Cyclist - please take care with your lights at night

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Cyclist - please take care with your lights at night

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#854779 13-Jul-2013 09:43

cgreenwood: No cycle headlight is ever going to be as bright as a car headlight, pointed directly at you or not. [snip]

Clearly you haven't seen the lights we're talking about. You can get wearable lights so bright they can cause temporary vision damage.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

keewee01

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#854780 13-Jul-2013 09:46

cgreenwood: No cycle headlight is ever going to be as bright as a car headlight, pointed directly at you or not. Yeah fair enough, they should not wear them head mounted and try to angle them down if possible but give them a break, they are just trying to be seen and not killed or seriously injured. We are talking a life and death situation here for the cyclist, the most that could reasonably be expected to happen to a driver in a car/bike collision is an annoying insurance payout.

I'd dispute the strength comment you made. See the post I am about to make.

I think there are a number of cyclist our there whose ego's are taking over and they've competing to see if they can have the strongest beam, or most dazzling light array on their bikes. It is overkill - if it is a matter of wanting to be seen, then that is so darn easy - they are called reflectors (or reflective tape). It works extremely well - I have them on my bike (red facing directly behind, and clear one on front and in spokes) along with a decent (now 20 years old, but still very good) headlight that is design so that it points down.

Reflectors are all that is needed to see a cyclist in the dark. The light is meant to be for the cyclist to see the road. Period.

As for your comment about the worst being an annoying insurance payout - get real. A blinded motorist who hits another car or a person will more than likely still get done by the police as they are the easy target in an accident.

TheUngeek

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#854781 13-Jul-2013 09:46

Bike lights are for being seen. Not seeing.
Ride to the conditions.
Insisting on head mounted blinding lights is dangerous and shows an incredible lack of thought for other road users safety.

GregV

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#854784 13-Jul-2013 09:48

keewee01: Unfortunately there is a rapidly increasing trend of crazy bike lighting happpening.

Yup, the technology has increased dramatically recently, and there are some very bright lights available now. I'd imagine it won't be long before this is looked at.

If there is one thing that cyclists and motorists agree on, it is that bikes should have separate 'roads' to travel on. Unfortunately the few cycle paths in my area are made for kids/new cyclists, and are only good for low-speed travel.

keewee01

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#854785 13-Jul-2013 09:48

TheUngeek: What happens when the car driver facing them is blinded?
There is a reason there are height restrictions on vehicle headlamps.
I'm surprised the police are not using it against these cyclists already.

The other issue is the type of beam used. They are often a flood beam, not directional.
There really is no excuse for using them in public roads. They are dangerous.

Yeah - I couldn't believe it on Wednesday night when I say this cyclists beam illuminating the entire 3 stories of a building - the entire building front lite by one cyclist light!!! That is just ridiculous. I should be thankfull it was point to his left and not at me!

I think I might have a chat with the local police station.

keewee01

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#854786 13-Jul-2013 09:49

jfanning: Would you rather see the cyclist or not see them?

As others have said - it not a question of seeing them or not, it's more around being blinded/highly distracted by them. If it was a motorist swinging a spot light around blinding other drivers or driving with lights on full all the time then they'd be pulled over in an instance by the police.

To give you an idea just how dangerous this can be, a few weeks ago I was driving on an urban piece of highway at about 100km/hr. I had one of these cyclist with the really strong lights mounted on his head coming towards me and he was more often than not shining this light directly at me. I could not see the road and it was a good 2 or 3 seconds after he'd passed before my eyes were even starting to adject enough that I could make out the road again! Now that is extremely dangerous, and I was really starting to slow down by then because of it.

GregV

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#854787 13-Jul-2013 09:51

TheUngeek: Bike lights are for being seen. Not seeing

So cars should only drive at night with their parking lights on? :P

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keewee01

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#854788 13-Jul-2013 09:54

GregV:
keewee01: Unfortunately there is a rapidly increasing trend of crazy bike lighting happpening.

Yup, the technology has increased dramatically recently, and there are some very bright lights available now. I'd imagine it won't be long before this is looked at.

If there is one thing that cyclists and motorists agree on, it is that bikes should have separate 'roads' to travel on. Unfortunately the few cycle paths in my area are made for kids/new cyclists, and are only good for low-speed travel.

Yes, I wish more councils and authorities would give serious consideration to this as cyclists need safe passage and with the sheer number of cars on the roads these days it is becoming unsafe for both the cyclist and the motorist - and unfortunately the cyclist is always going to come off second best. And we all cycle considerably faster than we use to - the rat race often requires it!

TheUngeek

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#854790 13-Jul-2013 09:56

No. Park lights are illegal to use for driving purposes.

Bike lights are for the rider to be seen firstly.
Extra vision is a plus. They should never be mounted higher than the handle bars and should point slightly down. Never directly straight ahead.

Head mounted lamps should only be used off road.

Think of it like high beams. Head mounted lamps are cyclists high beams.
Ie never to be used in face of on coming traffic or built up areas

jfanning

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#854793 13-Jul-2013 10:02

richms:
cgreenwood: No cycle headlight is ever going to be as bright as a car headlight, pointed directly at you or not. Yeah fair enough, they should not wear them head mounted and try to angle them down if possible but give them a break, they are just trying to be seen and not killed or seriously injured. We are talking a life and death situation here for the cyclist, the most that could reasonably be expected to happen to a driver in a car/bike collision is an annoying insurance payout.

Plenty of bike lights are way brighter than a normal low beam headlight.

My problem is why are bikes allowed flashing lights? Makes judging distance from the cycle really hard and is distracting.

Because the law says they can, but the law also says they must have a non flashing front light as well.

And while we are at it, the law also says that cars must use their headlights during low visibility, yet a great number don't

jfanning

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#854794 13-Jul-2013 10:06

keewee01:
Reflectors are all that is needed to see a cyclist in the dark. The light is meant to be for the cyclist to see the road. Period.

So whos fault is it when I am cycling with front and rear (handle bar mounted for the front) lights on, reflective jacket on (hi viz), and reflectors on the bike, on a main road (ie well lit) yet cars still try and run over me?

GregV

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#854795 13-Jul-2013 10:06

My light is used to light up a section of road a certain distance in front of me. If my light is on my helmet, it is facing at a down-angle to hit this spot (low beam). If the light is on my handlebar, it has a higher angle to light the same piece of road (high beam).

I'd suggest that parking lights are illegal for driving as they don't give you visibility of the road ahead. Why should cyclists have this same disadvantage?

The main issue here seems to be people with bright helmet-mounted lights not using them to see the road ahead, but using then as a 'look-at-me' light. These people should absolutely have their behaviour changed.

Talkiet

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#854807 13-Jul-2013 10:09

jfanning: [snip]
Because the law says they can, [snip]

In my opinion, common sense and safety trump the law, especially when the sensible and safe alternative is also legal.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

jfanning

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#854808 13-Jul-2013 10:11

GregV:
TheUngeek: Bike lights are for being seen. Not seeing

So cars should only drive at night with their parking lights on? :P

The law says that vehicle lights must be clearly visible from 100m, are your park lights clearly visible from 100m?

Talkiet

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#854809 13-Jul-2013 10:12

GregV: My light is used to light up a section of road a certain distance in front of me. If my light is on my helmet, it is facing at a down-angle to hit this spot (low beam). If the light is on my handlebar, it has a higher angle to light the same piece of road (high beam).

I'd suggest that parking lights are illegal for driving as they don't give you visibility of the road ahead. Why should cyclists have this same disadvantage?

The main issue here seems to be people with bright helmet-mounted lights not using them to see the road ahead, but using then as a 'look-at-me' light. These people should absolutely have their behaviour changed.

Well, for a start, cycles travel (typically) much slower than cars and definitely have much better stopping distances, so there's not the need to light up as much road as a car. As for head mounted - well if that light never turns to look directly at a driver, then I don't have a problem, however I would also be upset if someone in a car mounted a bright light and used it to spotlight cyclists.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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