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When a motorist strikes a bicyclist, you’ll often hear that they did so because they didn’t see them. Although bike riders can make themselves more visible to motorists by wearing brightly-colored clothes and by taking other measures, they often fail to do so. This causes them to easily blend in with their surroundings or into the night.
Use lights
Whether they’re used in the daytime or at night, researchers working on a study in Denmark in 2012, found that the use permanent or flashing running lights reduced a bicyclist’s risk of a traffic crash by at least 19 percent.
Use brightly-colored clothing during the day
Researchers who worked on a 2004 study found that motorists respond much more quickly when they see a cyclist dressed in fluorescent colors. They determined that this has to do with how the visible spectrum reflects ultraviolet light. They found that fluorescent-colored clothing tends to appear 200 percent brighter than conventional-colored apparel does during the daytime.
Use reflective clothing at night
In addition to wearing bright colors, it can also help if you wear clothing with reflective panels inserted in them in various strategic places.
Researchers working on a 2012 study were able to determine that at least 94 percent of motorists were able to see bikers when they wore reflective vests along with knee and ankle reflectors. They were able to see 67 percent of them when they just wore the reflective vest by itself.
Most motorists aren’t looking for bicyclists when they take to the road. If they do see you, then it can take as long as two seconds for them to recognize an unexpected object then to steer or slow down their car to avoid it.
Researchers in Sweden working on a 2016 study found that motorists traveling 30 mph can travel a distance of as much as 55 feet in that amount of time. This shows just how vulnerable you are to getting hurt if you’re not visible enough to drivers.
When you’ve been seriously injured in a bike crash, your life has already been turned upside down enough by having an unexpected injury and loss of income. It can be reassuring to know that your attorney is going to give you and your case the personalized attention and service that you deserve from start to finish.