Driver who hit and killed cyclist said victim "seemed the same colour as the shadows"

Any of you guys commenting above actually there? Do you know the bit of road? Do you know what the cyclist was wearing? Did you see the incident. No, thought not.

I've no idea what the cyclist was wearing, or what the road conditions were, or whether the driver was simply not paying attention, but given the number of fellow cyclists I've seen dressed all in black, and blending in a little too well on sections of road that have heavy tree cover, I'm sorry but the drivers version of events may be entirely accurate.

So, 1. Driver should be paying attention, and 2. we should make sure we are visible.

And before anyone jumps on that last one, I'm not saying we should all go round in hi-viz, but at the very least pick a jersey/coat that's a reasonably bright/stand out colour. Or ride with lights even in the day.

Personally I tend to ride with bold red jacket/jersey and white or bright yellow helmet, and if it's overcast I turn my lights on as well.

oldstrath wrote:

But generally they can see black cars? 

Actually, black cars can have the same problem as cyclists wearing all black. I've nearly driven into a couple of very dark coloured cars because I couldn't see them on an overcast day on a narrow unlit tree lined road (they should have had their lights on, but didn't).

When doing my motorbike training I was shown various videos demonstating how easy it is not to see things, or for others not to see you.

joules1975 wrote:

Any of you guys commenting above actually there? Do you know the bit of road? Do you know what the cyclist was wearing? Did you see the incident. No, thought not.

I've no idea what the cyclist was wearing, or what the road conditions were, or whether the driver was simply not paying attention, but given the number of fellow cyclists I've seen dressed all in black, and blending in a little too well on sections of road that have heavy tree cover, I'm sorry but the drivers version of events may be entirely accurate.

So, 1. Driver should be paying attention, and 2. we should make sure we are visible.

And before anyone jumps on that last one, I'm not saying we should all go round in hi-viz, but at the very least pick a jersey/coat that's a reasonably bright/stand out colour. Or ride with lights even in the day.

Personally I tend to ride with bold red jacket/jersey and white or bright yellow helmet, and if it's overcast I turn my lights on as well.

oldstrath wrote:

But generally they can see black cars? 

Actually, black cars can have the same problem as cyclists wearing all black. I've nearly driven into a couple of very dark coloured cars because I couldn't see them on an overcast day on a narrow unlit tree lined road (they should have had their lights on, but didn't).

When doing my motorbike training I was shown various videos demonstating how easy it is not to see things, or for others not to see you.

....or like a lot of British people, she was a shit driver.