The only outfit associated with a significant change in mean passing proximities was the **police/video-recording jacket. **
Notably, whilst some outfits seemed to discourage motorists from passing within 1 metre of the rider, approximately 1-2% of overtakes came within 50 cm no matter what outfit was worn. This suggests there is little riders can do, by altering their appearance, to prevent the very closest overtakes
This is quite discouraging, but it seems to ring true in my experience. I’ve had quite a few drivers, who have come close to hitting me (even while walking at a crosswalk), claim that they “didn’t see me” while I wore high-viz everything and had lights to further improve visibility.
How do we, as cyclists, even deal with “driver blindness”?
You don’t. Drivers are often hit by cars that ‘come out of nowhere’, motorcycles with loud engines, full lane use and signaling are ‘invisible’ when drivers only expect ‘big metal box’ in road - they’re just not going to see you, let alone look for you.
Build a hardened bicycle lane and I’ll use it with pleasure, otherwise I’ll ride with the pedestrians and catch looks when I pass by wide in the verge
LOL. That image may be a joke, but it seems to be true IRL.
I wonder if the study accounted for drivers simply being distracted, rather than the cyclist not being visible enough (how much more visible do you need to be, anyway?).
When I want to take the lane I stick out my arm and watch my mirror and don’t move over unless
It can take a few cars before one acknowledges you
It would be so much better if there was a safe way for cyclists to cross intersections without being killed by turning traffic