Jeremy Vine "Have you been blinded by bike lights?"

[Fab Foodie]

Not sure we can have an off-the-shelf dip and main beam (in the sense that an auto light is main beam) whatever we pay. I use a Strada Mk6 on wet unlit roads, because they are very quiet, but I'm still not sure it is properly 'dipped'. Given how few cars there are, I'm not sure I care, but it would be nice to have a properly 'automotive like' option.

Dynamo powered lights from the like of B+M seem to be able to produce beams that have a suitable light spread and cut-off .... in fact superior to most battery lights, I don't see why the battery guys (except B+M) can't manage to provide us with one.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

The point I found frustrating was that some drivers think that cyclists have bright lights to annoy motorists. Its a point I have found with other people. They think we take primary position at pinch points etc to hold them up. They do not understand that in the majority, we are just trying to protect ourselves and get from a to b safely. We do not hate other motorists and go out of our way to upset them but it seems that quite a few drivers have this way of thinking.

 

[gavgav]

Radio 2 is my radio station of choice, other than the 2 hours when Jeremy Vine is spouting inane rubbish, during which it is turned off!

 

[gavgav]

The point I found frustrating was that some drivers think that cyclists have bright lights to annoy motorists. Its a point I have found with other people. They think we take primary position at pinch points etc to hold them up. They do not understand that in the majority, we are just trying to protect ourselves and get from a to b safely. We do not hate other motorists and go out of our way to upset them but it seems that quite a few drivers have this way of thinking.

They are also the sort of drivers who think that no-one should observe speed limits, use indicators, stop at red lights, etc, etc because it inconveniences them for about 30 seconds of their life

 

[sidevalve]

The point I found frustrating was that some drivers think that cyclists have bright lights to annoy motorists. Its a point I have found with other people. They think we take primary position at pinch points etc to hold them up. They do not understand that in the majority, we are just trying to protect ourselves and get from a to b safely. We do not hate other motorists and go out of our way to upset them but it seems that quite a few drivers have this way of thinking.

Actually I think you've sort of said it in one - 'the majority' which means that some DO. I have seen it and yes I have been pi----d of by it.
People only remember the ars----s [how many drivers do you remember this week - the hundreds who passed with no problem or the one that cut you up/passed too close ?] Riding side by side with your mate for a chat on a twisty country road stopping anyone getting past [without taking risks either way] when for a moment you could just fall into single file and let everyone through is a common example.
[And before anyone bangs on about 'getting past a looong row of bikes being just as dangerous we are talking two here]. Road lanes are often wide enough for a car a bike and a nice gap but not two bikes a car and any gap.
Second car headlights MUST be set correctly both when new and at every MOT if not - result fail, bike lights are set by guesswork and sometimes by numpties - sorry but it's true.
As for having a car six inches from your bottom you clearly have one of the few bikes in the country with no rear wheel. Are you REALLY in so much of a hurry that you can't let the idiot just get passed and get on with it ? Further if they were behind you they weren't really blinding you were they ?
Lastly I would suspect that far too many cycle lights if tested on a beam setter at an MOT station would be set at the 'high beam' setting [ie roughly dead ahead] not dipped [which IMHO is more useful anyway] - number of cyclists I have ever seen dip a light [and we get quite a few 'serious' lights here in the sticks = zero]
As usual we have the never ending bleat 'Oh everybody's picking on me because I'm a cyclist' If you want to be 'picked on' and have a whole raft of legislation against you try driving a car.You may imagine the car drivers always 'get away with it' but I suspect that the millions grasped by the government in fines proves otherwise.

 

[glenn forger]

The point I found frustrating was that some drivers think that cyclists have bright lights to annoy motorists. Its a point I have found with other people. They think we take primary position at pinch points etc to hold them up. They do not understand that in the majority, we are just trying to protect ourselves and get from a to b safely. We do not hate other motorists and go out of our way to upset them but it seems that quite a few drivers have this way of thinking.

Public Information Film on the bold bit would help. loads of drivers think it's a deliberate scheme to annoy drivers. Because "Cyclists are the enemy" has been force-fed to motorists they interpret every move as a sinister plot. One of the comments beneath the "I'm pregnant" driver clip was one from a driver who thought cyclists have to give way to cars turning left. How do these people pass their test?

 

[glenn forger]

Old Viney had a bit of an incident on the way home:

https://www.facebook.com/1691455784...455784407633/1732717203614824/?type=2&theater

 

[Andrew_P]

I just posted this in commuting about these 800/400 lumen lights that's weird.


On my bike I have two Volt 400 on the front. Around town out of traffic I normally have one on only and on low flash normally pointing down about 7-10ft in front. Use full beam only on country roads etc and I get by fine no issues at all. I keep reading about people that are buying or have these retina burning 800-1000 lumen lights.

If you own one please don't farking use THEM on your helmet and on the bike on a shared pavement that runs against the flow of traffic and please don't farking have them on some moronic epilepsy inducing 400/800 lumen super fast disco flash FFS and if you were called a self-gratification artist this morning by a grumpy cyclist cycling on the road with his head down because he and probably the car drivers he was sharing the road with couldn't see fark all and then had this farking flashing carry on for a while as nice bit of retina burn in the morning.

The worrying thing it is not that unusual, there is being seen and being able to see and then there is the downright farking dangerous.

 

[totallyfixed]

I just posted this in commuting about these 800/400 lumen lights that's weird.


On my bike I have two Volt 400 on the front. Around town out of traffic I normally have one on only and on low flash normally pointing down about 7-10ft in front. Use full beam only on country roads etc and I get by fine no issues at all. I keep reading about people that are buying or have these retina burning 800-1000 lumen lights.

If you own one please don't farking use THEM on your helmet and on the bike on a shared pavement that runs against the flow of traffic and please don't farking have them on some moronic epilepsy inducing 400/800 lumen super fast disco flash FFS and if you were called a self-gratification artist this morning by a grumpy cyclist cycling on the road with his head down because he and probably the car drivers he was sharing the road with couldn't see fark all and then had this farking flashing carry on for a while as nice bit of retina burn in the morning.

The worrying thing it is not that unusual, there is being seen and being able to see and then there is the downright farking dangerous.

Stop beating about the bush and say what you really mean....

 

[AM1]

Old Viney had a bit of an incident on the way home:

https://www.facebook.com/1691455784...455784407633/1732717203614824/?type=2&theater

Jeremy did well to keep his composure TBH

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

"Have you been blinded by bike lights ?"
Yes, often. Especially the ones that flash. Inconsiderate and irresponsible.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Dazzled? Often.
Blinded? Never.

 

[oldstrath]

Dynamo powered lights from the like of B+M seem to be able to produce beams that have a suitable light spread and cut-off .... in fact superior to most battery lights, I don't see why the battery guys (except B+M) can't manage to provide us with one.

I thnk both the iq premium and the trelock 950 do the dipped bright beam thing really well, as did the Saferide. What none of yhem do is the combination with a switchable high beam.

 

[Illaveago]

There have been some very good sensible comments posted . It seems that there are a lot of prats about, motorists and cyclists. In a previous job I came across customers who wanted to fit higher wattage bulbs to their cars 80 and 100watt which are meant for off road use only but would not listen when I said that they were illegal for normal road use. I hope their wiring looms burnt out! It would seem that there are some cyclists who have the same attitude and have little regard for other road users.
I used to find that the old public information films used to be informative and helpful. It is a shame they don't do something similar but up to date to educate the public.

 

[slowmotion]

Part of the problem with bike lights is that, although chucking out less light than a car headlight cluster, the light source is tiny in area and that tends to dazzle.