The 6-to-9 window

1Watch

Quarter past seven

It is not dark in that shot. That is the part worth noticing.

2The idea

The hours the crashes sit in

In the national pedalcyclist figures for 2020 there were 938 deaths, and the 6 p.m. to 8:59 p.m. window carried the highest frequency of them. In a hospital series of e-bike and scooter riders, injuries peaked between 6 and 8 p.m.

That is not the middle of the night. It is the ride home from a friend’s house. It is the window you are most likely to be out riding in, which is exactly why it is worth planning for instead of being surprised by.

3The idea

What Illinois actually requires

For riding at night the law names two pieces of equipment.
A front white light, visible from at least 500 feet.
A rear red reflector, visible from 100 to 600 feet.
A flashing red rear light may be used in place of the reflector.

500 feet is well over a block. The distance is the whole point of the rule. The front light is not mainly there so that you can see the road. It is there so a driver has time to do something after they have picked you out.

4The idea

A reflector is waiting for somebody else

A reflector has no light of its own. It sends back light that has already landed on it, which means it works once a driver’s headlights are pointed at it, and does nothing at all before that moment.

A light is on whether anybody is looking or not. That is the entire difference between the two, and it is why the front one is a light in the law rather than a reflector. At dusk, before headlights are doing much work, it is the difference that matters most.

5Look

The same street, twice

Neither of those pictures is dark. Only one of them has anything in it that says here is a person.

6Decide

You are leaving at half past six and the sun is still up.

7The idea

The two things that make this window worse

Phones, music and being tired all delay your response time. The household rule most often recommended for young riders is a short one: no earbuds, and no riding in traffic or at night.

You can argue with the second half of that and still keep the first half. At 7 p.m. on a road with cars on it, an ear listening to something else is one of the two you brought. Lights are about whether they see you. Earbuds are about whether you hear them.

8Find them

What goes on before an evening ride?

Tap the ones that count.

9Say it

The line at the door

Say it as you pick the machine up. It is the last useful thing you can do while you are still standing still.

10Do it

Before you leave this page