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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#855175 14-Jul-2013 10:42

jfanning: In saying that the law doesn't say what the maximum brightness of a light can be.

Well not directly but you still cannot purchase bulbs that are more powerful then specified for the car as below.

Replacement bulbs
If you want to improve the performance of your headlamps, you can replace the bulbs with high-efficiency bulbs. However, these replacement bulbs must be of a similar type and wattage as the original bulbs, eg don’t replace a standard bulb with one of higher wattage.

So although you can get lights that are brighter they must not be a higher wattage, they also are restricted in how blue they are. In fact for cars imported from Japan you may be forced to go with lower wattage as some come with high wattage dipped beams that you cannot legally buy in NZ.

Quote is from http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/get-your-lights-right/get-your-lights-right.html

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webwat

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#855188 14-Jul-2013 11:13

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.

Flashing makes them more visible and less likely to run the little AAA batteries flat. Flashing lights are safer and honestly I've never had a problem judging distance for those.

Really bright head-mounted lights are not suitable for road use no matter how far ahead you want to see, and should never be used even by pedestrians if there is a potential to blind other road users. Great for caving or mountain biking I guess tho.

Been a while since i braved the Auckland traffic on a bike, but all headlights have to be dipped if other traffic is around. Its no excuse to say you look away from the cars — the light doesn't have a beam that leaves a gap that prevents it from blinding other drivers. Handlebar mounted lights are designed for road use and can be shone further ahead without having to point up at people's eyes.

Come on, car drivers have to slow down too if they cant see past an oncoming car without full beam. Just normal responsibility that everybody needs when they share the road.

Time to find a new industry!

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#855199 14-Jul-2013 11:54

andrewbnz:
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).

If your head mounted light is your "high beam" do you turn it off when facing on coming traffic..?

If handlebar light is facing the road then its dipped, and will likely have a flat beam that gives you the maximum visibility without blinding people. Its worth having a flashing handlebar light too because cyclists really are that hard to see at intersections with other lights around. Head torches have a fairly wide halo around the spot beam and thats a problem too. They are not designed for road use whether flashing or not. I use a small one working under buildings, and I know that you naturally move your head sometimes if distracted (or not) regardless of where the head torch is pointing.

You have to focus on riding safely instead of where you point your light. If you try to move your eyeballs instead of moving a head torch, you will get caught out by your eye's blindspot. How on earth can you look behind you on a bike without flashing other drivers? You can't ride safely without looking around.

Time to find a new industry!

LookingUp

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#855600 15-Jul-2013 08:49

I'm a bit late to this thread, but as both a cyclist and a motorist, can see both sides of the issue.

I agree that some cyclists have lights that are far too bright, however, having been regularly blinded by motorists that don't dip THEIR lights for on coming cyclists, I can see where they might be handy to retain some vision of the road ahead when blinded, or to a least prompt the motorist to dip. I'd support the use of ultra bright lights on cycles if they can be dipped or dimmed, and fall under the same user requirement as motor vehicles.

Secondly, having used both handle bar and head mounted lights, I'd suggest that neither are fully adequate on their own if you use the standard (not ultra-bright) models - at least not in Chch at the moment!

netspanner

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#855834 15-Jul-2013 13:33

My wife has a bright light on her helmet, and she has said some people don't like it. My reply, is "too bad" her life is far more important than the comfort of a driver.

BTW its so powerful it can only be used when cycling as it needs the airflow over it to keep it cool. Lights now are amazing.

Most bike lights are merely good luck charms against accidents and are barely visible from a car.

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#855836 15-Jul-2013 13:42

netspanner: My wife has a bright light on her helmet, and she has said some people don't like it. My reply, is "too bad" her life is far more important than the comfort of a driver.

BTW its so powerful it can only be used when cycling as it needs the airflow over it to keep it cool. Lights now are amazing.

Most bike lights are merely good luck charms against accidents and are barely visible from a car.

If it's that powerful, then it should not be used at all. You say her life is more important than the comfort of a driver, but we aren't talking about comfort we are talking about the fact that these lights literally risk the lives of everyone on the roads because they blind drivers. I've seen some of these things as a pedestrian, and to be honest I do not see why the police aren't stopping and pink stickering every single one of these cyclists because it is honestly a serious safety hazard.

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#855839 15-Jul-2013 13:45

netspanner: My wife has a bright light on her helmet, and she has said some people don't like it. My reply, is "too bad" her life is far more important than the comfort of a driver.

BTW its so powerful it can only be used when cycling as it needs the airflow over it to keep it cool. Lights now are amazing.

Most bike lights are merely good luck charms against accidents and are barely visible from a car.

Wow, if her light is that powerful and her life that important over the safety of other road users perhaps she should stay off the bike when it's dark.

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netspanner

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#855845 15-Jul-2013 13:50

I have never heard of an accident with a driver blinded by a bike light. I have heard of, and experienced accidents where drivers didn't see the bikes.

Until the police lay down some rules then I am not interested in compromising my wife's life for some whiney bike hater.

surfisup1000

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#855852 15-Jul-2013 13:58

netspanner: I have never heard of an accident with a driver blinded by a bike light. I have heard of, and experienced accidents where drivers didn't see the bikes.

Until the police lay down some rules then I am not interested in compromising my wife's life for some whiney bike hater.

You have a rather selfish attitude to safety. It doesn't matter about others so long as you are safe?

Batwing

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#855855 15-Jul-2013 14:01

You're waiting for her (or someone else with an excessively bright light) to cause an accident for the concerns of drivers to be valid?

Not a cyclist hater, but I have experienced these bright lights illuminating the inside of my car briefly and reducing my ability to see in that time. Whether it was caused by a cyclist or a stationary object or another vehicle is irrelevant. The light is too bright.

netspanner

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#855858 15-Jul-2013 14:03

This is the light I think she has based on what it looks like. (I think I am correct) Not knowing that much about light output I don't know if its considered over bright or not

http://reviews.mtbr.com/gemini-xera-2013-mtbr-lights-shootout

jeffnz

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#855863 15-Jul-2013 14:20

netspanner: I have never heard of an accident with a driver blinded by a bike light. I have heard of, and experienced accidents where drivers didn't see the bikes.

Until the police lay down some rules then I am not interested in compromising my wife's life for some whiney bike hater.

I'm a cyclist and think your attitude is about as good as some motorists and totally inconsiderate to others.

Its only a matter of time before someone is blinded by a bike light, as you yourself said its very powerful so sort of contradicting yourself aren't you.

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#855864 15-Jul-2013 14:23

netspanner: This is the light I think she has based on what it looks like. (I think I am correct) Not knowing that much about light output I don't know if its considered over bright or not

http://reviews.mtbr.com/gemini-xera-2013-mtbr-lights-shootout

the reality is that the link shows a light for off roading bikers not road.

I think this is the issue for a lot of cyclists they think brighter is better but in actual fact they are causing safety issues to themselves and others.

If you have to use lights like that at night i would suggest it isn't safe to go cycling so if you care for your wife as you say then maybe buy her a car or drive her where she needs to go.

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netspanner

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#855867 15-Jul-2013 14:23

jeffnz:
I'm a cyclist and think your attitude is about as good as some motorists and totally inconsiderate to others.

Its only a matter of time before someone is blinded by a bike light, as you yourself said its very powerful so sort of contradicting yourself aren't you.

If a motorist gets blinded, they can look away and slow down, its not more than an inconvenience, if my wife gets hit, she dies. You tell me who I should be more concerned about?

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#855872 15-Jul-2013 14:32

netspanner:
jeffnz:
I'm a cyclist and think your attitude is about as good as some motorists and totally inconsiderate to others.

Its only a matter of time before someone is blinded by a bike light, as you yourself said its very powerful so sort of contradicting yourself aren't you.

If a motorist gets blinded, they can look away and slow down, its not more than an inconvenience, if my wife gets hit, she dies. You tell me who I should be more concerned about?

Your attitude is dangerous, selfish, and irresponsible - frankly, you and your wife need to stay off the roads if that's what you actually believe because you are both a danger to everyone.

If a motorist gets blinded at 50km/h, chances are they are going to hit something and kill themselves or others. This is more important then being able to ride in conditions which are clearly not safe to be doing so.

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