mjr wrote:slowster wrote:mjr wrote:To the contrary: they contain the perspective of a driver who knows that it's quite simple to do like the highway code says and treat cyclists like a small car and all the victim-blaming and self-loathing telling people to wear special clothes is enabling and prolonging our current might-makes-right broken British road environment.
I generally conclude that people who make claims about how good a driver they are, are often mistaken (unless they have passed the Advanced Driving test).
I made no such claim, however you did:I don't consider myself to be a particularly good driver, and I am not an Advanced Driver, but I did get some additional instruction after passing my test. [...loads of driving instruction..]
I suggested that you were implying that you were a good driver because you observed speed limits and maintained that 'it's quite simple to do like the highway code says and treat cyclists like a small car'. Driving well and safely is not simple, whether it concerns interacting with cyclists, pedestrians or any other road user.
As to me claiming to be a good driver - I did not. 'Some additional instruction' is not 'loads'. I did not claim that it made me a better driver, or that I was a good pupil - a lot of the time my driving has been poor because I ignored or forgot what I was told in those lessons.
The key point was that I was detailing some of the things the instructor told me I should do, which were based on the Advanced Driving handbook, and which were relevant to this thread, i.e. early hazard identification and maximising reaction times. These are hallmarks of good safer driving.
I'm sure that black is more visible in some conditions. However, a lot of cyclists ride in countryside near me, and those in all black kit are far less visible. They do not have any reflectors on their bikes - these are not people on utility bikes wearing ordinary clothes. They are on road bikes and wearing black bib tights, black jackets/jerseys and black helmets. Many of them are riding on roads with cars travelling at or near the 60mph limit. I think the increased risk of wearing all black kit in such situations outweighs the benefit from wearing it in those situations when it might provide good visibility.