Every day bike commuter for 10+ years. Riding home in the dark yesterday and the rider ahead of me had the by far the brightest tail light I have ever seen. It was about 4 inches in diameter and at least 300 lumens. By the time I caught up them I was seeing large spots to the point where my vision was partially obscured.
I rode alongside them and said “Hey! Your tail light is too bright. Can you turn it down?”
They immediately became irate and indignant saying that this is what keeps them safe from being hit by cars etc etc. I didn’t engage further as they were so furious it didn’t seem worthwhile.
But their reaction was so strong it got me thinking: AITA???
Info: is there a specific law on bike trail light brightness? How did you measure the light output?
I wish bikers/walkers around here would use bright lights so they can be seen. Most insist on dressing in all black from head to toe, no lights or reflectors, and are impossible to see.
Not really gonna call you an asshole, but person deserves to be safe. You could have adjusted your view or stopped off or sped up or changed your route or any number of things to prevent yourself staring right into it.
Guilty. I fluctuate between indoor workouts and really ungodly early morning walks. It wasn’t until I was retaking a certification class that somebody brought up the topic of pedestrians in black clothes and dark conditions. So I did some googling and found several videos of pedestrians in black when it’s dark outside, and holy s***. Yeah you can’t see us. Like it all. I started wearing one of those really obnoxious reflective vests, and a headlamp after that. I can’t believe I was so freaking stupid up until that point, and I’m very fortunate I did not get run over before.
I’ve never seen a cyclist use a light that bright.
You couldn’t pass them, give them a minute to get well ahead of you, or avert your eyes?
YTA for blowing up a one-time incident.
ps> You can accurately estimate lumens on sight?
They definitely can’t, because if they could, they’d know that a visual interpretation of brightness would by definition be in candela, not lumens.
YTA, 200-600 is what is recommended. The light was working, you saw them.
YTA. It’s bright for a reason. So you don’t hit them
YTA-lights on cyclists should be bright so we can all see them.
And for all you know they were hit before and are trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And now all of a sudden they are getting a unsolicited opinion from a stranger.
YKOTA (you are kind of the asshole)
As a cyclist, you’re damned if you do damned if you don’t.
Once, I forgot my light. I have children and a complicated life and am a human being and make mistakes. On my way home a man in his car started harassing me about how I didn’t have a light. I told him to leave me alone, and he wouldn’t leave me alone. He told me that a dumb bitch like me might get run over without a light and no one would care, and as he did, he drove his car into the bike lane as though he wanted to knock me down. Needless to say, I have never been caught without a light since, but cycling has become extremely stressful. I bought the brightest lights the cycle shop sold after that encounter.
If you cycled up next to me and fussed at me for my light being too bright, I would immediately feel defensive and given that cycling during rush hour is stressful without having a safety conversation in the middle. I probably would have responded indignantly as well. You don’t have to look directly at the light if you are cycling behind it and you could have just tried to pass the person at the light and move on. What you described does not make you a massive asshole, just kind of a busy body so this is a very soft YTA.
YTA my guy. You thought it was wise of you to stare at a bright light to the point you saw spots, and had to peddle faster just so you could “catch up” to them just so you could tell them their light was bright, and to turn it down. It’s dark and they are being safe. I would work on your hospitality and approach, and maybe pull your head out of your butt.
Maybe you could have phrased it a bit more gently or something, and the tone of your voice set him up. People from certain parts of the country get upset if you start a sentence with ‘Hey.’ Maybe ‘Excuse me’ would have worked. Or the guy could have just been an angry person.
I had that happen with a walker. He had the brightest headlamp on. And stared right into my face. I was blinded. And had to brake.
I yelled at him. It’s okay to have the headlamp but don’t send it into drivers’ eyes.
NTA but bright is the safest way to go.