MUT Lighting Etiquette Reminder

[Terpfan]

I was guilty this morning. Once I left Abingdon Drive to hop back onto MVT by the power plant, I totally forgot to turn it off. I never do that, but I just zoned out during this morning’s ride. So apologies to whomever was heading southbound until about the airport when I suddenly realized it. Also, please feel free to yell out at me to turn off the blinky.

But, that mistake aside, I entirely agree. It’s tough enough with random MUP users randomly stopping in the middle of the path, making ill-advised (downright kamikaze passes), kids, dogs, etc, to need to be blinded. As fall approaches, it’s particularly tough given those of us heading south dealing with the GWMP’s vehicular lights and then the cyclists lights.

[DismalScientist]

People riding e-bikes on MUTs are motorists.:rolleyes:

[Henry]

@ctankcycles 124767 wrote:

P.S. grr i can’t edit the redundant acronym in the thread title.

Fixed.

[Emm]

Thanks for the reminder to charge my light before I go in early tomorrow. While making sure it still works I set it to strobe right in my face. 800 lumens of strobe light is NOT a pleasant experience, even mid-day.

[Vicegrip]

@ctankcycles 124767 wrote:

Well, it’s that time of year again. Last “night” between 6:30-6:45 pm (not actually dark yet) I crossed paths with a number of riders on the MV Trail with their high powered lights set to strobe. If the point of your strobe is to blind oncoming riders then mission accomplished. In fact, the strobe setting, as one manufacturer writes, “alerts night time motorists with pulses.” Key word here is motorists. Cyclists are not motorists and don’t need 800+ lumens of strobing light to see you coming. Are we all in agreement? If not, I’d love to hear your reasoning.

P.S. grr i can’t edit the redundant acronym in the thread title.

I had a one guy with an unusually high power strobe on the MUP portion of my commute in for a while. I started setting my light to strobe when I saw him in the distance and would ride past with the light uncovered. Very un Dirt like but it did seem to work as ether he has stopped riding or stopped using the coastal marine grade light.

Etiquette question regarding lights or lack there of and others. I ride a section of the W&OD heading west in the am before daybreak and encounter many ninjas. Recently I have been saying “You need a light” in the same neutral voice and tone as I say “Onyourright” Is this poor form?

What got me started was a lady that frequently walks with a kid laden stroller in darkness and never has any lights or reflective gear.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Vicegrip 124861 wrote:

Etiquette question regarding lights or lack there of and others. I ride a section of the W&OD heading west in the am before daybreak and encounter many ninjas. Recently I have been saying “You need a light” in the same neutral voice and tone as I say “Onyourright” Is this poor form?

What got me started was a lady that frequently walks with a kid laden stroller in darkness and never has any lights or reflective gear.

I struggle with this too…just this morning I took an alternate route to work that used the W&OD and sure enough, there were probably 3 or 4 blinkie offenders, 1 of which was particularly bad. I debated whether to say “no blinkie please”, but ultimately just kept my mouth shut. We as humans (or maybe just Americans) seem conditioned to react negatively to this type of feedback, so I just suck it up and hope that these people will learn on their own once they experience the issue for themselves.

[dasgeh]

@Vicegrip 124861 wrote:

What got me started was a lady that frequently walks with a kid laden stroller in darkness and never has any lights or reflective gear.

Generally, I doubt that saying things to others helps. With pedestrians, the only time I’ve had any luck is when I slow down to a speed where we could actually speak to each other. Shouting something as you wizz by is not likely to be heard, and is rude. But if you were to slow down behind her to her speed, and very nicely, politely, say something like “Good morning, I’ve seen you here a few times, and I love seeing families on the trail. However, I have a hard time seeing you as it gets darker in the mornings. Have you considered having wearing lights or something reflective?” Then listen to what she says. Might cost ou all of a minute. And might not do any good. But if you’re nice, you might get her to think about it.

[thucydides]

@ctankcycles 124767 wrote:

Well, it’s that time of year again. Last “night” between 6:30-6:45 pm (not actually dark yet) I crossed paths with a number of riders on the MV Trail with their high powered lights set to strobe. If the point of your strobe is to blind oncoming riders then mission accomplished. In fact, the strobe setting, as one manufacturer writes, “alerts night time motorists with pulses.” Key word here is motorists. Cyclists are not motorists and don’t need 800+ lumens of strobing light to see you coming. Are we all in agreement? If not, I’d love to hear your reasoning.

P.S. grr i can’t edit the redundant acronym in the thread title.

I know I’m consistently in the minority on this, but the counterargument is that no one lives and works right on an MUT. Thus they also travel on roads during the same trip. Furthermore, all the MUT’s in the area feature at-grade road crosses where a strobe can make a difference between life and death in dusk-like conditions. I certainly agree that strobing in broad daylight is unnecessary. Plus bikers need more awareness of the impact of their lights and make adjustment accordingly. Personally I just avert my eyes when I come up on on one.

[dbb]

@dasgeh 124866 wrote:

Generally, I doubt that saying things to others helps. With pedestrians, the only time I’ve had any luck is when I slow down to a speed where we could actually speak to each other. Shouting something as you wizz by is not likely to be heard, and is rude. But if you were to slow down behind her to her speed, and very nicely, politely, say something like “Good morning, I’ve seen you here a few times, and I love seeing families on the trail. However, I have a hard time seeing you as it gets darker in the mornings. Have you considered having wearing lights or something reflective?” Then listen to what she says. Might cost ou all of a minute. And might not do any good. But if you’re nice, you might get her to think about it.

I try to have a clean BikeArlington ankle strap that I offer with the question “You were pretty difficult to see, would you like a reflective band?” The uptake on that is generally about half. In every case I have politely told the ped that they are hard to see and that might cause them to do something about it.

[Henry]

@Vicegrip 124861 wrote:

I had a one guy with an unusually high power strobe on the MUP portion of my commute in for a while. I started setting my light to strobe when I saw him in the distance and would ride past with the light uncovered. Very un Dirt like but it did seem to work as ether he has stopped riding or stopped using the coastal marine grade light.

Etiquette question regarding lights or lack there of and others. I ride a section of the W&OD heading west in the am before daybreak and encounter many ninjas. Recently I have been saying “You need a light” in the same neutral voice and tone as I say “Onyourright” Is this poor form?

What got me started was a lady that frequently walks with a kid laden stroller in darkness and never has any lights or reflective gear.

While we don’t do our annual blinkie light give-aways until after the DLS shift, we’re happy to give you trail ambassadors a handful to share with the ninjas. I keep extras with me for just such occasions. Reflective leg straps, too.

Henry

[Rockford10]

I try the opposite approach – “I like your lights!” – to well-lighted runners and walkers.

The “your slimming black top and black capri yoga leggings make you really hard to see” wasn’t working for me.

[Raymo853]

Based on my first few dark and dim rides this fall, I think many people are acting better with their lights. I am hopeful this trend will continue. I think people imitating others is the primary driver, not the dramatic reaction folks. Of course, in a short time when 4,000 LUM & 6 hour run-time lights with broad uniform patters are $25, what will it matter.

[americancyclo]

@Vicegrip 124861 wrote:

Etiquette question regarding lights or lack there of and others. I ride a section of the W&OD heading west in the am before daybreak and encounter many ninjas. Recently I have been saying “You need a light” in the same neutral voice and tone as I say “Onyourright” Is this poor form?

What got me started was a lady that frequently walks with a kid laden stroller in darkness and never has any lights or reflective gear.

In this, like many cases, I think the right thing to do is to approach the problem with a solution, instead of only pointing out the problem.

Carry an extra white and red blink from BikeArlington with you. Next time you see this person, you can stop and say,
I had a hard time seeing you, and I’d like you and your little humans to be safe out here. Would you like these lights to help you be seen a little better?

You redirect the conversation from “You have a problem!” to “I care about you. You are awesome, so here’s free stuff!”

[TwoWheelsDC]

@americancyclo 124900 wrote:

“I care about you. You are awesome”

But my mom told me lying was bad….

[americancyclo]

@TwoWheelsDC 124942 wrote:

But my mom told me lying was bad….

you’re not lying, you’re just leaving some things [unsaid]

I care about [not running in to] you. You are [a hazard to everyone on the trail, and not running you over because you now have lights would be] awesome!

[Author]

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