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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#858135 17-Jul-2013 16:23

I have an open call into the NZTA asking the question of what the rules actually are, so we'll see what they come back with. They said it might take up to 3 days, so that is late tomorrow.

Nety

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#858212 17-Jul-2013 17:50

PaulBags:

Which law is this, because it's not 3.3 of the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004, and the online version of the road code doesn't appear to be numbered. The search term "Fitting and performance requirements for headlamps" doesn't turn up on legislation.govt.nz at all, nor on the road code.

Did not take much to find.. http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/rules/docs/vehicle-lighting-2004.pdf

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netspanner

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#858213 17-Jul-2013 17:50

So my views which involve making sure people are visible and easily seen are extreme. Maybe this guy would be alive today, after this accident yesterday if he was more 'extreme' in his views and would be seen by other drivers.

However at least he didn't offend any drivers before he died.

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A 76-year-old man hit by a car in Edgeware yesterday has died. A police spokesman said the cyclist died at Christchurch Hospital overnight after being hit by a car in Hills Rd, near the intersection with Warrington St, about 4.50pm yesterday.

Initial inquiries indicated the man was travelling south in Hills Rd when he swerved into the path of a car also travelling south. The driver stated that she never saw him. The cyclist was thrown to the other side of the road and his bike was hit by a car travelling north.

Both cars were being inspected by police, and the drivers were believed to have been interviewed. The police serious-crash unit would be "mapping" the scene today, and the investigation was continuing, the spokesman said. The dead man's name would not be released until his next of kin had been notified, he said.

-----------------------

If wanting to keep people alive on the road by using bright lights is 'extreme' then so be it. But at least I wouldn't have the blood of my family members on my hands.

90% of bike lights are merely good luck charms, the lady driver said she didn't see him, and even with ordinary lights she might not have. They don't work. I pass cyclists every day with lights on that are just useless pinpricks of color. When we are driving we always notice bikes with head mounted lights, because they stand out. And so they should.

This nonsence about 'dazzled drivers causing accidents' is unproven and unreported. It just doesn't happen. The blinkered legalistic self righteous opponents of bright light here, might think they are arguing a point of law, or over something they just don't like, but such narrow-mindedness misses the reality that their views put peoples lives at risk.

Cyclists die when they are not seen. That is the real world, there are today two families grieving and upset over this death, one of the cyclist and the other of the of the driver.

That's not extreme, tha'ts real life.

keewee01:

Jumping to conclusions Paul...

The person I was referring to over trolling went off with such an extreme view
about safety for that 1 cyclist, and not giving a damn about anyone else on the
roads (including, by default, other cyclists!), and then came back later with a
completely different view. Something strange going on there.

Their view made everyone sit up and they weren't ignored at all. There comments
were so very extreme I could not think of anything nice to say about them, so I
didn't say anything - plus plenty of others did.

TheUngeek

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#858224 17-Jul-2013 17:59

You are taking this completely the wrong way. You fail to grasp the simple fact that high mounted bright lights shone at other road users are a hazard.
It makes no difference if its a bike, car or a walker with a torch.
It's dangerous when used incorrectly.
A head mounted light is not for road use.

But don't worry, carry on. Just don't complain to us when you cause a crash or incite some road rage. You just carry on not considering others

TheUngeek

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#858227 17-Jul-2013 18:00

And trying to use a death like that is very low.

jeffnz

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#858228 17-Jul-2013 18:01

@netspanner

I think the parallel you are trying to draw is misguided as you have nothing more than a report and guessing the rest. There could be a multitude of reasons why she never saw him.

The rest of your post is just emotive rubbish based on your own flawed opinion.

Try and be open minded on this as there are some very good posts in here from cyclists and motorists alike, your attitude is making it difficult to take any of your posts seriously.

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Mark

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#858251 17-Jul-2013 18:39

Interesting thread this, can I chip in with a view from someone who is halfway between a cyclist and a car driver .. a motorcyclist :-)

I get dazzled by cyclists coming towards me who are either wearing the portable suns on their heads or have one strapped to the handle bars .. itty bitty "look at me" flashers are generally OK, it's the 1.21 gigawatt omni-directional lasers which are a pain, especially when set to strode ... so to the people who say they don't dazzle ... excuse me, hello they dazzle me! so you can't use that argument anymore ok?

Dry weather is not such a problem it's when it's raining or the road is wet that they really do my eyes in, because wearing a helmet with the visor covered in water droplets the light gets split all over and I can't see jack!
Then when they are set to flash I get dazzled, then before my eyes recover (I would now have a purple splodge in my field of vision) I get dazzled again ... and again and again ... really great fun stuff trying to remember where the road is as I try to shed speed.

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JimmyH

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#858283 17-Jul-2013 19:45

@netspanner

You are making some fairly huge assumptions here:
- you don't know if he had lights or high visibility clothing at all
- you don't know if it was even remotely possible for the car to stop in time if it had seen him
- you don't know whether blinding the driver when he swerved in front would have helped them stop

I'm not against cyclists and think that all road users, cyclists and motorists alike, should behave sensibly and courteously. I do have an issue when some cyclists bang on about motorists when they merrily totally ignore the road rules themselves (running red lights, pedalling fast on footpaths regardless of the poor pedestrians, going the wrong way down one-way streets etc), and I have worked with a few cyclists who seem almost proud that they cycle that way.

On balance, I regard people who mount high-powered searchlights on their head because they prefer it, heedless of the annoyance and safety hazard they cause other responsible road users, as fairly similar to people who shine laser beams at aircraft.

TheUngeek

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#858287 17-Jul-2013 19:49

"Initial inquiries indicated the man was travelling south in Hills Rd when he swerved into the path of a car also travelling south"

He could have had a an aircraft landing lamp strapped to his head and it wouldn't have mattered because she was coming from behind

jeffnz

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#858291 17-Jul-2013 19:52

JimmyH: @netspanner

You are making some fairly huge assumptions here:
- you don't know if he had lights or high visibility clothing at all
- you don't know if it was even remotely possible for the car to stop in time if it had seen him
- you don't know whether blinding the driver when he swerved in front would have helped them stop

I'm not against cyclists and think that all road users, cyclists and motorists alike, should behave sensibly and courteously. I do have an issue when some cyclists bang on about motorists when they merrily totally ignore the road rules themselves (running red lights, pedalling fast on footpaths regardless of the poor pedestrians, going the wrong way down one-way streets etc), and I have worked with a few cyclists who seem almost proud that they cycle that way.

On balance, I regard people who mount high-powered searchlights on their head because they prefer it, heedless of the annoyance and safety hazard they cause other responsible road users, as fairly similar to people who shine laser beams at aircraft.

I was right with up until the point you started banging on about cyclists

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TheUngeek

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#858292 17-Jul-2013 19:54

I think the bad cyclist/bad driver thing is a sideline to the original topic.
There's plenty of ****ers on/in both

jeffnz

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#858293 17-Jul-2013 19:55

TheUngeek: I think the bad cyclist/bad driver thing is a sideline to the original topic.
There's plenty of ****ers on/in both

totally agree there but some like to go tribal and score a few points for their side.

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MikeB4

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#858298 17-Jul-2013 20:16

before becoming disabled I was a cyclist, when riding at night I used a white headlight, handle bar mounted and a red tail light. I wore a high viz vest that I added extra reflector tape, I also added tape to my helmet. This made me very visible.

As a motorist I want to give cyclists space and avoid them, I cannot do this if I cannot see them. A cyclist can make themselves visible by following the code for lights and adding visible clothing very easily.

mudguard

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#858301 17-Jul-2013 20:26

3.3 Fitting and performance requirements for headlamps3.3(1) A dipped-beam headlamp on a motor vehicle (other than an unclassified motor vehicle, or a vehicle having a gross vehicle mass exceeding 12,000 kg) must be positioned at a height not exceeding 1.2 m from the ground.
What is the definition of a dipped beam headlamp?And the second part, if you're a tall roadie then your bar light might be mounted illegally. I know my DH bike will be further than this from the ground!So to avoid issues legally then you could mount some uber light to the bike as long it's below 1.2m?

kiwirock

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#858307 17-Jul-2013 20:37

Talkiet:
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

Totally agree, except the law is the law and if you don't break it and it doesn't work, it needs modified.

A litte O.T.: Have you tried doing an online driving test in the last 12 months? There's a few question in there to specifically catch you out for applying common sense instead of the law/road rules. I came across one whie studying for a class 6 addition.

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