim dark ages of awakening awareness to road safety it was discoverd that a white VW Beetle was the hardest car to see...now the theory seems to be a silver car is hard to see.A bike is pretty hard to see colours on,even a fluro jacket and helmet are hard to pick up front on....movement seems to be the key.

[cowboyz]

i was riding about 2 weeks way back when adam was a cowboy and got collected at a set of lights in Palmerston north where a car failed to give way. not alot of damage to me (bike was a bit sad) but lesson well learned. Now I ride realitively aggressively around traffic. And am very caucious at intersections. As it turns out no one has pulled out on me on my current bike but I don't take that for granted. Moving around in the lane (subtlely) is a good way to be seen. so is not making assumptions - After all, even if you are in the right, it still hurts.

[madboy]

It's really hard for people to pick out bike colour schemes. I heard a bike get reported the other day, and the fella looking straight at it said he couldn't see what colour it was, and it might have been that green and blue thing they were looking for. The colour scheme of the actual bike was so far removed from those two colours it's not funny. Human eyes aren't perfect, and don't have an action replay.

[GR81]

silver on a car is meant to be the easiest to see.
from memory, green was the hardest.
*shrug*

[sugilite:Me]

Eons ago in the dim dark ages of awakening awareness to road safety it was discoverd that a white VW Beetle was the hardest car to see...now the theory seems to be a silver car is hard to see.A bike is pretty hard to see colours on,even a fluro jacket and helmet are hard to pick up front on....movement seems to be the key.

Aha, at last a real reason to do stand up wheelies, stoppies and burnouts, all in the name of visability, thanks Motu

[FROSTY:Me]

I mentioned before -not only is it hard to see bikes sometimes--Its also bloody hard to judge the aproach speed as well.

[sunhuntin]

frosty...ive noticed that any vehicle with headlights on it is harder to judge how far they are. what i do is i pick a landmark [ie, letterbox or anything similar] and if its far enough that i can turn safely, i then check how close/far the lights are from it. not always do i get that chance, but it has helped and i havent had it fail yet.

[Velox]

And black is prettttttty


My over-dramatic mother almost started weeping and knashing her teeth when she heard that my new bike was going to be black. Crazylittleshit was around during one of her expressions of dismay and was slightly amused. Mothers eh.

[Shadows]

I heard that there is something that can 'attach' to your headlight circuitry that makes the light flicker (for want of a better term) either that or loosen the mounts so that the light 'rattles'...

A modulator. There was a discussion on this thread about them recently, starting at post 73.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ight=modulator

[hXc]

But my bike still looks nicer. Mmmmmmmmmmm...metallic blue

[XP@]

I nearly grilled myself on a grey/silver car coming the other way the other day.
It was getting a little dark and the car had no lights on. It looked just like the road surface... well camoflaged!

Also a few years ago i heard if you are riding with your back to the sun, then you should turn off your lights, creates a greater shadow.
I remembered trying this but then giving up because it was one too many things to process.