Bicycle Board Members,
"Blinky lights" make terrible reflectors when they're off, e.g. dead battery. The law requires a rear red reflector that's visible from 50-300 feet when illuminated by a motor vehicle's high-beams. Having a blinky light with a dead battery and no reflector is a violation of the law. Reflectors are effective if they are positioned to reflect light from the motorists' headlights back to the motorists' eyes. Test your blinky lights and reflectors by sitting in a car and viewing your bike from behind. Studies show that blinky lights are more effective when the light is on steady rather than blinking.
Why am I writing this? On my way home from work tonight, I came upon a guy riding a bike with a dead blinky and no reflector. He was totally invisible. Right now, I'm freaking imagining that he might not have made it home alive.
Novice cyclists fear getting hit from behind although getting hit from behind constitutes only 3% of crashes. Half of those happen at night when the driver didn't see the cyclist. Most of the other half happen during the day because the cyclist wasn't riding straight.
Practicing the knowledge and skills taught in Traffic Skills 101 can reduce the chance of all crash types by one to two orders of magnitude.
6 of our bike board members haven't taken the Road I/Traffic Skills 101 course. I think any bike board member should know such things that the course teaches.
Only one member of the Bicycle Board responded to my 11/11 call for members to join our education committee to implement the $68K grant we received for a Morgantown Effective Cycling Education program.
I can't do it myself. Help.
Frank /Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles/