Visibility when cycling at night

My view is, whilst they're good, don't shell out on top quality lights and then just wear black clothing; all the driver sees is a super-bright light and nothing behind.  Hence anywhere you can add reflectives draws attention to you (eg clothes, reflective tyre wall, things on the spokes, tape, stickers etc).  Halfords have cheap reflective stuff.  Proviz stuff looks great at night but they're a bit 'dull' for day riding and are loose fit.  Combo of a solid light and a flashing one (or main light with a steady beam + pulse) works well in busy traffic where you need to draw attention to yourself.  

All black clothing, no lights, but eat more carrots. Supposedly they help you see in the dark!

Set phasers to stun !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Laser-5-Led-Flashing-Rear-Bike-Bicycle-Tail...

Obv lights are your first point.  Always 2 at the rear as you can't see immediately if one has broken - although this is less of an issue now with modern kit. 

And check the visibility and brightness. Park your bike and then walk 20 yards back to see what you look like.  I've seen people with glow worm lights, or lights hidden by a coat hanging over it, or a basket behind it. 

Now get some reflectives. Movement really works so its best on the wheels, feet, legs. Upper body not so much. 

I've seen a guy pedalling on a fast dual carriageway in the pitch black. No lights - but he did have pedal reflectors - bloody lunatic but I could see him 100s of meters off.  So reflective shoes, overshoes, leggings whatever.  I think it's Lusso that do reflective longs with 360 coverage.

You can also buy Tyre flies - glue them onto your valve caps so you can take them off in the daylight.  They're pretty good and cost pennies and really stand out. 

There's also reflective tyre sidewalls - but if they're reflecting back at the driver - you're already in a very dodgy situation. 

I'm not keen on helmet mounted lights - they are too high for motorists to be able to recognise as a bike close up, plus we all move our heads too much.  Great if you're off roading mind you. 

I remember reading a medic write that you shoudl have at least 2 rear lights as due to the the stereoscpoic way the eye works, it is easier for someone to work out the distance at night.

I also have a exposure link plus head light which I use to ensure any motorists at a sideroad know I am there.

I think the ulitmate is

Don't think it is so good for wheel balance though

Just rechecked my bike and no reflectors at all - it was sold with none.

This I will get a one to stick on the mudguard.

IMHO it's harder to see a cyclist in lit areas than it is in pitch black, unless that cyclist has no lights.  I have two Exposire Sirius on the front - flashing, but with a solid 'backlight' in town, and then one or both of them on fixed beam out of town - if I'm concerned about a car or a junction I'll switch one to flashing to avoid the 'car in the distance' illusion.  Two flashing lights on the back (one of which is a camera too) and one on my helmet.  All bright and with different flashing patterns.  Reflective bands on right wrist and right ankle.

During the day, a day bright flashing light front and rear, especially on bright sunny days, because when you're in the shade under some trees and the cars are in bright sunlight, you are invisible without a light.

Pilot Pete has got it right.

The law says you MUST have a Front white Light, Red Rear Light, Red Rear Reflector and Amber Reflectors on the front and rear of each pedal. All of which must meet required standards.

Several studies say that cyclists over estimate their visibility at night.

The Queensland University paper quoted in this thread is getting a bit out of date, it says that Fluorescent colours do not give a significant advantage at night. The paper does not say that there is anything better. However modern white LED lights can emit sufficient UV light to activate the fluorescence effect.

I agree with Pilot Pete, Two front and Two rear lights, one of each constant and one flashing. The lights should not be mounted side by side if possible, it has been suggested that they could make a cyclist look like a car a long way away.

(Retro)Reflectives (Retro means that they reflect light back at the headlights, not that they are old fashioned) can be good, but do not trust your life to them. Their efficacy depends on two factors, the Entrance angle and the Observation angle. They may not work if a vehicle is approaching you from a side road, slip road, on a roundabout, etc. If the vehicle coming up behind is a lotus where the driver's bum is six inches off the road and his eyes are between the head lights they will work fine, If it is an HGV where the driver is sitting six feet above the headlights, they will work less well.

No one has pedal reflectors nowadays, Hi viz reflective ankle bands are naff but work well, you get the bio-motion effect. They may help in an insurance claim, "if only the cyclist had the legally required pedal reflecors M'Lud, this accident would not have happened"

Additional reflective tape, of the approprate colour stuck onto the Seat post, seat stays, forks and rims will only help.

John Franklin author of Cyclecraft (love him or hate him) warns against looking like a christmas tree and says that conspicuity (being noticed) is less important than perspicuity (being recognised as a cyclist). I'm not sure I agree.

I have found that additional bar end lights get me more passing room. Helmet lights can be useful for eyeballng drivers at junctions. Also a red helmet light gives me some confidence in heavy traffic. If there is a HGV coming up behind you, it's last thing to drop below the driver's hoizon.

REMEMBER cyclists over estimate their visibility at night.

Safe Cycling

JAREDP91 wrote:

... I am conscious that on roads without adequate street lighting I may not be visible to drivers ... I have front and rear lights on my bike, as well as wearing clothing with reflective sections... I have had experiences of close passes and don't wish to give drivers the excuse of "I didn't see you" should the worse happen... is anything else I could do to increase my visibility during low light rides?

I can't help with your clothing query, but just to hammer the point home here's this already linked to earlier, from the Highway Code:

Section 60 wrote:

... Their bicycles must also be fitted with a red rear reflector and amber pedal reflectors...

Jazzy clothing and strips of tape are all well and good, but it is a legal requirement if riding your bike between dusk and dawn that your bike is fitted with above (technically, if it was manufactured in the last 35 years, but anyway...) as well as the kit you already have .  

On the only bike I use at night - as well as all the other stuff - I have a red rear reflector on my mudguard (er, pinched off my wife's bike) and, although they're not as sexy as bling cycling clothing, amber pedal reflectors. 

So that's what you should do if you want to avoid claims of "I didn't see you".  

A bit of reflective tape on your helmet shows up very well in a lot of situations.

If you trim it to the helmet it is not conspicuous in daylight, and has the advantages of  360 degree visibility, no weight, you can't forget to charge it, it's cheap and you're unlikely to leave it behind.

Have you looked through the suggestions here: https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/13-best-reflective-garments-and-acc... (NB - dhb now call some products "FLT" rather than Flashlight)? Something like the Sportful Vest might be a good option.

In my opinion, a good set of lights (or two) is far superior to any amount of reflectives. Many modern lights have a degree of side-visibility, although as David mentioned you can get a range of additional lights specifically for sideways lighting.

Reflectives are only really good when you are caught in the light's beam, and there are many cases when you would want to be visible but aren't in the beam. For example going around a corner, or if the car is pulling out of a side road. 

Bright/flourescent colours do nothing after dark. They might be of some help at dusk.

I used to do a night-time commute. The Proviz "pix" jerseys are good for catching the light; the cheaper jackets and gilets aren't breathable.

Get your lighting high - e.g. consider a front/ rear helmet light; clip a rear light in your jersey pocket and have handlebar end front /rear lights. You can get little yellow lights that clip in your spokes. I had one of those sides flashing orange lights for a time, but it got nicked, bizarrely. I was lit up like a Christmas tree!  
Consider a dynohub if you're going to do this regularly.
I felt safer in pitch black, rather than dusk because the cars don't know where the edge of the road is.

I recall either this controlled study or another very similar which concluded reflectives that capture biomechanical motion are the most conspicuous to other humans. They also have the advantage of not requiring batteries.

I found that reflective 3M stickies on the crank arms are very effective, cheap, aero and weigh practically nothing.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221770372_Using_reflective_clot... reflective clothing to enhance the conspicuity of bicyclists at night

Article in Accident; analysis and prevention 45:726-30 · March 2012 with 231 Reads 

DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2011.09.038 · Source: PubMed

Joanne Wood

42.12Queensland University of Technology

Richard A Tyrrell

+ 2

Ralph Marszalek

Philippe Lacherez

29.58Queensland University of Technology

Abstract

Bicycling at night is more dangerous than in the daytime and poor conspicuity is likely to be a contributing factor. The use of reflective markings on a pedestrian's major joints to facilitate the perception of biological motion has been shown to greatly enhance pedestrian conspicuity at night, but few corresponding data exist for bicyclists. Twelve younger and twelve older participants drove around a closed-road circuit at night and indicated when they first recognized a bicyclist who wore black clothing either alone, or together with a reflective bicycling vest, or a vest plus ankle and knee reflectors. The bicyclist pedalled in place on a bicycle that had either a static or flashing light, or no light on the handlebars. Bicyclist clothing significantly affected conspicuity; drivers responded to bicyclists wearing the vest plus ankle and knee reflectors at significantly longer distances than when the bicyclist wore the vest alone or black clothing without a vest. Older drivers responded to bicyclists less often and at shorter distances than younger drivers. The presence of a bicycle light, whether static or flashing, did not enhance the conspicuity of the bicyclist; this may result in bicyclists who use a bicycle light being overconfident of their own conspicuity at night. The implications of our findings are that ankle and knee markings are a simple and very effective approach for enhancing bicyclist conspicuity at night.

Whilst I'd agree with what Pilot Pete has said about flashing and solid lights on your bike, and I'd recommend making sure you have reflective bits either on the pedals or on you shoes (the movement draws attention)...

I feel I ought to point at the great big elephant in the room:

You do know that motor vehicles have these huge bright lights mounted at the front, way more powerful than anything you could mount on your bike?  And supposedly these powerful vehicle-mounted lights are so that the driver can see where they are going...?