And Mr. Todd Edelman, are you really advocating for bike salmoning? Personally, I’d rate it the most pernicious thing humans on bicycles regularly do to other humans on bicycles. I mean, when you’re bike salmoning at me, where am I supposed to go: into traffic? Thanks! Closer to car doors? Thanks! Great choices all around!

As always, I’m grateful to all the other people on the road willing to sacrifice my life to their convenience.

NEVER STOP POSTING

Nice PSAs all around.

BicyclesOnly,

If your right and it is not realistic to expect bicycle advocacy organizations in New York City to teach and expect 100% law-abidingness of cyclists, then I want no part of those organizations.

Just because there is a continued culture of lawlessness on the streets of New York City due to lax or non-existent enforcement (in my opinion) does not make it right for a bicycle organization not properly educate it’s constituency group.

In this particular example you should know that lights do more to protect cyclists then anything else!

Right now there is a quite a bit of a brew-ha-ha about bicycles and the law in Philadelphia. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia continues to demand that all cyclists follow all vehicle laws that apply to them, no exceptions, despite a rather high level of lawless behavior by motorists. That is exactly the position I would expect and demand of the Coalition.

And Matthew, just click on the hyperlink on my handle if you want to see what I’m involved with, with regards to bicycle advocacy.

Also, I’m a League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor (LCI) so that will probably give everyone a good idea why I’m such a stickler about this issue.

Still wishing everyone a cycling utopia in NYC. Just don’t forget that bicyclist behavior is a critical part of that dream.

Andy

This is ridiculous. I have moved on.

So, “Biking Rules” mixes something optional and controversial, though recommended by TA and some others (helmets) with something which is more of a philosophy than a law (pedestrian priority – which I agree with) or “bike salmoning” (which NYC Bike Snob uses as a negative, whereas I would argue that going upstream to spawn and perpetuate the species is natural in a watercourse or city with one-way streets and this desperately needs to be legalized) and with actual traffic codes of NY. It is an imprecise and even dangerous framework for cycle training.

That said, “Lights Turn Heads” and the retro one are quite good examples of what should be expected from media makers in the media capital of the Universe. I am using the Beta version of “Helmet Blocker” (like Adblock) which digitally removes “head protection” to a level set by the user.

I have the utmost respect for you and your work but I respectfully and firmly disagree.

The devil is most definately in the details!

Details are VERY important for a PSA about the legal operation of a bicycle, particularly at night. The PSA should have made a point to show a white light at the front of the bike or showed it being turned on like it shows the rear light being turned on. It could have easily been slipped in for 0.5 secs during editing. As is, the message is that ONLY a red rear light is necessary.

I also would have expected TA to catch this and not let it slide.

Like I said, “it’s a matter of credibility.”

Otherwise I think it is a brilliant little piece of animation.

I think you really need to chill out. It’s a very nice PSA, obviously the message is to ride with lights at night. I have no idea if there is a front light actually turned on in any of the shots, but I can say that this entire video is just a series of photos (if you look carefully those black “things” under the pedals are props to hold up the feet so it actually looks like they are riding.

The filmmakers obviously wanted to concentrate on the red lights coming out of the back and to highlight that, because you can’t create shapes out of a front white light going forward.

Since you never see a shot of the bike head on, you can’t even validly make your claim anyway. You got 30 seconds to pack a punch, sometimes you can’t show every single little thing.

You are being extremely nit picky. If it was a 3 minute video on how you should ride a bike with proper lights at night, then of course you have a case if they never showed a light being turned on. Here it is a creative decision, turn the light on – cut to the artistic coolness – end promo. That’s all.

HOWEVER, I can’t understand how TA could have chosen the featured video as a winner?!?! The cyclist in the PSA “Lights turn heads,” is still breaking the law! I watched it several times and the rider never turns on a front headlight. At best (and I’m being VERY generous), it is unclear.

I know of no state that allows cyclists to ride at night without a front headlight.

While a technical and artistic triumph, any PSA promoting proper legal behavior no matter what the activity, must show everything done within the letter of the law otherwise it is a total failure. Heck! The rider is even wearing a helmet which is not required and I wouldn’t have cared if he didn’t. To me this oversight is totally unacceptable and would have eliminated the entry from a prize immediately if I were a judge. It is just as bad as if the creators of “Lights turn heads” then showed the rider riding the “Wrong Way” as was the theme of the other $2,000 winner.

I sorry but I’m would have expected TA to be just as critical of the oversight. It’s a matter of credibility!

I quote from the NY State Vehicle and Traffic Law – Article 34:

Section 1236. Lamps and other equipment on bicycles.

(a) Every bicycle when in use during the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible during hours of darkness from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red or amber light visible to the rear for three hundred feet. Effective July first, nineteen hundred seventy-six, at least one of these lights shall be visible for two hundred feet from each side.