Is black cycling gear dangerous?

[Crackle]

No... you just never see Dutch or German cyclists.

How can you? They're not wearing Hi-Viz!

Do you see what I did there?

Sorry.... I'll just leave.

Until you can pluck the HiViz argument from the thread, Grasshopper, you can't leave....

 

[ufkacbln]

No... you just never see Dutch or German cyclists.

How can you? They're not wearing Hi-Viz!

Do you see what I did there?

Sorry.... I'll just leave.

Very dangerous though...

 

[sonssu]

I'd wear black and white (and preferrably some other color added like this) rather than all-black..

 

[defy-one]

Very dangerous though...

Beautiful!

Sent from my GT-I9100

 

[Randonneur]

Black clothing is not dangerous to wear on a bike unless you're actively trying to camouflage yourself. Just last night I saw a cyclist dressed all in black with no lights in the dark, yet he was fairly easy to spot because the streetlights lit him up fairly nicely against the grey road. Of course, in a dark alley, he would have blended in quite suicidally.

If you want to be seen, wear a reflective vest and make sure your front and rear lights are working. As long as you have those, you can't be faulted (even in the court of anti-cyclist public opinion) for anything else you wear.

As for cycling in the dark, I avoid it. Birds don't fly in the dark, and I think they might be onto something..

The clothing for cycling has developed over the years to become florescent yellow or bright colours. The National Cycle Training Scheme requires cyclists to wear bright colours. In addition to all this in the event of an accident one thing the police consider is was the cyclist wearing bright clothing.
Why then does anyone 1. consider that they look cooler on a bike by wearing black. 2. wear black.
When I am driving the cyclist with bright clothing is seen, and the ones wearing grey/black etc. are usually merged into the background greys of the road, trees etc.
Don't know why anyone chooses to wear black when on a bike, its such a stupid choice, too late to claim the motorist should have seen me.

 

[Inertia]

Zombie thread. Is there any evidence that the colour of clothing makes any difference?

 

[ufkacbln]

Zombie thread. Is they any evidence that the colour of clothing makes any difference?

Indirectly?

There is evidence that many accidents are caused by the failure to "See" (as in looking, but not registering what is there) and even when seen the actions are inappropriate.

In this large sample of accidents, Colour would have no effect

 

[Drago]

The SAS go into an embassy wearing black, yet they're the only ones that come out alive. Good enuff for me.

 

[ufkacbln]

The SAS go into an embassy wearing black, yet they're the only ones that come out alive. Good enuff for me.

But they iz proper NInja's ... like?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Team Sky race in black and they've always been invisible. Froome was felt to have such an unfair stealth advantage they made him wear a yellow jersey in the last Tour de France.

 

[Drago]

All the good people who wear black:

Ozzy Osbourne.

The SAS.

Satan.

All the dodgy people who wear clothing with colour:

Dale Winton.

Jeremy Corblimey.

Rolf Harris.

Case closed, Your Honour.

 

[subaqua]

Sounds like you need to stop driving.

we should ban black cars as well then . if black is such a dangerous "absence of colour"

 

[jefmcg]

we should ban black cars as well then . if black is such a dangerous "absence of colour"

No, ban those silver ones that are everywhere. They are nearly the same colour as the road, and really do blend in during a rain storm.

 

[Bollo]

I wear black on the outside because black is how I feel on the inside.

 

[Jody]

......too late to claim the motorist should have seen me.

Pedestrians wear black. Its not a legitimate defence for a motorist if they hit a person crossing the road.