Bike light question

[Venod]

Lights are like a puncture outfit you never quite know when you need them.

Thats not true, you may never need a puncture outfit, you know you need lights when its dark or reduced visibility.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

and when visibility is reduced due to bad weather

That's a wise course of action but isn't a legal requirement for pedal cycles.

 

[Drago]

Would it have hurt to walk the bike home?

 

[Racing roadkill]

There’s no way I’d ride on a cycle path without lights. You’re asking for an unplanned dismount, when you inevitably hit a hole, a vole, or an unseen pole.

 

[Drago]

....or an unseen pole.

Indeed. The natives of Gdansk are somewhat transluscent, making them particularly difficult to observe in poor light.

 

[Sixmile]

It's not a legal requirement to wear a top/shirt/coat in the winter but you do because it makes sense and serves a purpose. Regardless of whether you legally have to have a light on, it makes perfect sense to have a light on a vehicle travelling in the dark.

 

[Drago]

Hell, some cyclists insist on having lights illuminated during the day, despite their being no proven safety benefit.

 

[Sixmile]

By heavens, I don't insist but I would have my See Sense lights on during the day because they're already on the bike, it costs nothing to run them and may alert one driver who has steamed up windees, a foggy windscreen or just plain bad eyesight, that I'm in the vicinity.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

By heavens, I don't insist but I would have my See Sense lights on during the day because they're already on the bike, it costs nothing to run them and may alert one driver who has steamed up windees, a foggy windscreen or just plain bad eyesight, that I'm in the vicinity.

100%. Kudos for windies, Norn Iron vernacular on point

 

[Ajax Bay]

on a segregated cycle path is It a must to have lights in times of darkness?

Are you on a road or other public place? Then yes, you should have lights on at night and when visibility is reduced due to bad weather.

Is a cycle path (segregated or otherwise but off-road) a "public place, in your (little black) book?
That's a "should" then rather than a "must" - see OP's question.
I am not suggesting that showing/employing lights (especially a front one) is anything but entirely sensible on a cycle path (segregated or otherwise but off-road).

 

[ozboz]

I never said I had no lights,

but as i said i was held up so it became dark , if part of my route was on the road or the path not to well lit they would have been on ,a cycle path that is bright as , nope , never gave it a thought , so asked the question not really an answer , so Its down to the individual ,
and as for being prepared ,my bag has 2 innertubes, levers, power pump , spare cables,set of alan keys, screwdriver, pliers ,adjustable spanner , also always charge lights up for next day ,
Being an ex Soldier I learnt , take it or regret it ,

 

[Ajax Bay]

@mjr What's the legal position, please?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I never said I had no lights,

You did make it seem that way when you wrote this...

as i peddled home there was a lady coming toward me having a rant because i had no lights

 

[Ajax Bay]

Beware Capital scotsmen pedalling assumptions.
Did the lady have lights or was she a pedestrian? Could you see her before she started ranting?

 

[Drago]

She was illuminated of the righteous halo glow of not being lawfully required to have lights, unlike Beelzebub the cyclist.