Legality of flashing LEDs

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atbman

Veteran
Apart from the bit about lights having to be permanently on, his point is reasonable. He's complaining about either a lack of lights or inadequate ones.

Snide comments about doing a ride to work day seem irrelevant to his point that it's better for us to be seen
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
on the rear of the bike i have a solid light + a cateye flasher. on the rucksack, another cateye flasher and also a halfords cheapo flasher that doubles as a reflector.

the solid light is there to prevent insurance companies getting out of paying out in the event of an incident with a car.

for the same reason, i always have a solid cateye light on the front, as well as the windup flasher.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
the reason i prefer lights, rather than hiviz, is that ime drivers assume you are somehow less competent on the road if you are in hiviz, unlike when you are kitted out like an extra from the tour de france, and they seem to give you more respect (and room).

just my experience, might be less appropriate in a big city i suppose.
 
Ah fanks.I use rechargeables and I have three lights on my bag and a German standlight on my bike supported by a battery/dynohub circuit.

Was complimented but a cabbie once and asked by another cyclist recently whether I have enough lights on rather sarcastically.
 
I don't have a problem with the underlying reason for the letter, which exhorts cyclists to ensure they're adequately lit at night. With any luck the prize peanut me and Ms RT nearly flattened on Saturday night near Leominster will read it and put some lights on his bike before riding in the middle of the road in the dead of night.:wacko:
 

squeaker

Über Member
Location
Steyning
Misaligned

Tynan said:
too many cyclists have their front light badly aligned, they're not supposed to be pointed at drivers eyes, some of those really bright lights are dangerous if used like that

they seem to think oncoming traffic flashing their lights is some sort of sign of success
Agreed: cyclists are doing themselves no favours using essentially off-road lights (very bright conical floods) on-road. Annoys the hell out of all other road users, including other cyclists:angry:
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
alecstilleyedye said:
the solid light is there to prevent insurance companies getting out of paying out in the event of an incident with a car.

Blimey :smile: It's a grim thought, but I find my jersey choice is often influenced in the same way (don't wear my black Gill one much).

Lightwise, I run solid on the seat post (torch 9x), and a flasher on the offside stay (Smart superflash) - the rationale, as others have said, is the flasher to draw attention, and the solid to allow judgement of speed and distance. I started mounting the flasher to the offside in the hope of reducing the number of close passes I get. Upfront I have a Blackburn Quadrant, which can be run with two flashing LEDs (the side ones) and two solid) the central ones. It's bright, but I don't think I'm in danger of dazzling anyone with it.

The thing about Hi-Viz is interesting too - I'm not convinced it makes a huge difference myself...(although reflectives are another matter)
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
hi viz and reflective is much the same thing, with the hi viz doing the job in the daytime, most hi viz will have reflective details

you only have to see some cycling photos of people out at night to see how well the hi viz tops work when light hits them
 

Graham O

New Member
I knew that if it had a non flashing option, the rear had to meet the BS, but didn't know about the front light also needing to meet that requirement. Just had a quick look on the Cateye website and couldn't find any mention of BS anywhere. I wonder if they actually test them? Does anyone know?
 
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