“Do you realize you have NO reflectors, NO lights…. are you looking to get killed?” Thanks for asking you old moron. Maybe I don’t have any lights on my bike but I do have reflectors and a big bright yellow milk crate on the back. If you can’t see that with your headlights and all the bright lights of Barrington Street, you need to get a new glasses prescription, cause I’m not the only one looking to get killed. Sorry I can’t really afford some bright flashing lights, but first I’m saving up for a helmet after my other one broke. And then maybe a new bike with brakes that work. Why do you think I’m riding this 8+ year old piece of crap anyway? Mutter as you drive away, “stupidest people…” I dunno about you but I’m not the one who’s a 60-year-old delivery boy, driving a big gas guzzler van. How bout next time you want to speak your mind on a green light in an INTERSECTION at RUSH HOUR on one of the BUSIEST STREETS IN HALIFAX you think about WHY I may be riding unsafely and keep your mouth shut. How bout you buy me some nice shiny flashing lights? I wouldn’t mind. So I’m poor. ECUUUUUUSE ME.
—Unsafe not by choice
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.
Um, if you can’t afford 50 bucks to get a new bike/helmet/light, you’re hard up. Try the bus for a bit.
Check out BikeAgain (@ the bloomfield centre) about fixing your brakes. They do free repair workshops and even provide (some) parts.
Also, those little flashing lights are 3 bucks at MEC.
you really need to hop in a car at night and see just HOW UNREFLECTIVE your “bright yellow” milk crate is. Its your responsibility to be seen, and unless your bike is set up properly and you are wearing the proper safety gear YOU are a hazard on the road. smarten up.
OB what the fuck are you doing on the road then. Fuck another maroon waiting to go on the Medical Examiner’s slab.
MEC. $3.75 for flashing bicycle lights. I just bought a pair for my new bicycle because I want to make sure I am seen at night by everyone else. Reflectors are nice but not nearly adequate to protect one’s life. Thinking otherwise is a potentially fatal mistake.
Are you the same stupid fuck that I almost drove over a few years ago?
To refresh: it was in front of the cbc radio building, it was 8pm and pitch black. You lost it when I was turning left in front of you as you were going straight.
You were on the black bike, dressed in black, with no lights or reflectors.
Please stop riding your shitbox bike at night until you can afford to outfit it with the proper safety equipment. I feel bad for the poor guy/girl that kills an idiot like you.
Pedestrians don’t wear lights (or even reflectors), and it’s DRIVERS’ responsibility to see them in some cases, so a bright yellow crate is actually MORE than a driver should be prepared to watch out for.
OP, you’re right that driver should not be on the road if he can’t spot you. That doesn’t mean you should risk being unlit, though.
You’re riding an unsafe bike. No helmet? No BRAKES? Come on!
Thank god most pedestrians have the brain matter to realize that walking out in front of an approaching car in the dark is a no no (even though it is the driver’s responsibility…), fuck, most 4 year olds know this.
Get a grip, people.
OP, isn’t it nice that so many people care about you? = )
No Dogma (and others)- true that a yellow crate is more visible than most pedestrians…however, that yellow crate is moving a lot faster and can completely surprise a driver.
um, and also- driving a bike anywhere (but ESPECIALLY in a city) without fully functioning brakes is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.
Quote:Pedestrians don’t wear lights (or even reflectors), and it’s DRIVERS’ responsibility to see them in some cases, so a bright yellow crate is actually MORE than a driver should be prepared to watch out for.
end quote:
Yeah yeah its always the big bad motorized vehicle driver’s fault……
Pedestrians are NOT running around in traffic with traffic as bikers are the rules ARE different, and even then everyone needs to make an effort to be seen. The OP’s yellow milk crate is NOT a reflector. It is NOT highly visible at night.
Pedestrians who don’t cross at crosswalks;( which are well lit) are taking their own lives in there hands. Its called jaywalking.
You don’t have operating lights on your bike…You can’t drive it after dark.
Simple.
From your bitch, I believe you may have a disability of the mind. The onus for anything on the road at night, is for your lights to work.
Obviously that’s smart, More, but is it also the law? I’m curious. I don’t know the bike laws.
That, unlike you might think, Elvis Q, is because I almost always AM the big bad motorized vehicle driver. Still, I realize that the people with the most potential to kill others should be the most cautious.
My Bad NoDogma; the sarcasm was lost. I’m a motorist myself, occasional biker and pedestrian and often feel that SOME pedestrian and cyclists ( some = not all ) take the fact that we’re bigger and heavier to mean its totally our responsibility to watch out for them, while they zip about in traffic when and how they please..
I know plenty of people from each group, motorists, peds, cyclist who realize their safety is mainly their own responsibility, and just because the law says so, the light is green etc, doesn’t mean shit if you’re not doing your part to watch your own ass.
AND then there’s people like the OP who feel a yellow milk crate strapped to a bike is a suitable safety precaution at night with no helmet or brakes.
I’m going to run out right now and get one for my car, so I can drive around with no lights on. OP shoul dbe able to see me, right?
No Dogma, Section 174(6) of the Motor Vehicle Act:
6) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a lighted lamp on the front thereof visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of at least 100 metres in front of the bicycle and shall also be equipped with a reflex mirror or lamp on the rear exhibiting a red light visible under like conditions from a distance of at least 60 metres to the rear of such bicycle.
So yes bicycles are required to have lights/reflectors as proscribed.
Thanks, Bro Tim. Is that required even for daytime use?
Elvis Q, I was playing devil’s advocate a bit, and…especially given the light laws for bicycles…a thousand internet points to you for ‘going to get a yellow milk crate for the car’. lol …perfect answer.
No Dogma yes that’s what a bicycle requires for lighting equipment day and night, just like a motorcycle or car. Think of what a pain in the ass it would be for putting on and taking off lights/reflectors twice a day. LOL.
ND- I suspected we were on the same page 🙂