Vorpal wrote:Living, as I do, in the land of electric cars, I would not ever rely only on hearing, even if I could be certain of hearing every vehicle behind me.
I often find that wind noise in my ears keeps me from hearing motor vehicles very well, anyway. That obviously doesn't apply if I am stopped and waiting, but it certainly can if I am approaching a junction on a down hill or moving quickly to keep up with traffic. The noise doesn't die down sufficiently to hear everything until I slow down quite a bit.
Lastly, there is a damn good reason that motorcyclists call the last look over your should before a turn, the 'lifesaver', and it honestly has prevented me crashing, likely seriously, on at least two occasions when some idiot dangerously overtook me at the last moment.
The land of electric cars.. I thought Norway was the promised land (went there once!) but I just read that some e-car owners claimed compensation cos their vehicles did not have 700kw as claimed, only 470kw 70kw is plenty
Don't the tyres make some noise?
I hadn't heard that about compensation for low power. The tyres do make some noise, but I don't always hear it over the wind noise in my ears.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
[XAP]Bob wrote:Sorry - but you don’t put full beams on behind another car, why would you do it to any other road user?
Sadly, the bad driver following me into town today demonstrated some drivers do indeed leave full beams on when following another car. Flip the RVM prism, dip the right wing mirror, slow and pull in at the next layby. It was very tempting to then pull out and put main beams on but I didn't.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
Bonefishblues wrote:Such as a common sense reading of the HWC, for instance.
The common sense reading of the HWC is that MUST NOT means don't do it, which seems to be what you are arguing against.
pwa wrote:It may be different where some of you cycle, but on the dark lanes around here, with their mostly twisting nature and endlessly variable width, cars pass fairly cautiously.
Yeah. It's not unusual for roads here to be flat and straight for two or three miles at a time (look up Sixteen Foot Bank on Streetview for an example), so main beam is dazzling well before you'd get any benefit from illumination. Happily, most drivers aren't ****s and dip their lights when they see any other road user in front, not only motorists.
At least on the twisting roads, motorists are mostly dipped rather than driving into blind corners on main beam, aren't they?
To be honest, when a car is approaching from behind I don't care whether the lights are on full beam or dipped. Either way, it is just lighting up things ahead. So I've not formed a view about what most drivers are doing in that situation. Oncoming drivers around here dip their beams unless they forget. Some remember a bit late. I've committed that sin myself so I'm not going to be too critical.
Bonefishblues wrote:What do with pedestrians walking in the same direction as us?
They are a road user, so you do the same. Dip until past.
I need to take some issue with this : You dip and slow down (particularly on country roads where there is rarely any refuge for them).
Seriously though, I really do not understand why some drivers (including some who cycle) don't get this. You are driving a ton (or more) of motorised vehicle and have lights that would shame a WWII searchlight. Why wouldn't you make every effort to ensure that other road users are not dazzled (as the HC tells you that you must)?
Bonefishblues wrote:What do with pedestrians walking in the same direction as us?
They are a road user, so you do the same. Dip until past.
I need to take some issue with this : You dip and slow down (particularly on country roads where there is rarely any refuge for them).
Seriously though, I really do not understand why some drivers (including some who cycle) don't get this. You are driving a ton (or more) of motorised vehicle and have lights that would shame a WWII searchlight. Why wouldn't you make every effort to ensure that other road users are not dazzled (as the HC tells you that you must)?
Because waaayyyy too many drivers think they own the road,nothing should get in their way and slowing down is a sin never to be committed for fear of losing a few seconds off their very important schedule
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
I am thinking about rigging a fog light to a momentary switch on my bars... 36Vbfog lamp somewhere?
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way.No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse. There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
reohn2 wrote:A while ago in the car,I was in traffic jam in the dark that wasn't going anwhere anytime soon,behind me was a newish,lazer lamp Range Rover. After about 10 minutes I got out and asked the driver to turn off his headlights as they were burning a hole in the back of my head! He was oblivious to the problem,even though the inside of my car was light up like a football stadium
Why did you complain? Didn't you enjoy benefitting from a better view of what's inside and beside your car?
Vorpal wrote:Living, as I do, in the land of electric cars, I would not ever rely only on hearing, even if I could be certain of hearing every vehicle behind me.
I often find that wind noise in my ears keeps me from hearing motor vehicles very well, anyway.
Don't the tyres make some noise?
The tyres do make some noise,
In the search for efficiency tyre noise has decreased as has the vehicle wind noise. Vehicles competing the the world solar car race are particularly quiet, to the extent that drivers find pedestrians regularly step out directly in front of them! There are those who want noise makers installed as safety features.
The average competing vehicle is running tyres of narrower profile than a moped to reduce rolling and air resistance to the nth degree, hence the lack of noise.
ETA The tyres are also fully faired in most vehicles, again minimising noise.
Last edited by Bonefishblues on 28 Jan 2018, 8:41am, edited 1 time in total.
Cyril Haearn wrote:Don't the tyres make some noise?
The tyres do make some noise,
In the search for efficiency tyre noise has decreased as has the vehicle wind noise. Vehicles competing the the world solar car race are particularly quiet, to the extent that drivers find pedestrians regularly step out directly in front of them! There are those who want noise makers installed as safety features.
This is very well known Yet another tragedy of the commons, they will have to be made noisier Murder most foul (J S Dean)
Surely such races on public roads must be banned
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120 Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
On many modern vehicles the lights go on when the motor is started or the key activated Not sure whether the driver can do anything, he is less intelligent than the vehicle
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120 Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
Cyril Haearn wrote:On many modern vehicles the lights go on when the motor is started or the key activated Not sure whether the driver can do anything, he is less intelligent than the vehicle
This is discussed in other topics, but in short, it varies by car, cars are generally sold with them on and few turn them off. The opposite of most UK bicycles, which require a conscious effort to light and quite a bit to light in a legal manner!
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
In the search for efficiency tyre noise has decreased as has the vehicle wind noise. Vehicles competing the the world solar car race are particularly quiet, to the extent that drivers find pedestrians regularly step out directly in front of them! There are those who want noise makers installed as safety features.
This is very well known Yet another tragedy of the commons, they will have to be made noisier Murder most foul (J S Dean)
Surely such races on public roads must be banned
Before the reflex call for a ban, perhaps useful take a look at the event itself, and its route:
I think the present rules require a lead vehicle ... but no man in front with a red flag yet . Would have to be a fast man .. speeds over 80 mph. That is on the open road, not in towns. The Isle of Man TT is still run ... don't see much call for that to cease.
Considering the solar car race publicity locally (radio, TV and paper) there would be few who would not know it is on, and where the competitors are on the road. It is only those who don't realise how much they depend on nose to detect dangers around them that are a problem. A fact that cyclist with wind noise in their ear should be well aware of.