Tag: bicycle safety flags

SAFETY FLAGS REVISITED

I have written about safety flags previously but I want to revisit the subject today. Did you ever notice the word  SAFETY in safety flags? They are called safety flags for a very good reason. The purpose of a safety flag is to help keep you safe by attracting attention … by being highly visible. If a flag fails to do that it is worthless as a safety flag. Sadly the vast majority of flags people have on their trikes fail the test when it comes to fulfilling the task of helping keep the rider safe. I really don’t understand it. Why do people insist on using flags that are ineffective? They use flags that they like the looks of paying no attention to whether or not they are highly visible and attention getting.

Part of being attention getting is to flap around freely in the slightest of breezes. Some flags don’t hardly flap in a very strong wind. Flags should readily be seen from 360 degrees and from far away.

I have had people tell me that they saw my flags from a very long distance off from every which direction from me. I have had people tell me that they say my safety flags before they saw my bright flashing lights.

Both the size and the shape of a flag is important. One of the most popular shaped flags is a triangle. In my opinion they are absolutely the worst flag out there as far as being seen and attention getting. That is because they flap very poorly and oftentimes appear from the back as a thin line. They are not even as wide as the flag pole which they are attached to. That is ridiculous, but people seem to love these flags. They are extremely popular. I think they would be better off with just the flag pole if it were a safety orange color. I have followed behind people who use these flags and observed them. Rarely do they move any to attract attention. Definitely a streamer attached to it helps immensely. It is the only thing that can be seen as it flaps about.

I base my opinions of safety flags on real life experience. One of the most impressive experiences I have had is when I was riding on the Maumee Pathway which is one of our local trails. It follows along the Maumee River so it meanders around quite a bit and much of it is well shaded by trees. There are very few places along the trail that offer line of sight vision for very far ahead. Between curves, hills and trees and bushes you just can’t see very far ahead. I was riding along when I got a very brief glimpse of a bright flash of orange light. It must have been 3/4 of a mile ahead of me. I thought it must be the amber flashing light of a utility vehicle or mower. As I continued to ride along I saw this brief flash of orange a couple of more times. I kept going and caught up with the source of what I was seeing. It was not a flashing light at all but a couple of people I  know who have identical safety flags to mine. They liked my flags so well that the wife copied them making a set for their trikes. The sun occasionally shined down thru the trees lighting up the flags which made the orange flag look like a light flashing. I knew that my flags are highly visible and attention getting but this was positive proof for sure. For more information on how to make these flags click HERE.

I rarely see safety flags that impress me. Today I saw this one on Facebook and it inspired me to write this article to post at this time. It is yellow and orange together with a black line separating the two colors. It flaps extremely well. I think it is too large but otherwise I really like it. I think the size is going to be an issue on very windy days especially as high as it is mounted. That flag pole is going to bend over considerably.

I encourage you to use safety flags that are effective … not just something you find appealing for other reasons. Your very life and well being may depend upon it so that you can …

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

ALL LIT UP

Anybody who has followed my blog for any length of time should know that I am a firm believer in “being seen”. I use and highly recommend bright flashing headlights and taillights as well as highly visible and attention getting safety flags. Thru the years I have employed several different lights and flags. I have made several changes and always tried to improve what I have. I am well pleased with all the lighting and flags I now have. This particular posting is concerning my taillights. Believe it or not, I have 8 of them on my trike. Seven of them can be seen in this video. The 8th one is in between the seat back and the trunk bag and points downward toward the pavement. It is only for riding at night which I rarely do. Normally I only have one taillight on as I ride and it is the middle top one. I only use the others when I am riding somewhere that I am concerned about extra visibility such as busy/dangerous streets and roads. When I turn 5 to 7 of them on you can bet traffic sees me. I look like an emergency vehicle all lit up with bright flashing lights. If I were to come upon a situation along a trail where I stopped to do maintenance work or help someone who had an accident and was injured I would use the extra lighting to be sure other trail users are aware and exercise caution as they approach. Thus far I am talking about daytime use. At nighttime I would only use the lights on flash mode where again I want to be sure others exercise caution approaching the area. I would never use my headlights or taillights on flash mode at night time otherwise as it is offensive and distracting to motorists as well as confusing to them as well. My point is concerning the multiple taillights … I have them if I need them and they can and do come in very handy.

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?

 

Early this morning while meeting up with some friends to ride together when I first arrived at the trailhead parking lot my one friend said to me that he saw me riding across the bridge which is about 3/8 of a mile away. He saw my florescent yellow and florescent orange safety flags. I have stressed over and over thru the years about the importance of good safety flags and bright flashing lights front and rear. We need to be seen! All too many trikers ride around with flags that just don’t do the job. Some of them are difficult to see when up close much less some distance away. I put some images together to give you an idea of how far away I was from my friend when he saw me. The first picture is of the bridge I was crossing at the time. The second picture if a satellite image of the area showing where he was (red X) and where I was (red arrow). The third picture was taken from the parking lot where he was looking to the bridge where I was.

I think that is pretty incredible for him to see me from that distance. Of course, all he saw was my flags. He could not actually see me.

I have had a few people locally make the exact same flags that I have. They have done so because they have seen for themselves how effective they are. A few years ago I was riding on a local trail which is “rural” away from the city. It follows a river so it meanders around a bit. There is lots of vegetation on both sides of the trail (trees, bushes, weeds, etc.) so most of the time one can’t see very far ahead. As I was riding along I saw something up ahead of me which caught my eye. I only saw it for a second or two. It was a very long ways ahead of me. I would guess it was about 3/4ths of a mile the first time I noticed it. I assumed it was a flashing yellow light on some sort of maintenance vehicle. I kept riding closing the distance and every once in awhile caught another glimpse of this “flash” of bright light thru very small gaps in the vegetative covering. I kept going getting closer and closer until finally I was able to see the source ahead of me. I was quite surprised and even more impressed when I discovered what I was seeing was two tadpole trikes being ridden by a man and wife couple whom I knew. They were flying flags just like mine … some of the ones who liked my flags so much that they copied them. Amazing! I saw at least one of them some 3/4 of a mile away in heavy vegetative cover.

I encourage every trike rider to take this matter seriously. Your very life may very well depend on it.

You can read more about my safety flags HERE with instructions on how to make them.

Be safe out there ,  KEEP ON TRIKIN’  and ENJOY THE RIDE!

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

SAFETY FLAGS ARE FOR YOUR SAFETY

A tadpole trike is a very safe vehicle to ride … far more so than an “upwrong” (upright) bike. Motorists tend to show much more respect and courtesy to tadpole trikes than they do a regular bicycle. However, motorists must “see” them first in order for the rest to follow. Since a tadpole trike is low to the ground and relatively small motorists need help seeing the trike. It is imperative that we do what we can to help be seen.

Safety flags are essential on a tadpole trike in my opinion. And when it comes to safety flags I am fully convinced that they should be flags that do the job. Otherwise why bother?  All too many I see are next to worthless as they can’t be seen for one reason or another. Thru the years I have had several different flags on my trikes. Some were better than others but I always made sure what I was using were highly visible.  I finally ended up making my own flags (actually I had them made by a friend who sews).

I really like what I have now as they are highly visible and very effective. Here is a video showing them.

As I state in the video safety flags should be about safety … our safety … and not about advertising for the trike manufacturer. I don’t know of a single safety flag provided by a trike manufacturer that is worth having. They are usually too small to be seen, not bright enough to be seen, wrong ineffective dimensions to move about attracting attention, too stiff to move about to attract attention, and so on.

Some flags I have tried were very effective as far as being seen but they didn’t hold up to daily use. There are factory made flags one can purchase which are far superior to to the flags which come with trikes from the manufacturer. I have had some of them. Again, safety flags are supposed to be about our safety so I want something that will do the job. These flags I fly are large enough to be seen, bright enough to catch one’s attention, and soft enough to flap around quite well and get noticed. Also the black border around my safety orange flag really helps it stand out and be seen. The safety yellow/green flag has a reflective border around it that shines brilliantly when light hits it.

The human eye sees the color green the best followed by yellow and then orange. Red and blue are not good colors as far as what we see. Obviously the popular fluorescent colors, otherwise known as safety green yellow and orange, show up the best. I personally like a combination of these colors as I think they show up better than just one of these colors by itself. As you can see in the image below blues and purples are bad but dark red is the worst.

colors human eyes see best

SoundWinds makes some pretty good flags. Here are some examples of some I like:

safety flag 1 sound winds air arts fan banner flag spinner flags

I like spinner flags, at least some of them anyway, but one needs to be aware that they can be problematic if you are riding with others and ride close together the person behind you will be eating it from time to time. I mean … talk about “in your face”!  🙂  Also they can catch on things as you ride along. I have had them ripped off when they caught on something. I also lost one when it got pulled out of the holder and I didn’t notice it for awhile. I back tracked to find it but someone apparently beat me to it and got a free spinner flag out of the deal. My spinner flag had streamers on it which really help it be seen. However, those streamers make it bad as far as catching on things. Here is a picture of my spinner flag. It had highly glistening foil in addition to the colored material. It spun around like crazy. The ribbons were constantly getting tangled and tied into knots as well as fraying. Fortunately they were cheap … $1 apiece at a nearby Dollar General store.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Speaking of streamers … last year a cycling friend of mine bought a very colorful streamer made of glistening foil like material. I wish I could find a photo of one like it but I have searched online and found nothing. Anyway while riding out in bright sunlight it really catches your eye. Here is a photo of similar material and form but his has multi colors in it.

foil streamers

Wearing clothing of the safety green, yellow or orange color is very helpful as well. When I see cyclists out there wearing this sort of clothing they can readily be seen way off in the distance. Those safety colors just catch the eye.

green jacket

In addition to using good safety flags I think having good flashing headlight(s) and taillight(s) are essential. I am talking about daytime riding here so please don’t write comments about using a flashing light and blinding motorists. When riding in the daytime I have my headlight pointed up slightly so that the light is aimed about eye level for motorists and pedestrians. This helps immensely in their seeing the lights.

I have frequently asked people what caught their eye first … my flags or my lights. Most say the lights, especially the flashing headlight. Of course, it depends upon whether they are ahead of me coming toward me or to my side. Obviously if they are off to my side the lights are not going to do the job. So the flags are important as they see them. Even if they are in front of me or behind me and they see the lights first they also tell me that they saw the flags right afterwards. Both are very important!

Riding tadpole trikes is a lot of fun, but be safe out there!