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Commuting in style: This Castelli jacket is my new favourite piece on the bike
by Martin Jungfer
Be the light in the dark!
18.12.2025
Translation: machine translated
I have an urgent request: If you're out and about during the darkest time of the year, make sure you can be seen. And no, it's not enough for your trainers to be white.
I've just come back from the office. I did the journey home on my bike. It was dark. No starry sky, no moonlight, a light mist over the fields. When I'm in the saddle, the lights on my bike are on, the reflective layer on my tyres makes me visible to drivers, my helmet has lights, my jacket should also light up, and my backpack has an LED light. I can't do much more than that.
I saw the other end of the scale today. Respectively not seen. Quite a few
pedestrians were literally one with the darkness around them. The black down jackets and coats that are still very fashionable among the young don't help. Nor - dear older people - do coats and jackets in colours such as forest brown, midnight blue or road surface grey. The problem is and remains that all dark-coloured clothing absorbs light. That's why the pale light of a street lamp is often not enough for you to be seen.
As a cyclist, I am always particularly pleased when I come across pedestrians who have understood the problem of darkness and make themselves visible. Thank you if you were the person walking with a torch in your hand. And thanks to you, too, if you were the one wearing glow-in-the-dark armbands around your jacket sleeves. That looked good!
We lull ourselves into a false sense of security
To the others: When you're walking in the dark, you may underestimate how dark it actually is and how difficult it is to see you. Sure, you can't see yourself either. And your eyes quickly get used to the fact that it's dark. Although we are not foxes who can see very well at night, our eyes are good enough that we can still orientate ourselves on a field or forest path. Slight shadows are usually enough for this.
A cyclist travelling along the same path only has their front light. This is sufficient for a few metres - behind it is even darker. A person dressed in completely dark clothing is only visible when they are in the area of the light cone. Before that, there is just a black wall.
Light-coloured clothing helps - a little
This also applies to car drivers. A person can only be seen in the area of the headlights. The next time you're travelling by car, pay attention to how well or poorly you can see people on the pavement. With dark clothing, the car must be 25 metres away. That's not much if it's travelling at 50 km/h and needs to brake before it hits you. With light-coloured clothing, visibility increases to around 40 metres. This also applies to the white soles of trainers. But only with reflectors - regardless of whether they are integrated into your clothing or attached as accessories - are you visible at a greater distance, i.e. from about 150 metres.
This is simple physics. It should be in everyone's interest to be visible. I don't want to hear any excuses about reflectors not being stylish or fashionable. Neither are various tags on rucksacks and handbags, yet people still buy them. Do yourself a favour and buy (and wear!) something that reflects or glows. You can also take it off again in spring.
And next time you buy a jacket, perhaps ask yourself whether it really has to be a dark-coloured one. If you find one that has integrated reflective elements, you'll be doing yourself and anyone who doesn't run you over a big favour.
If we are really serious about the much-vaunted personal responsibility, we should no longer just walk our dogs in fluorescent waistcoats and give our children the «Lüchzgi» that the police give them when they start nursery school. As adults, we should set a shining example ourselves.
Header image: Shutterstock
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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