Are you too scared to cycle in London?

Stella

I personally don't go over the top. One flashing light on my back, usually in the of my rucksack or back pocket of my jeans, and one flashing light on my handlebar. <br>My mamachari has a super bright LED hub dynamo. It's on day and night--because I think it's just too funky.<br><br>It really depends on if you want to be seen or if you want to see. If you cycle through unlit areas, it's definitely worth finding something that throws light ahead of you. <br>

vetski

As a habitual driver who has no wish to hit a cyclist, lots of bright lights, please! Notwithstanding the number of idiots who cycle without any lights at all, there are also an awful lot whose lights are totally inadequate - back light only, for instance (very unhelpful when checking one's mirrors before turning), or lights that don't seem to generate light when the rider is freewheeling. Dusk is especially tricky at the moment.

miss annie

I have flashing lights on the front and back of my helmet and on my bike it's like a jazzy mobile disco. Also hi viz jacket, reflector bands round ankles and right wrist - for dodgy right turns. I would rather look look an idiot lit up like a Christmas tree than be mown down by someone who didn't see me. Have cycled back from town in the dark and torrential rain, bit hair raising but allow plenty of braking distance, and follow the usual rules of assuming that everyone else on the road is an idiot.

Idoru

You know, I'd never have thought to have two sets of lights, so that's really helpful! <br>

yagamuffin

<a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fibre-Flare-360-Vision-Fibre-Optic-Rear-Bike-Light-Shorty-Red-/290901957661?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item43bb1b9c1d">Light flare's</a> are good to fit on the back of the seatpost and <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flashing-Led-Tire-Light-Bike-Car-Motorcycle-Wheel-Light-Stem-Valve-Caps-/280774566033?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&var=&hash=item415f77e091">valve cap flashing LEDs</a> are good too. Also,<a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-Scotchlite-580-Reflective-Tape-Full-Colour-Range-inc-Black-White-UK-680-/140986095268?pt=UK_Other_Clothing_Protection&var=&hash=item20d36d16a4"> 3M Scotchlite tape</a> plastered all over the bike!

Peter Crumb

I think you are actually more visible at night (assuming you make the necessary precautions) than you are during the day.

Idoru

Loving the flashing LEDs! I might have to get myself some of those.<br>

Sutent

I was riding through Hyde park and the Regents canal in the dark last night. It is pitch black and can only see just whats in front of me,. Its unbelievable the people ride bikes with no lights. So many near misses

Stella

Particularly along a canal. That's just plain stupid.<br>

wisteria53

My bike lights and I have been described as "the Starship Enterprise" when passing the Stapleton.  I have at least one front/back set on during daytimes as well.  I would rather look ridiculous and be seen.

miss annie

Me too. One tiny back light is not enough. Am also surprised at how many cyclists wear a hi viz gilet and then put a massive rucksack on - covering it completely! I've noticed that the people who cycle without lights, helmets etc at night also seem to take the most risks - dodgy overtaking, ignoring red lights etc. Idiots. And to conclude my rant, why on earth do so many young women cycle without helmets - it just vanity?

Sutent

Annie - helmet her is not a good look for some people. It doesnt bother me. <div><br></div><div>Over the last few weeks there have been increasing number of horses in Knightsbridge and Chelsea. They are stunning animals but unfortunately they leave their waste behind on the road which can be an issues if there isn't much space on the road to cycle around them. Some of the lumps are huge. </div>

Stella

I cycle without helmet. Simply because I think helmets are for wimps. Haha. No. I've always cycled without helmet and if an accident happens, gee, most people caught under a lorry have other things to worry about than their heads. A paramedic I know reports about such accidents every now and again, saying that most helmets are intact, sadly the last person involved was folded. Hope the cyclist is all right. <br>He wasn't too worried when I told him I don't wear a helmet. He wears one, for he has got family and needs to set an example for the children.<br>So, unless it's made a legal requirement, I won't wear a helmet. <br><br>

yagamuffin

He doesn't think helmets are needed but wear one as an example to the children? That makes no sense.<div>I always wear a helmet, two of them have kindly given their plastic lives to save mine. Once head first over the bars, once out the side, both times the helmet was busted and my skull was intact.</div>

Stella

That's you reading something into the post that is not there. He's not overly concerned about my not wearing one and didn't press me to wear one. It's a choice. He chooses to wear one, I choose not to. Aren't helmets a must for children? I honestly don't know. <br>Good to hear that helmets DO work. :-)<br>

yagamuffin

Apologies for misinterpreting your post. And no, I don't think there are any rules regarding helmets other than liability insurance for groups going out on rides.

Stella

No bother. :-) I know enough fathers who only wear a helmet because the wife's nagging them. The reports of the paramedic only confirmed (for me) that I am okay without a helmet. As said previously, I'm not going overly fast, I'm not riding particularly risky (even if you guys may get that impression), and I always expect others to be idiots. That won't save me from injuring myself, as the crash two months ago proves, but, again, it was my hand, not my head, I hurt when I came off the bike. I'm not particularly interested in having an accident, so I try to avoid it where, and when, I can. <br>

Peter Crumb

Helmets only help you if you fall over going at a slow speed. Basically they're suitable for kids but if a commuter gets hit a helmet is going to do nothing.

djmattyoung

<div><span style="font-size: 10pt;">People only assume helmets don't work as they won't save your life if you are hit by lorry, but they can save you from a serious head injury if you come off your bike in any other type of collision. </span></div>

yagamuffin

Helmets only help if you're going slow? Rubbish. Helmets only help if you have an incident where your head makes direct contact with something hard. Fast or slow if your head makes contact with tarmac without a helmet you have an increased risk of death as opposed to having a helmet between your head and the tarmac. Yes, you may still have broken bones and other injuries but a helmet does reduce the risk of death.

Idoru

http://theconversation.com/should-the-uk-embrace-mandatory-bike-helmet-laws-16265<br>;"Robust studies show helmets reduce head injury risk <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=412317">by up to 74%</a>. Recently, Sydney researchers found cyclists who crashed without helmets were five times more likely to <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2013/198/8/effectiveness-helmets-reducing-head-injuries-and-hospital-treatment-costs?0=ip_login_no_cache=ca35236fb2dbd15a8297b755561d2936">sustain severe head injuries</a>."<br><br>That's good enough reason for me to wear one. <br>

Stella

Don't get me wrong. I'm not telling anyone to not wear a helmet. If you choose to wear one, it's fine by me. I just happen to choose not to wear one. When I started cycling here in London, I went to get myself a high visible belt, reflectors for the legs, I had lights and all that, was scared someone would knock me over. I accustomed pretty fast, but still kept the reflectors since I mainly cycled late in the day or at night, and in the city.<br>Now, I've abandoned everything but the lights. <br><br>Look at Detritus: respecting all the rules, wearing high visibility jacket, and he's not that easy to be overlooked either: got hit twice. So what's all the gear worth? Nothing, to me. If an idiot decides to come round the corner, you can only be saved by a full-body protection, if at all. Wearing all that stuff would take all the fun out of cycling (for me).<br>I may get knocked over some day, hopefully not. All I can do is try to cycle as carefully as possible to avoid anything happening.<br><br><br>

Detritus

"All I can do is try to cycle as carefully as possible to avoid anything happening" But on this very thread you admit to jumping red lights, how do the two equate? I genuinely don't know what to say. I just think you are wrong Stella.

Stella

Jumping a red light (depending on the red light, of course) doesn't mean I'm a careless cyclist. If there's no pedestrian, and no car coming from left or right, I admit, I'm naughty, sometimes. And I look beforehand. Nobody can tell me they've never jumped a red light in their life. I find those drivers on Seven Sisters Rd, at the Finsbury Park crossing (at Lidl), far more dangerous, as they are racing through the red lights. They bring others in serious danger. I don't do that, which doesn't mean my jumping red lights is right. Never said it is. Just admitting to doing it. <br>

Peter Crumb

What I meant by going slow was that helmets are designed to protect you if you fall off your bike rather than being hit by a car. If you get hit by a car you're dead anyway. I've crashed twice at relatively slow speeds - probably between 10-15 miles mph and both times I was nowhere near hitting my head into the road. 

miss annie

If there is even the remotest chance that a helmet could save my life I'll wear it. This only proves my point that those who take risks with their own safety are the biggest danger to others. @Stella Detritus is not a good example to use. Although he is a BFG people regularly crash into him when he's just walking down the street. He becomes completely invisible to the general public when carrying anything large or heavy, it really is quite extraordinary. Fortunately, being from Yorkshire, he is blessed with a large and inventive vocabulary of swear words for such occasions.

Stella

I crashed a few times--when I was a girl and my friend and I got tangled up with our bikes on the way to school, never really did ourselves an injury, once when I cycled along the canal and an idiot on his bike just cycled into my way, straight out the park, without looking or assuming there may be someone coming. Hurt my foot and my hand, and my hip because I crashed straight into him. He was fine, but extremely sorry.<br>And I crashed into that bollard (which still makes people laugh), where I fractured my hand, and, yes, I landed on my chin, but a helmet wouldn't have helped me then either. The most annoying 'injury' from landing on my chin was that I bit my lip, which made me temporarily look like Angelina. <br>

Stella

Annie: I just find it absolutely weird and hilarious that he's overlooked. I mean how does this happen? He's not exactly tiny.<br>

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Stella

Never happens to me. When I come marching along, a scary look on my face, people make room for me. Odd, that. Or maybe they think I'm filthy and stink. One never knows.<br>