And there’s nothing in the law that requires you to have any lighting equipment at all on your bike, as long as you don’t ride during periods of limited visibility. What sorts of conditions might qualify as “limited visibility conditions”? Fog, heavy rain, a blizzard, smoke, a dust storm, an eclipse, a volcanic eruption.īasically, you’re required to use lighting equipment during any lighting or atmospheric condition that limits visibility such that you can’t see clearly 1,000 feet ahead of you. In plain language, this means that if you’re riding between sunset and sunrise-in other words, at night-or if you’re riding at any other time when lighting or atmospheric conditions make it difficult to see 1,000 feet ahead of you, then you are required to be equipped with lighting equipment. (2) Any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles are not clearly discernible on a straight, level, unlighted highway at a distance of 1,000 feet ahead. In Oregon, “lighting equipment” is required on your bike if you are riding “during limited visibility conditions.” 2 This has a very specific definition in Oregon law: 3 So let’s talk about what is specifically required by Oregon law, and what is left to you to decide. But at the same time, it can’t hurt to maximize your visibility, and you’re likely increasing the odds that most drivers will see you. Nevertheless, there are stories of cyclists who did everything right, lighting themselves up like a Christmas tree, wearing reflective and hi-viz clothing, and still getting hit by a driver who said “I never saw the cyclist.” The take-away seems to be that there’s no guarantee that anything you do to increase your visibility will make a careless driver see you. The nighttime perception distance for hi-viz clothing can increase from 150 feet to 560 feet. The daytime perception distance for hi-viz clothing can increase from 400 feet to 2,200 feet.The nighttime recognition distance for reflective material ranges from 600 to 700 feet in darkness but decreases to 260 to 325 feet with brighter background lighting. The nighttime perception distance for reflective material ranges from 1,200 to 2,200 feet.Even at speeds of 30 MPH, drivers have less than two seconds to react once they perceive the cyclist. At speeds of 60 MPH, this gives drivers less than a second to react once they first perceive the cyclist. The nighttime perception distance for dark clothing is only 75 feet.Recognition distance is a shorter distance than perception distance, because after first perceiving that there is something (you) on the road, it takes time for the driver to recognize that you are a cyclist. Recognition distance is the distance at which a driver can first recognize that you are a cyclist.This means that the driver sees something (you) but hasn’t yet recognized what that something is (a cyclist).
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