His headlight was on and his motorcycle was brightly coloured yet the driver apparently didn’t see him. He is in hospital now and wrote one handed to tell me his story which has really got me thinking about what studies have been done about this problem.
The Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Centre has some great information for riders. I decided to revisit their site which I came across a few years ago remembering it had some information about being visible to drivers.
There are 20 things listed that a rider can do to make themselves more visible and information on each about how effective it actually is. Headlights on during daytime which I tend to rely on rates rather poorly. Additionally each item has a number of points attached to it and they suggest a rider should aim to reach a score of 10 points to have good visibility to other vehicles.
Here is the list, click on any to get that items report.
1. Fluorescent/Reflective safety vest. 4 points. The most effective way to be seen is a high-vis fluro safety vest or a jacket in high-vis fluro.
2. White Helmet. 3 points. A study in New Zealand showed riders with a white helmet 24% less likely to be involved in multi-vehicle accident.
3. Brightly coloured jacket. 2 points. Makes sense a bright colour jacket will be better than a dark or neutral one.
4. Strategic positioning. 2 points. Careful lane positioning can keep you in cars mirrors or line of sight, I think we all know this but sometimes forget.
5. Headlight Modulation. 1 point
6. Taillight Modulation. 1 point. Again legalities I am not 100% on here, however fitting an additional LED tail/brake light is perfectly legal and if that one flashed once then stays solid under braking then it would be fine. These flash once type are available aftermarket.
7. Reflective Materials. 1 Point. This relates to after dark having reflective tape or decals on your bike or piping on your clothes so you stand out from side or rear more.
8. Movement. 1 point. Moving about a bit in your lane will draw attention. Vary your speed slightly and position to make drivers not forget you.
9. Auxiliary driving lights. 1 point. This one is interesting. The idea is to draw attention by having extra lights to your headlight to form a triangle a method developed by trains to be noticed by drivers quicker.
10. Hand Signals. 1 point. Illegal here as law states hands and legs cannot leave bars/pegs while riding. Principle makes sense, something not often seen so will bring attention to you.
From here the items get much less effective or practical.
11. Avoid riding at night. ½ a point. May not be possible but sure fire way to eliminate some risk if you can avoid it.
12. Avoid riding at dawn or dusk. ½ a point. Yep that is a dangerous time even with zero cars as very real risk of Skippy jumping out in front of you in Australia.
13. Aftermarket horn. ½ a point. Will not make you more visible, however sure would be handy for drivers that merge into your lane on highways.
14. Marker lights. ½ a point. We don’t have this system, some states in the USA have their vehicles indicators on full time. Would be a good thing for motorcycles here I think.
15. Avoid riding in poor weather. ½ a point. We all know how many accidents happen in the rain due to poor visibility, again not always possible but perhaps something many social riders comply to.
16. Avoid riding during low sun in the sky time of day. ½ a point. Again difficult to do but a worthy tip as the facing the sun when low can blind both cars and motorcycles, especially entering shaded sections of country road.
17. Bike profile.1/2 a point. A study has shown the shape of a motorcycle can impact on visibility. Sounds feasible to me that a huge bike will be seen more than a small one. Not really helpful for most people.
18. Bike colour. ½ a point. The same study found that motorcycle colour was not a factor in crash involvement however logic says yellow is slightly better than black or gray.
19. High beam in daytime. ¼ of a point. Yep told you it would be a surprise. Most riders think this will make them seen however a study unfortunately found it is not effective.
20. Unusual effects. ¼ of a point. Anything out of the ordinary affixed to you or you bike that might draw attention to it.
At first when riding I paid only a passing interest to my visibility. More recently I have tried to do something, I have a white helmet and have installed HID headlights which seem to be very bright in the daytime. I think however I am going to step it up a notch and factor this into my upcoming winter jacket shopping.
Take away the ‘avoid riding’ items above and the horn and see how many points you have for a fine days ride. Did you make 10? I sure didn't but I think I can easy improve my score with a couple of the above ideas.
Update: Here is an interesting article about motion camouflage - Why Motorcycles are Invisible.
10 points! From the first 10, unless you wear a hi-vis vest and a white helmet it's only possible to get 10 points if you do absolutely everything else on the list. Seeing as some of these are illegal in Australia thats simply not possible.
ReplyDeleteIt also doesn;t make much sense. Colour of the bike doesn't make much difference, but coulour of the helmet does? I'd have to question these findings.
Anecdotaly, I've had a white helmet, and currently have a bright yellow bike, and I am still as invisible as I ever was. I think it's up to riders really. Car drivers are mostly completely inattentive - I treat every one like it's actively trying to kill me.
I think the target of 10 points is set as the ideal result and not what everyone has to achieve.
ReplyDeleteThat said most riders should be able to get a reasonable score with only minor additions. For myself to get up to a 10 without the vest I need a brighter coloured jacket and some driving lights, I already have a white helmet and can tick off more than enough other items.
When I see a motorcycle approaching me on the road I rarely can make out it's colour until it is closer or at an angle to my line of sight due to headlight glare. Naked bikes have such a small frontal area that I cannot tell their colour until side on to me where I can see their fuel tank.
After the headlight I generally can see the riders helmet and upper body before I am able to process the make or colour of the bike - again the headlight glare obscures the bike until closer.
So if we look at the issue of a car pulling out or turning in front of a rider then I think this article holds some value. The driver glances in our direction for a second before making a decision to stop or go, as studies have shown human brains see vehicle headlights and tune them out. So we are left then to choose if we wish to make ourselves more visible in other ways or not.
Update, headlight modulators are legal in Australia. I have HID lights so no can do but not sure if I would fit one if I had regular lights as might bring on road rage from cars I am riding behind. Guess you turn it off in that situation but then have to remember to turn back on.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that wearing a white helmet seems to make drivers think (albeit briefly) that I may be a cop so they tend to notice it and pay more attention (hey whatever works!).
ReplyDelete