Whilst your typical bike light is outputting around 20 Lumens of light it’s easily possible to get hold of lights that emit 1,200 Lumens or more. Needless to say this is often overkill for London’s roads but can be useful down country lanes with no other light sources.
Have you ever been dazzled by bright bike lights? Do you find blinking bike lights to be tougher to cycle behind?
Discuss…
I posted my thoughts on this subject on my web site about a month ago having come across some increasingly bright lights on the roads:
http://www.bikelightsreview.com/guide/bright-bike-light-best/
I do think we need to be sensible about how we use the brighter lights otherwise they will ultimately be seen as a danger and regulated accordingly.
In my opinion bright lights are fine for road use – but the user must be prepared to point them downwards, dip them when necessary, or better still as others have pointed out use lights with optimised beam patterns for the road.
Paul (BikeLightsReview)
‘I do think we need to be sensible about how we use the brighter lights otherwise they will ultimately be seen as a danger and regulated accordingly.’
IIRC, lights that dazzle are already illegal. What is needed is some stiff talking-to by the Police to irresponsible cyclists using them on the road.
—-
Off-road lights are meant for off-road use to enable cyclists to see overhead obstacles, this beam design is not compatible with road use.
I am really glad that this topic is now being discussed as I think it is fast becoming a major problem.
I live in the Richmond/Kingston area and it has got to the stage now where pedestrians and drivers cover their eyes and rear view mirrors to escape the frenetic flashing light show that happens when you get even three or four cyclists with head lights, bike lights all shining straight into peoples eyes.
Cyclists like myself who have some consideration for pedestrians and, yes, drivers too! refuse to use flashing front lights as we believe they create a major road hazard.
I believe that drivers are not considerate enough of cyclists but do not think that forcefully shining a bright light in their eyes is a sensible approach to rectifying the situation.
I’m all in favour of cyclists being seen but, some of the lights that are used are beyond normal lighting. I have had to flash full beams at cyclists before now. Although Europe I believe changed the law for us, it was illegal to have flashing cycle lights and under the road regulations it is illegal for a driver to have flashing forward flashing white lights unless it’s an emergency vehicle and this goes for rear flashing red. Red and white have to be steady. I know this is an old thread but, only just came across it, sorry.
“Although Europe I believe changed the law for us” – I’m not sure this is correct. In-fact it seems unlikely, because flashing lights on bicycles remain illegal in at least some countries in Europe (i.e. The Netherlands). European legislation made lights that are approved to a similarly stringent standard in a European Country are legal in the UK. This is often assumed to mean the German StVZO K-rating.
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations/lighting-regulations
For those who want to know about European bicycle lighting and about their regulations about flashing see:
Requirements on Lighting (Light Intensity) and Reflectors of Bicycles
http://www.anec.eu/attachments/anec-r&t-2012-traf-002.pdf
Here here!
Wow, this was posted from 2014 and today in 2021 the issue has gotten much worse.
I think this is of great concern. I commute into central London daily from Kent House and I use a well-lit Lumos helmet with static white front light turned down low and static white front light on my Brompton. I am constantly blinded by flashing front lights from other cyclists approaching especially when they are overtaking other cyclists.
Also, some e-scooter riders have them and think it is funny to point the light directly at you. Numerous times I’ve just had to pull over for a moment.
But drivers are also an issue with full beamed headlights in the well-lit city streets, there is no need for this.
I often cycle home along an unlit canal towpath, and I have to keep my light on constant beam. Why? Because the fecking crusties living on the floating skips along the canal don’t use lights or any remotely visible clothing ( let alone soap ), and tend to become pissy about being blinded and then reminded that had they been visible for more than three metres there wouldn’t have been any problem. I often hold the same light flashing in my hand at bus stops, to remind motorists that they don’t actually need to drive along well-lit roads with full beams blinding pedestrians!
Phil: towpaths are for boaters. Cycle paths are for cyclists.
The speed limit on British canals, & thus also on towpaths, is 4 mph. If you can’t see a boater in time to avoid them, then you’re going TOO FAST.
If you hate boaters so much, why not keep away from them & keep off the towpaths?
Canals are for boaters. Towpaths were designed for horses and there is are speed limits on Towpaths. Pedestrians, cyclists, horseriders and boaters need to share the space – we just need to be civil to each other.
I mean there are no speed limits on the towpath (though it would have been obvious that horses need to stick to the same limit as the boat they towed) – just responsibilities
Phil.
U shine a flashing light into motorists eyes when you stand at a bus stop and you tear down tow paths which are effectively the alleyway to someone’s house!?!!!!!!
Sounds like you need to act a bit more responsibly, smile a bit more and enjoy yourself rather than being angry at people
It’s always someone elses fault isn’t it.
You need to realise that one day someone will be killed because of your stupid antics at bus stops.
We have a cycle path on one of our local roads here in Devon and quite frequently get blinded from our left by idiots like you.
I find most modern bike lights highly unpleasant – small LEDS, cheap plastic optics – mounted high on the handlebars – unpleasant in the way some car headlights are.
I hate the flashing rear ones too, but there’s little I can do about that.
My main gripe is with strobing front lights on shared paths.
Anything over a watt and aimed horizontally and I hit them back with the 10 watts of DIY LEDs I reserve for unlit parkland and country roads – though I doubt it penetrates their thick skulls.
I switch to my approximation of a dipped beam and even have a gentler rear light when I move from the high street to the path, so I don’t think it unreasonable to expect others to at least make an effort.
Well I ride with bright flashing lights – 2 front, one on the handlebars, the other on my helmet. And 2 to the rear, 1 on my helmet and 1 on the seat post.
There is justification in riding with them as I don’t want to die on London’s roads, and therefore I must be seen.
Pedestrians walking out on you, drivers/ taxis doing u turns and dangerous maneuvers , other cyclists who ride dangerously- they can all see me, and thats the way I want it!!!
Its also the way my family wants it
Enough said.
If you don’t want to die then I suggest you don’t use flashing lights. Humans cannot judge the distance to a flashing light. Just put them on steady.
Also, if you really want to be seen, lights need to be large rather than super-bright.
“Author: Sid
Comment:
If you don’t want to die then I suggest you don’t use flashing lights. Humans cannot judge the distance to a flashing light. Just put them on steady.”
I notice that you cite no evidence for this claim.
What peer-reviewed evidence do you have for this?
Plus, assuming an approaching car has lights and the bicycle or rider has reflectives, or there is street-lighting, it would almost certainly be irrelevant.
Flashing lights are illegal; End of story. Strobing cycle lights can potentially induce epileptic fits, their use is irresponsible and unnecessary.
Ian 27/10/2016 at 11:45 am #
“Flashing lights are illegal; End of story. Strobing cycle lights can potentially induce epileptic fits, their use is irresponsible and unnecessary.” – I’m sorry, but your counterfactual claim is quite simply, opinionated rubbish.
Please inform yourself about the facts before spouting ignorance as if it were fact.
Here is the current guidance, even you should be able to understand.
https://www.camcycle.org.uk/resources/lights/lights.pdf
‘Here is the current guidance, even you should be able to understand’
You sound like a nice, rational human being.
These are the sort of lights that blind oncoming motorist so you could be the course of a major road accident, be Seen yes but drivers have to use dipped headlights so should cyclist
I’m searching for a headlight with a reflector that puts usable light on the road (like a car) instead of a spotlight that blinds oncoming dirvers.
Any suggestion?
Point your light towards the ground.
To my knowledge there is nothing like what you describe in a bicycle light.
Yes there are few. Examples:
1. Philips Saferide 80
2. Busch & Mueller Ixon, Ixon IQ, Luxos.
3. etc.
There are quite a few StVZO rated lights manufactured to the German equivalent of the UK standard for bicycle lights: BS6102/3
Reviews of these lights (battery-powered)
http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/index_en.html#andere-koplampen-met-afkapping
These may not be available in UK shops, but try Bike24, or RoseBike.
There are more which are dynamo powered.
UK bicycle lighting regulations:
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations/lighting-regulations
Hello There. I found your weblog using msn. This is a really smartly written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and return to learn extra of your helpful information. Thank you for the post. I will definitely return.
I ride with dual lights they output about 300 Lumens on Low when ON ROAD and about 1200 Lumens on High as a Pair OFF Road. They are way to bright to run on High on the highway.
A fellow cyclicist has 4800+ Lumen front light(s) and frequently gets flashed up by cars if using them on the Highway. If he is behind me when cycling OFF-ROAD I can see squat apart from my shadow.
In my opionion you need enough light to be seen but not enough to dassle / blind (OFF-ROAD however you need all you can get but it needs to be similar to and take consideration for your fellow riders).
I ride with 5 lights on in total(would be 6 but one of my rear lights broke tonight), 3 of which are headlights, 1 is a XML T6 outputting 1000lumens on high steady beam, pointing down at the ground in a way that doesn’t dazzle but allows me to see a good distance ahead, a topeak whitelite 2 on the peak of my helmet on a flashing beam and a cateye HL-EL120 on the top of my helmet with a steady beam, my rear lights consist of the brightest which came the 1000lumens light though it’s also the one that broke off, that one would be steady, a flashing cateye TL170 on one of the seat stays and a topeak redlite2 on the back of my helmet on steady and I plan on getting more and I am in the planning stages of making a DIY indicator system.
I been considering getting a Niterider Pro unit. It can put out 3600 Lumens on full power , it’s a dual lamp model, but it is programmable to lower lumen settings and different flash/steady patterns, full power makes the battery pack only last 1 hour.
On the subject of lights though I currently use 4 front lights and 3 rears. I’m exclusively a road biker. I’ve just changed my main front for a Via Velo 1 Watt just recently, this is to see where I’m going and I point it at the road regardless. Most of my commute is rural so some of the minor roads are atrocious, not just potholes but inconsiderate farmers dumping clay and all sorts over the road. I also have a pair of cheap tesco mini knogg type lights that I tend to use on steady. Their light output is just enough to see by at dusk but are better to be seen by. And lastly I use a crown mounted front dynamo light setup from Reelight (the magnets are mounted to the wheel and the inductor coil is fixed so no worn tyres) I don’t think the light is enough to see by unless it is totally pitch dark. Rear lights are a red tesco mini knogg, a halfords ultra bright and a rear Reelight. I’ll also wear hi-vis armbands, wrist bracelets and a vest.
Why? because in Nov 2009 approaching a junction on my trip home I was knocked from my bike by an on coming car that turned into the junction I assume I was blinded by the headlights. The car driver claimed they didn’t see me. I got 4 days in hospital as a result and my right thumb pinned for 4 weeks. I have no memory of the accident as I was KO’ed at the scene and if the car driver hadn’t pulled out to prevent me from being run over by other drivers I’d have been killed.
So since then I have considered making myself as highly visible as possible. That doesn’t prevent the car drivers with full beam still leaving me unable to see ahead or temporarily night blinded.
I also use several lights and fluorescent clothing, having a partly rural commute.
In addition to your advice, I would recommend a helmet light. I use Topeak Headlux (http://www.topeak.com/products/Lights/headlux), I’m sure there are other good alternatives too.
The light is not exceptionally bright, but because it is mounted on top of my bike helmet, it gives me extra height, so I am visible from a great distance. I’ve found it makes a difference approaching junctions, where cars are now more likely to slow down and give me more space (i.e. they have time to prepare).
Thanks for the tip I’ll have a look into those lamps….
I used to strap those cheap head lamps you can get for DIY onto the front of the helmet it worked brilliantly but getting it positioned correctly was a major pain! A slight bump and it would slip so it was pointing straight down or into my face. I ended up getting rid of the elastic straps and using zip ties, held the lamp more firmly but potentially damaged the helmet. the only thing is ir looked wierd like some sort of miners helmet. I’ve got to admit it made everyone aware of where my head was.
High visibility fluorescent clothing has a much better chance of being seen by other road users, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. As another contributor pointed out, judging the distance of a flashing light is very hard for the human eye/brain coordination as it has to recalculate the distance each time the light goes off and back on again. Sensible road use and consideration seems to be a thing of the past with cyclists in particular, many of whom drive as well.
Don’t get me started about cyclists on footpaths and in pedestrian zones as well as going the wrong way down one-way roads, usually without lights!
I have a night-nemesis and a nightfire-pro. I got them for singletrack riding. Nemesis on the bar and pro on my helmet. On full power there is close to 5000 Lumens between them. They are both wide beams. I’m yet to give them a crack on every day road use. It’s safe to say I would probably blind some poor people and get booked. Even the lower market LED lights are really bright when I drive around. I’m from Australia. I think having the power handy could save you if you don’t think a car can see you. A quick flash on full power should make them aware.
Just wanted to share my thoughts with you all for consideration.
If you have these really bright lights on your bike with 5000 lumens please check how appropriate you think they are. Turn the on flash and then stand 5 feet in front of the bike. If you have trouble seeing either side of the bright flashing light then try and envisage this in fast moving traffic with lit streets with other cyclists about.
Then perhaps consider having that follow you during your morning or night ride home.
Also check to see if this light is in fact brighter than a cars lights on as normal and then compare them on full beam. If it is brighter then maybe this isn’t appropriate for normal commuting.
Just to put things into context as where I sit on lights – I have a pair of Revolights on my wheels a small red light on my bag which I have on slow flash and a cateye light which I bought for £15 on the front just for safe measure. I ride the CS7 from Sutton to Cannon Street and back and come across some really nice riders and some really inconsiderate riders.
I have advised a few riders who have sat on my back wheel about their lights and they have been a little surprised I mentioned it. Why wouldn’t you mention it if it was a risk to you and other riders?!
Maybe we help change behaviour by talking to each other and addressing it at the time.
Just my thoughts.
I agree completely, people are too insular by far.
Just look at some van drivers, they are so important in themselves that they think they have the right to drive how they like. One box van recently did just that, 5m up he could have stopped for a max of 5 seconds at a passing place but instead kept coming. I went into the verge to avoid his wing mirror, bike went sideways in the mud and I came down on the road with my head inches from his rear wheels…and he just kept on truckin’.
I read somewhere that a light over 400 lumens has no place on the road so 5000 is way too much overkill. There is a guy I saw on youtube with a bar light he made that puts out 6000 but the 19V Li/ion battery only lasts 20 minutes or so on a full charge, makes me wonder if he carries a spare? …But then he does extreme mountain biking at night.
I’m currently using a cateye nanoshot which can put out 250 and that enough for me at the moment. Link it with some tacx handlebar lights so they can see where my drop handlebars are, ergo where my hands are likely to be, a helmet light on flash to identify my head and it’s plenty of light for road riding. I can even see roadsigns light up at about 0.25 miles with that cateye on the low setting, 125 lumens.
Check out the magnic lights though they look really interesting, 150 lumens mounted on the brake caliper…and no batteries, they work by magnetic induction through the wheel rim, so forget carbon rims.
I use two front and two rear lights usually; I have one strobing and the other on constant. I do, however, live in the countryside and the lighting is especially poor around town and for some reason, no-one looks before they cross the road round here (hence the front strobe). The front strobe isn’t particularly powerful, and whenever there are cars oncoming I switch it to steady beam.
I’d suggest that strobing lights are perfectly safe as long as they aren’t too bright, in fact, strobing lights are safer in certain situation because of the increased vis. There are some road race cyclists who have strobing lights that are nothing but dazzling in half light/dark. My main problem with a constant beam is, unless you have a very powerful constant beam, the light is easily washed out by surrounding low level light.
Not been doing a lot of cycling for a while now. Mostly that’s due to an accident in 2013 that ruptured a disc in my neck, I hit a hedge at 26mph during a time trial and was back flipped out of the saddle landing flat on my back. I’m now described as having Central Cord Syndrome from the fact the disc spent a year rubbing on my spinal cord. Overall makes my upper arms screamingly painful, curiously the only lasting pain relief is after a good ride so I should be cycling more shouldn’t I?
On the subject of strobing lights though, strobe lights draw the attention of the viewer because they are flashing. So a steady beam for you to see by and a strobe for others to see you. Additionally strobes are hard to judge distance to so a steady beam will allow the viewer to estimate where you are more accurately than strobes. So a combination of steady and strobe is good.
On that idea my latest front lamp is a cateye nano plus, 600 lumen max with what cateye call ‘hyperflash’, both lights are on constant lower level light but it flashes up to the max brightness. Not a bad little light and USB rechargeable. I cycled to Brighton one day and came back late at night with my front lamp cutting out so I try now to only buy rechargeable lights…fingers crossed I haven’t needed the extra battery power as yet.
Many rechargeable lights use Lithium batteries, these are often not intended to be replaced. These batteries have a finite life and depending upon technology and user treatment, lose capacity over time / use. Once the batteries are no good, that’s the end of the light. It’s built-in obsolescence. Far better to buy lights that can use rechargeable AA batteries. When the batteries cease to be usable, just replace them, the light will continue to function for a much longer time.
Nickel metal hydride cells have a long service life (often 500-1000 charge-discharge cycles) a low environmental impact and are much cheaper than primary cells (Zinc-Chloride or Alkaline technologies). Dead batteries are easily recycled, whereas a dead bicycle light, like all e-waste is much more complex to recycle.
Please always recycle batteries and dead electronic equipment.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
I just wish some of the cyclists wouldn’t use their road light when cycling along canals when it’s dark, some of them are so bright that lowly pedestrians would literally have to come to a standstill until the bike has gone past… considering 80% of the cyclists get by just fine without needing these mini white dwarfs bolted to their bikes, I don’t see why it’s necessary for the canal… the fact that our eyes have just adjusted to the dark by going on foot, it makes the journey quite unbearable.
“I just wish some of the cyclists wouldn’t use their road light when cycling along canals when it’s dark, some of them are so bright that lowly pedestrians would literally have to come to a standstill until the bike has gone past” I empathise with your situation, but I’m afraid you’re mistaken, those very-bright lights aren’t road-legal. A road-legal light won’t dazzle, assuming it’s correctly adjusted. These lights are almost certainly off-road lights and are not road-legal. BTW, I rarely see bright lights that are road-legal. A bright road-legal light directs its beam onto the road-surface ahead, and has enough spill-light for other road users to make-out the bike from the front and sides. An off-road light has a conical beam and if it is adjusted to illuminate the road ahead, it will dazzle oncoming traffic, therefore such lights are illegal. In order to not dazzle, an off-road light will have to be directed steeply downwards, which is useless.
http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/index_en.html#licht-bundel-verlies
Agreed after all for most urban settings I think the 250 lumen cateye nano I have is just fine, it’s even good for more rural locations. Battery charge is good for about 90 minutes. I read that 400 lumen should be about the max for regular use. The 1000 lumen+ lights are for more extreme circumstances. As I posted before there was a guy built his own bar light capable of 6000 lumens, for about 20 minutes, but he does things like extreme mountain biking i.e. hurling himself down a wooded mountain/steep hill at the dead of night so he has to see everything around him. But since I’m not into dead of night mountain biking I don’t need 6000 lumens and my 250 is just fine.
BTW, I know this is not on topic but, I’ve been trying to develop a helmet mounted rearview camera setup, following an accident in 2013 my head movements are a little restricted so turning to look over my shoulder is painful. Well I’ve got something that seems to work, runs off 5V, it looks Heath-Robinson atm but call it the prototype. I just wondered if there were any rearview cams for cyclists out there already that anyone knows of? seen them for cars and even motorcycles but they were 12V jobs and needed a display screen. Mine’s entirely head mounted; weight isn’t too bad with a hefty battery pack in a jacket pocket to power the whole lot.
Driving home along Southend on Sea sea front last night 27/03/15 – at 5.30 when it was still daylight – husband and I noticed two cyclists who, although correctly using the cycle paths until they reached our own side where none are provided and then using the road, had extremely bright red flashing lights on the rear of their bikes at our driver and passenger eye level! These red lights were not only extremely bright but flashing so constantly that they dazzled. Luckily I was not driving. Had I been I could not pass any cyclist with these kind of lights without going into either them or the oncoming traffic and the flashing lights later caused me to have an extremely nasty migraine aura. Unfortunately I cannot cope with flashing lights in many cases (i.e. disco) because of this problem but I have never seen anything quite so scary! Can only hope that said cyclists were coming to Southend for its ‘Bikeability Level 2 Holiday Course’ commencing on 30th March 2015 and that someone will be teaching cyclists to point their rear lights (flashing or not) downwards, towards the road! Comments please.
Lights that dazzle are illegal. Having said that, there are far too many incidents where motorists have simply failed to see cyclists, despite being properly-lit. I cite the case of Michael Mason. I am convinced that much of this ‘failure to see’ is due to motorists not paying proper attention, likely some of this is due to spending-time looking at phones while they are driving. I have recently invested in a very-bright rear light, although I only run it on full in daylight, I use it on much dimmer settings (still bright) at night.
Flashing lights are now legal on bicycles (since 2005).
From your comment it’s impossible to ascertain what kind of light was involved. Given that, It’s uncertain whether this was road-legal or not. However, if you cannot cope with legal lights, you shouldn’t be driving.
Lighting regulations
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations/lighting-regulations
Michael Mason
http://lcc.org.uk/articles/no-prosecution-after-london-cyclist-is-run-down-from-behind
Thanks for being bothered to answer although you sound a little ‘upset’.
Umm – I did make it clear that I wasn’t driving? Also our eldest son has
now been doing U.K. Iron Man for the past 20 years as far afield as
Hawaii (twice selected) and is cyclist mad for any racing!
These particular cyclists may have been from abroad (where, of
course laws are different) but please rest assured that the one
thing we are very, very careful of is cyclists 😉
You did make a good point when you mentioned ‘Had I been I could not pass any cyclist with these kind of lights without going into either them or the oncoming traffic…’
Many drivers lack the sense to assess if a move is safe, there is a reflex reaction of ‘Bike, Overtake!’.
At least if you are annoyingly visible, a driver is forced to consider the option of hanging back.
The LED arms race is just a measure of how desperate riders are to be seen and to get home alive in a hostile road environment.
In the instance you report, it seemed they worked exactly as intended. I bet if we had Dutch levels of cycle infrastructure, lights would return to a mellow little glow.
Thanks Jake for replying to us. Such controversy! Just had a look at all the comments about ‘flashing bike lights’ re LED arms race. These flashing red lights seemed to work in unison with the cyclists’ ‘pedal power’ if that’s any help?
Do any cyclists drive cars as well? Another thing we don’t like are the blue halogen car lights which came out some years ago. The comments – “Good for my view of the road” from car drivers – seemed totally selfish to us. Surprisingly (and thankfully) they didn’t take off in popularity as much as we feared. However ‘annoyingly visible’ could end up as being ‘dangerously visible’ and not just to car drivers it would seem.
Happen to believe that what each person wishes to do should be respected – but from reading it would seem that some cyclists absolutely hate car drivers. Mind you, have to admit that a few cyclists using the pavements without any lights and thus bumping into us whilst we’re walking (or just using the road at night without lights) has us swearing too! 😉
We might be a couple of ‘oldies’ but, with luck, some day you’ll get there yourselves 🙂
Have a good Easter – and stay safe.
“Do any cyclists drive cars as well?” According to the DfT, 80% drive.
As a cyclist I find a significant proportion of drivers probably around one in fifteen (it varies), will variously (roughly in order of decreasing occurrence): attempt to bully me out of the way (either oncoming or following); pass too close at speed; or MGIF overtake at pinch-points; or will follow me dangerously close (often accompanied impatient impatient revving); other MGIF dangerous overtake (e.g. across double white lines on the approach to a blind bend or blind summit etc.); abuse the horn; pull-out from a side-road and and stop – blocking my progress; shout abuse – normally incoherent, but sometimes obscenities, about the Road-Tax canard, or vague or irrelevant accusations (psychological projection); overtake and stop; right-hook; overtake and left-hook.
Meanwhile as a motorist, I have had no unfortunate interactions with a cyclist.
I’m solely a cyclist but I have experienced all of that with drivers. My real “favourite” drivers are the ones that hare past me in a rush only to then slam on their brakes because they didn’t bother to check the traffic ahead. If they had shown just the merest level of patience there would not have been a problem, ditto at junctions they race past me then jam on the brakes. I even had one oncoming multi drop van driver put me into a muddy verge deliberately, he just couldn’t wait the few seconds more it would have taken me to get to a passing place 5m ahead. I narrowly missed having my head under his rear wheel when the bike slid out! While he just kept on trucking!
Hi, i ride bicycles myself, i use dark roads quite frequently, now being a driver as well i understand the predicament, i want to be seen when on my bike, but i wouldnt want to be blinded by myself if i was driving either, if ya get me.
Does anyone know if there is a legal distance/height a bike light can shine i.e like a car headlight
I undersling my current lights and aim them at the ground, I also use them on the low setting as anything beyond about 400 lumens is a waste for roads, believe me my 200 lumen light up stuff a quarter of a mile away!
However I’m looking currently at those Garmin Varia lights if anyone has seen them at all? The front light varies in intensity according to the speed the bike is travelling at, faster = more intense. I don’t know how bright it goes. While the rear has a built in radar system good to 140m that can track 8 vehicles at a time, only stuff moving faster than you too so parked cars don’t trigger it. The light brightens and I think flashes as a car goes by to say “I’m here give me some space!” or even “thank you for giving me some space!” Accident statistics show most cyclists are taken out by something they never see. The drawback is price, the radar bundle rear is £219 while the variable front is £156 extra. It is supposed to integrate with the Garmin edge but not my model sadly so the radar bundle is OK for me.
I’m just a gadget head I suppose but anything that makes cycling safer has to be a good thing, plus I have my neck fused so turning my head is a problem! I had a friend who was cut so close by a car he said if his hand had been on the drops he’d have lost it!
I live in a rural village near a large city which is surrounded by lanes and canals and has become increasingly popular with cyclists. I really wish it were possible to say to them this is not a playground! Local cyclists, including myself are aware of our surroundings, that there are no footpaths along these lanes and therefore we walk in the road, that the roads vary widely, sometimes long straight stretches, at other times very winding, visibility is limited in places, local industry means that horse riders and farm vehicles frequently use the roads, and during the rush hour one local lane is used as a rat run by drivers passing through the village. This lane also contains the village shops and parking spaces, and has to be negotiated carefully at times by all users. But far too many cyclists seem to ignore the local circumstances, treating the lanes and canal paths as if they are there just for their entertainment, dressed in black and invisible from dusk onwards. They don’t realise that in the rush hour scrum of commuters, shoppers vying for parking spaces etc, in a lane only just wide enough for two cars to pass slowly, their lights may not be visible. Yes, they may have the right of way in a situation, but ploughing through ignoring what other traffic is doing is irresponsible, and silently speeding round a sharp corner at a point where traffic is told to slow down will not give pedestrians trying to cross the lane chance to spot them. Swearing at elderly residents is not the answer! Why cycle side by side in pairs in a narrow road when you know it is going to cause problems for other road users? And I don’t mean a parent and small child, but grown men ambling along? Horse riders may need to do this but at least most have the manners to go into single,file when necessary. If all cyclists who come out here behaved with awareness of their surroundings it could be much safer for all concerned. And in traffic, drivers cannot be relied upon to spot cyclists who are dodging in and out of traffic, overtaking on the wrong side etc, visible one moment and not the next, this is very common and no doubt very tempting but so irresponsible! Re high viz, again at certain times of the day, when bright low sun is shining through bushes and tree branches along these lanes, high viz isn’t always easy to spot, and how are drivers supposed to interprete flashing red arm bands, if they even spot them? So much depends on the circumstances in which protective gear is used, and it is no good moaning that this isn’t fair. A bike light and arm band are not going to make up for dressing in black on a black bike in the rush hour at dusk or when it is really dark in winter.
Its not that cyclists “plough through simply because they have priority”.
In my experience cyclists continue forwards (aka “plough through”) because they are fed up with car drivers bullying and abusing them, treating them as second rate road users and taking advantage of the fact that they are in a bigger vehicle and actually it is the car drivers who can “plough through” and get away with it because at no point do they risk injury to themselves
Agree with you 110%. Cyclists are on the receiving end of abuse from all directions. I’ve had in the past car drivers berating me for not using a cycle path, said cycle path being 200 yards of red tarmac in the middle of nowhere, isolated from everything else, our local council’s tipping of the hat towards the environment! Then if you ride on pavements to get out of the traffic that at times not so much ploughs as thunders through, not that I’m advocating riding on pavements anytime I do so I take special attention of pedestrians, you get berated by said pedestrians. Some drivers simply seem to believe that the fact they pay road tax means they “own” the road and how dare any non-tax paying cyclist violate their property. I even have a friend who told me he was once passed on an A road in broad daylight so close by a car that if he had had his hands on the drops of his handlebars instead of up by the hoods he’d have lost his right hand! However that said whenever I use my bike I do try to be as aware as possible, I will defer to cars wherever possible simply because of the fact that if we do tangle I will be guaranteed to come off the worse. I also agree with Enough Black on black bikes with no lights and dark clothing is ridiculous at twilight or later. I have seen children in my village riding bikes after dusk with no hi-vis gear, no lights, dark clothing and no protective gear at all! I have been hit by a car previously and the driver claimed they didn’t see me in spite of my lights so I never cycle now without a helmet and as much light and hi-vis I can use.
I travel rural roads each evening. My route seems to be poplar with pleasure cyclists. I have noticed over the last year that the lights now used by many cyclists are extremely bright and dazzling. Impairment of my visibility and the fact that I have to look away from the oncoming bicycle could potentially cause a collision. Can I ask all cyclists to fit their lights in such a position that they are not directed towards oncoming motorists? Or is it possible that bicycle lights can be made to be dippable as with car headlights?
Sorry for those with flashing strobe lights…
You are either misinformed or informed and particularly evil and cruel indeed!!
If you suffer from epilepsy or migraine headaches, then you would understand how irritating the flashing can be…
Flashing front or back lights, regardless of the brightness is a well-known trigger for both migraine headaches and epilepsy attacks…
So keep using your flashing lights to emphasize to others your personal arrogance, ignorance,
and how you don’t care about others around you…
It looks like this thread has not been used for a while…. However, the problems have not gone away and my coastal area it is getting worse. Not only do bicycles carry intense led lights today I met at 10:00am an Invalid Buggy with an 8 inch string of led white lights on the front and red on the rear. They were dazzling.
The problem is that I suffer with Visual/Optical Migraines that can be triggered by an bright point of light ( I am not alone!). Once triggered I lose vision in a significant area of my area of vision generally in both eyes with a flashing moving pattern. This can last usually up to about 2 hours, I then have be in subdued lighting unable to read, watch TV and be careful where I walk. I become temporarily technically blind. The first time it happened in my 20’s it was very frightening. There are no known cures and differing explanations of what is happening.
For many years the main trigger has been strong sunlight reflecting of cars, which is obviously a natural hazard. Over the last few years LED lights (whether flashing or constant) on moving vehicles has become common and so have the triggering of my Visual Migraines – the incidents of strong sunlight reflecting of cars is now a relatively lower incidence. This year I have now suffered 3 episodes one lasting 4 hours and resulting with an added day of headache.
I would suggest that a much lower Luminescent value needs to by required for all these lights. The use of these lights in daylight does seem excessive and should be required to be aimed at knee height not eye level. I would also question why users need to have lights on when on a bridleway or permitted path during the day.
I do not know what else can be done – hope this sentiment resonates with other sufferers.
Thank you for your consideration.