Reversed Bike Lights

[jack]

Last night I think I saw someone different with reversed bike lights. I may have been mistaken -- it was only for a moment.

However, it reminded me of the puzzle of why. My best ideas, none very plausible, were:

* They didn't know which way they were supposed to be
* Mental instability
* Hunting down slow moving pedestrians (like an Owl's call is supposed to sound like it's moving away)
* An obscure personal joke, superstition or philosophical metaphor
* Some sort of optical effect or time-reversal

Although I don't know if the second and third are really different.

However, this person I saw cycling the wrong way down a one-way street, and a sixth and seductively plausible cunning reason for doing so suddenly occurred to me...

PS. That is, assuming that you don't care about any potential danger, but are just worried about being stopped by the police, and assuming that given the number of people without any lights at all no-one will do more than ask you WTH if you reverse them, and assuming that at least sometimes you go the wrong way and aren't stopped because it looks like you're going the right way, reversing the lights might reduce your sanctions.

Comments

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

It's cycle-logical. :-)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

*groan* ROFL. That was great.

[cornute.livejournal.com]

I assume you mean with the dim red lights on the front, and the white bright lights on the back?

I can think of a fairly good reason to do that:

a) Dimmer red lights don't screw with your night vision so much, if you're in a dark area.
b) If in a brightly lit area, you don't need a headlight so much.

and, for the winner...

c) I would say that the biggest danger is not falling in potholes, but BEING RUN OVER FROM BEHIND BY CARS THAT DON'T SEE YOU. If they see an "oncoming headlight" they'll at least slow down enough to look!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

OK, that *does* make sense. Finding a beefier back-light would seem more elegant, but if you've got them, there's a reason to simply reverse them...

[mair_in_grenderich]

illegal, of course :)