Well, and motorcyclists too. When I ride, I pretend that I’m invisible. I do not expect other drivers to see me. Instead, I expect them to not see me. And I ride accordingly.
Pedestrians and cyclists can wear dark clothing at night. Not advisable, but it’s their choice. It’s when they expect to be seen is the problem.
Yes we’re all better off if they were removed from the gene pool.
Maybe but in terms of the chances of killing me, which is what I, as a cyclist, care about its really not huge. You have…
Case A (which drivers on this thread have openly admitted to): you are driving along in a reckless manner such that when you approach a cyclist in dark clothes you nearly commit vehicular manslaughter and kill them.
Case B: Exactly the same situation but now the cyclist is in bright pink shirt. What difference does that make? You see me what, a couple of milliseconds earlier? That is miniscule. Its decreased the chances of you killing me a little but not by that much.
The problem here is not the fashion choices of the cyclist. That’s a completely ridiculous takeaway from that situation. The problem Is the driver recklessly piloting tons of metal in such a way as they will kill the next cyclist they come across.
Yeah, I guess no one could refute your fairly and impartially stated description of the only 2 possible “cases”. 
No Case C in which the cyclist wears reflective or illuminated clothing and had lights and reflectors on the bike?
Nope. We are not driving along in a reckless manner. A cyclist with no lights or reflectors is cycling along in a reckless manner. Just as much as a car driving with no headlights would be.
The only way to use a car in a fashion in which something in the road that can’t be seen can’t be hit is to keep it parked and use it for a storage shed.
Who is telling you to wear a pink shirt? I’m telling you to get some lights on your damn bike. Some other people are telling you to wear reflective clothing designed for the purpose.
The pink shirt might help significantly on a grey rainy day, though even then, lights are better. After dark, beginning with twilight, you need lights. The rear light should ideally be blinking, though a steady one’s better than nothing. A reflective shirt’s also a good bit better than nothing. A pink shirt is only somewhat better than a black one, which is why nobody’s telling you to put on a pink shirt. But even then: slightly better can save your life.
It’s not clear to me why you’re so determined to go around with no lights. In my state, they’re legally required; as are reflectors.
As in Kansas, and I would assume every other state:
(a) Every bicycle when in use at nighttime shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred (500) feet to the front and with a red reflector on the rear of a type approved by the secretary of transportation which shall be visible from all distances from one hundred (100) feet to six hundred (600) feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle. A lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of five hundred (500) feet to the rear may be used in addition to the red reflector.
If you’re riding a bike without lights and reflectors, and I’m legally driving with my headlights on, and I don’t see you until it’s too late and my car strikes you, it is most definitely not my fault.
For the record, i suggest lights and a reflective vest or helmet.
But a white shirt is a lot better than a black shirt. I would guess that a white shirt buys you a second or two, and a reflective vest about 5 seconds. Two seconds is lots of time if there’s a risk of collision.
The post that started this…
If you are admitting to almost killing a cyclist for wearing black. That’s reckless driving, and would be vehicular homicide if you succeed in killing the black clad cyclist in question.
Yeah they can reduce the chance that you’ll murder them a small amount by wearing a pink shirt. Probably a little more by having lights. But that’s all just giving the driver a couple of milliseconds to notice they are about to kill someone and maybe decide not to. The reason someone is about to get killed here is because a driver is driving recklessly.
That’s enough. I’m out.
Perhaps the stupidest post I’ve seen here in years.
Yeah I mean who would to almost killing cyclists because they wore the wrong clothes?
No, I mean posting that a driver who is obeying the speed limit and hits a camouflaged biker at night is driving “erratically.”
In the last week I have seen the following idiots at night on the same stretch of 40 mph six lane road:
Again, if you are on any road, it is up to you to be visible and to follow the appropriate rules and precautions for your situation. Doesn’t matter if it’s dark, raining (a whole other rant about using lights right there), or high noon on a sunny day. Driving the legal limit of 40 mph at night on a six lane road in light traffic is going to have a different set of presumptions and precautions than driving through a neighborhood during the day on the weekend. Or an active school zone. Or a two lane rural highway or an interstate or other controlled access highway.
Yeah, i expect a vehicle to slow down if there’s something ambiguous ahead, like a truck stopped despite a green light. But you need to see SOMETHING to avoid an accident. And bicyclists all in black with no lights or reflectors are just not going to be visible at night in most conditions.
You have had it pointed out to you repeatedly that lights provide a great deal more then milliseconds and that reflective clothing does also. You have in no way countered that except by repeating the same untrue statements over and over again.
Moderating:
I think the digression on how much visibility matters in auto-bicycle accidents has gone on long enough. It’s not even directly related to the subject of the thread. Let’s drop it, please. I apologize for my part in the hijack.
Some posters here are running close to what a good DA would call premeditated murder.
If you are somewhere where people walk their dog: slow the fuck down.
Especially if you are functionally blind at night.
If you cannot see a human shaped object in time you are driving too fast and/or functionally blind.
Try cleaning your windshield. Visit your dokter and test for cataract. Not all people are see well enough to drive at night.
Nonsense.
Moderating:
While this post isn’t uniquely focused on bicycles, it’s extending the same off-topic rhetoric. The accident in the OP happened in broad daylight and the problem with visibility was a truck between the pedestrian and the driver.
Please drop the hijack about nighttime visibility. And let’s also all take a breath and cool down. No more hints that other posters are harboring murderous intent.
Thank you, @puzzlegal .