Bostin Ride are very proud to announce the launch of their “Be Bostin’ Bright – Wear Something Light!” campaign in an attempt to reduce cycling accidents out on the road.
As keen cyclists ourselves we are often horrified at the colour of clothing that some people wear to go out cycling. If any cyclist wears dark clothing, whether riding during the day or at night, they are exposing themselves to an increased risk of being involved in an accident.
A cyclists primary aim when out on the road is to be visible to all road users. More and more cyclists now use lights whenever they ride and yet still wear dark clothing – a bit of a safety paradox? The profile of a cyclist, when approached from the front or rear, is very narrow and if they are riding, say along a country road, then their narrow outline has to be seen against the backdrop of a hedge, verge, trees, etc. A dark clothed cyclist against a dark hedge it practical impossible to spot, as per cyclist on the left of the image below. Simple.
Even if you wear dark cycling tights but wear bright coloured jersey or jacket then think again. Your profile from the rear now is better but it is only about 40% as good as it could be.
We do not directly blame the cyclists themselves but more the cycle clothing manufacturers. If you go into any cycling shop or look online to buy any cycling gear the most common colour you can buy is black. Why black, the worst possible colour for a cyclist to wear? As ever with consumer items the question has to be asked – do manufacturers sell black clothing because that is what people want to buy or do consumers buy black clothing because manufacturers make more clothes in black? Either way, we would like to think that through our cycling events activities we may be able to highlight the issue and perhaps change the decision making of cyclists.
We at Bostin’ Ride want to try and change the mindset of cyclists to, whenever possible, wear something light, whatever the time of day, and change the manufacturers designs to include more visible colouring particularly in leggings. #bebostinbright
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