7 - Riding at Night
It is time to start thinking about night riding, the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. Here are a few tips on night riding written by Greg Hudson.
Reflective Tape
Get the pants and jacket with the reflective stripes already built in. This serves to enlighten other roadusers to your presence. Also, try and find a reflective tape to line the side of your wheel rims.
Braking at Night
You’ll notice that braking with the front brakes causes the patch of light from your headlights to dip towards you. The solution is to opt for rear breaking and engine breaking to maximize the view of the road ahead of you.
Visual Purple
Ever noticed that looking into a bright light at night causes temporary blindness? This is because a substance in your eyes called visual purple becomes temporarily disturbed. Avoid looking directly into headlights.
Your Visor
Due to the nature of light, small scratches on your visor can diffract the beam causing a starburst effect. This is similar to a car’s windscreen when covered with drops of water. Make sure your visor is clean and polished before riding.
Through the Looking Glass
Perception is drastically reduced at night. Parts of a road you’re familiar with during the day will be altered in darkness. Tune into the clues on the road that you can work with namely cats eyes, white lines reflective road signs and the patches of road illuminated by street lamps.
Oncoming traffic is easier to spot, but don’t take this for granted. Cars parked on the side of the road can be rendered invisible under certain light conditions.
Road Kill
Ever heard of large busses being felled by deer jumping into the road? Image it was you! Try your best to detect animals by looking for reflection in their eyes. Everyone knows the express “like a deer caught in highlights”. Dip your lights, slow down and steer around the animal. They’re unpredictable so go on the side of caution.
Ride Safe … and remember never mind who’s right, ride so you will be left
