[SDCBC] Bicyclist Dies After Being Hit By Mercedes

[Serge Issakov]

Huh.  I always that side reflectors were useless.

If the bicyclist is moving perpendicular to the motorist, consider how
long he will be in the motorist's headlights.   Even only 10 mph is 14
feet per second.  How wide is the span of a car's headlights even 2
seconds in front of the car?  It seems to me that by the time the
cyclist is in the "cone" of the headlights, it's too late for the
motorist to notice and react.

A nice bright headlight, on the other hand, should get the motorist's
notice long before it's too late when he naturally looks in the
direction traffic might be coming from.

Serge



On 9/20/07, Tom Lettington <tlettington at san.rr.com> wrote:
> At 04:10 PM 9/20/2007, Serge Issakov wrote:
> >On 9/20/07, Frank  Paiano <wondernerd at juno.com> wrote:
> >
> > > A man riding a bicycle without a light ...
>
> A headlight and/or taillight would have probably done very little to
> enhance the cyclist's visibility in this case.  What we need to learn
> from this incident (assuming the reported circumstances are accurate)
> is that side visibility is very important. I'm willing to bet the
> cyclist had no reflectors on his wheels or, even better,  reflective
> sidewalls on his tires and was not wearing any kind of reflective clothing.
>
>      - Tom
>
>
>


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NOTE: Any opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily shared
by any organization in which I am involved.