Daytime lights?

[andygates]

I have a friend who has decided that the way to awesome safety is to run high-power lights in the day.  "Just like a motorbike", says he. 

For my money he's bonkers.  Do you run daytime running lights?  You Dinotte-fiends, do you run 'em in the day in case a feral Routemaster tries to mount you?

[Kim]

I'll bung the Cyo on in shite weather or in city traffic if it's unusually gloomy.  Anecdotally it gets me a little more respect at junctions, at least on the recumbent.  Possibly because it gets briefly mistaken for a motorbike and causes drivers to look properly.

Not something I do as routine, but given the number of motor vehicles driving around with their lights on in the middle of a July heatwave, I can understand why it would seem reasonable for vulnerable road users to join the arms race.

[L CC]

Vulnerable road users aren't unseen because of lack of lights or hi vis, they're unseen because other road users don't look.

(That's a "no" from here).

[mcshroom]

I don't tend to unless it's getting a bit foggy/raining hard and there's a chance that they might be useful.

I'm not happy that new cars have joined motorbikes with permanent lights though, as I can see it leading to people looking for lights and not seeing unlit cyclists and pedestrians.

[cycleman]

i use a bright rear light in poor viz sun/shade conditions . a frend of mine was hit in sun shade conditions a few years ago. he was lucky he was not injured but the trike needed a bit of rebuilding . 

[Kim]

Vulnerable road users aren't unseen because of lack of lights or hi vis, they're unseen because other road users don't look.

Quite.

I suppose a transition from drivers looking for cars to looking for headlights could be to the benefit of (lit) two-wheelers.  Would be pretty crappy for pedestrians, though.

[redshift]

I just leave the front light in 'auto' - if the day/weather gets dim enough on the journey the lights come on, but I don't make any special effort.

[ferret]

No daytime lights on either my bicycle or my motorbike, or hi viz, that's for site work.

[mark]

There's a fairly narrow canyon in my neighborhood that sees a fair bit of bicycle traffic. It gets very little direct sunlight, since it runs north to south, with the lower end of the canyon to the north. I've cycled this road a few times and have been driving it fairly regularly for the last few months. A number cyclists have taken to using blinkie taillights when they ride this road, even in daylight, and I'm surprised at how much easier it is to see the cyclists with taillights. And yes, I do watch for cyclists.

In short, there are plenty of situations where a modern LED taillight will make a cyclist easier to see even in broad daylight, even if the motorist is in aware of cyclists on the road and looking out for them.

[Jaded]

My Dinotte 200 rear is often on in daylight. Whenever I think that my visibility is compromised.

[mattc]

arms race.

Key phrase.

Is an arms race ever a good thing? (don't answer if you are an arms manufacturer)

[rogerzilla]

With the number of cars on the road fitted with fairy lights DRLs increasing, it is already becoming harder to see other cars mixed in among them, let alone bikes.  As the driver of a dark grey car without DRLs (it's new but, despite a total front end redesign in the 2012 model year, was already type approved so sidestepped the regs) I am aware that I might no longer be very visible.

Even Halfrauds admit this

As more vehicles appear on the road with DRLs on, older vehicles will be at a disadvantage in terms of visibility. So it's expected that drivers with older vehicles will choose to add DRLs or will drive with sidelights or dipped headlights on.

So we're in the worst possible situation where some vehicles have DRLs and some don't.  If all vehicles have them then it's OK, just rather wasteful.  if no vehicles have them it's OK.  I don't believe the studies showing DRLs increase safety recognised that there is a 20 year transition period during which it is probably more dangerous.

[Domestique]

Just leave my Cyo on all the time now. I used to switch it on and off but its just easy to leave it on.
Whilst we where in Germany it seemed quite common to see bikes with lights on all the time. I dont have a problem with it.

[sojournermike]

I've just got back from a quick ride on the Peugeot and I put a blinkie led tail light on it as I knew I would be riding through a tunnel of trees at one point and didn't want to be rear ended.

Yesterday I went sans lights in the early morning sun.

I've one 1 bike with a dynamo and that's just on, front and rear

MIke

[PhilO]

I don't believe the studies showing DRLs increase safety recognised that there is a 20 year transition period during which it is probably more dangerous.

Worse than that, I understand that the studies showing safety benefits come from Scandanavia, where roads are much quieter and it's dark a lot more of the time. I can believe DRLs give a benefit on quiet country roads in overcast weather, where drivers might be tempted to only glance around them for one of the 3 cars an hour that usually pass... But I can't see how that maps onto, for instance, busy cities with high levels of traffic and visual clutter! 

[Dibdib]

Vulnerable road users aren't unseen because of lack of lights or hi vis, they're unseen because other road users don't look.

(That's a "no" from here).

This.

Fwiw I bung a rear light on for TTs for the same reason I wear a helmet - it makes the organisers happy.

[Cunobelin]

.... ish

I use lights when I feel they could make a difference, i.e. cloudy, raining, mist etc.

My "test" is quite simple. If the cars / motorbikes are really standing out as opposed to being background noise, then I will put lights on, but I do NOT think DRLs a re a god idea

[Butterfly]

I often leave my dinamo lights on and often have a flashing rear light unless it's bright sunshine. I don't think it makes me more visible but does remove the excuse from the drivers that pull in front of me.

[jogler]

The dynamo front light on the Longstaff is permenantly on so that I cannot forget* to do it myself.

*It's an age thing

[perpetual dan]

I don't do lights in day, unless visibility is low or it is likely to become night before I stop to muck about.

On the DLR topic, I saw a car the other day where the white light switched off when indicating, on the indicating side only. I instinctively read this as a flash of headlight, it wasn't until I noticed the other headlight still on that I realised it wasn't.

[Regulator]

Vulnerable road users aren't unseen because of lack of lights or hi vis, they're unseen because other road users don't look.

(That's a "no" from here).

^^^^
This!

[Kim]

I can believe DRLs give a benefit on quiet country roads in overcast weather, where drivers might be tempted to only glance around them for one of the 3 cars an hour that usually pass... But I can't see how that maps onto, for instance, busy cities with high levels of traffic and visual clutter! 

The main advantage I can see to them on cars in urban areas is being able to tell whether a 'parked' car is likely to move off.  Of course this only works consistently when DRLs are compulsory, and even then lamps can fail.  Perhaps more useful for making two-wheelers stand out, but I'm sceptical how useful this actually is (beyond the "that cyclist's left their lights on" effect) in normal daylight.

[andygates]

Aye, DRL's show that a car is "on" - with a bike, it's a bit more obvious

Locally we have a lot of tree tunnels, and on bright days they get super dark.  Front DRLs are useful because it's nice to see cars coming; rear less relevant as cars in front are less disappear-y.

Disappear-y? Buffy me.

[contango]

In normal daylight I don't use lights. If I'm going through a section that's dark or conditions are bad (which might mean a tunnel, a section with a lot of tree cover, or just a lot of rain) I'll put my rear light on flashing to make myself more visible. Sometimes I'll put my front light on pulsing as well to make it (hopefully) less likely someone will pull out in front of me having not seen me.

That said I've had people pull out in front of me after dark despite my Hope light pulsing right at them so I wonder how many people even bother looking at all.

[ianrauk]

Daylight riding I like to have as little on the bike as possible. So no lights for me.