Night Riding Legalities

SilverSurfer

I'm about to start riding at night but I need to clear a few things up :

- I have seen that pedal reflectors are legal req's so I'll get that sorted

- Rear reflector req'd - will a mudguard reflector do?

- battery life of lights must be 10hrs - so my SMART lead acid will fail there. Would a backup LED light do for that requirement? Is a Cateye EL300 legally recognised?

- If the rear LEDs have no reflector, are they illegal or would the mudguard reflector comply?

I don't want to give a scumbag driver ANY way to duck out of compensation should the worst happen

Cheers.

alfablue

This may help.

secretsam

What a total fudge-up of absolute nonsense, DoT excels itself

I have no idea if I'm compliant, though I assume all Cat-Eyes hit the flashing light target?

One of my bikes has equipment on it purchased before 1985 (pedals), but the frame is from 1988...is that a pre-'85 bike?

spen666

SilverSurfer wrote:

...- battery life of lights must be 10hrs - ...
Cheers.

not sure where this comes from. I know of no legal requirement of this nature

dondare

SilverSurfer wrote:

- battery life of lights must be 10hrs -

Where does this come from? It would seem to me to be impossible to comply with.

SilverSurfer

dondare wrote:

SilverSurfer wrote:

- battery life of lights must be 10hrs -

Where does this come from? It would seem to me to be impossible to comply with.

http://www.leedscyclists.org.uk/legal.htm

"The British Standard for front lamps includes a requirement that they be capable of running for 10 hours on a set of batteries. This means that most of the powerful rechargeable front lamps fail that part of the standard unless you have a car battery in your pannier."

andyp

SilverSurfer wrote:

http://www.leedscyclists.org.uk/legal.htm

"The British Standard for front lamps includes a requirement that they be capable of running for 10 hours on a set of batteries. This means that most of the powerful rechargeable front lamps fail that part of the standard unless you have a car battery in your pannier."

Is the British Standard the same as the law though?

alfablue

andyp wrote:

SilverSurfer wrote:

http://www.leedscyclists.org.uk/legal.htm

"The British Standard for front lamps includes a requirement that they be capable of running for 10 hours on a set of batteries. This means that most of the powerful rechargeable front lamps fail that part of the standard unless you have a car battery in your pannier."

Is the British Standard the same as the law though?

Well, you need to have a BS approved light, under the law, so if the above is correct then I guess it is effectively a legal requirement. Can't check the BS as it costs £36! but I see no reason to distrust the leeds cyclist link.

painfully slow

I, like many others, cycle with a combination of lights. I have two front Blackburn rechargeable lights, which fail the regs because they are capable of being switched on permanently. I have a front dyno-hub which switches off when I am stationary and is pathetic in comparison to the blackburns, yet I presume is legal. At the rear, I have two flashing red Smart lights. These are capable of being permanently switched on, so fail again. In addition, I have pedalite pedals, which flash as you pedal. I have a helmet mounted flasher too. To cap all that, I have a jacket with embedded LEDs!

Have a look at this photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84256030@N00/280084806/

Guess what happened a year ago? Stopped by the police. They didn't like my flashing front lights! Whilst they were belly-aching about my lights, four stealth cyclists (students?) cycled past, completely unlit. Complained to the Traffic division and got an apology. If a car hit me, though, I am sure a clever lawyer could find fault with my arrangement and it'd be hard to fight in view of the silly laws.

Painfully slow.

dondare

alfablue wrote:

This may help.

"Age brings privileges. To name but two: cycles manufactured before October 1990 can have any kind of white front lamp that is visible from a reasonable distance, and pre-October 1985 cycles don’t need pedal reflectors. "

That's me alright then.

dondare

SilverSurfer wrote:

http://www.leedscyclists.org.uk/legal.htm

"The British Standard for front lamps includes a requirement that they be capable of running for 10 hours on a set of batteries. This means that most of the powerful rechargeable front lamps fail that part of the standard unless you have a car battery in your pannier."

I don't think that I've ever had a set of lights, from the old tin-can Ever-Readies that were all you could get 40 years ago, to my current Cateye Singleshot Plus, that would still be giving any kind of a useful light after 10 hours continuous running.

dondare

"Reflectors for clipless pedals are either unobtainable or useless which is why so many new bikes are sold without pedals. If you have clipless pedals, reflective ankle bands show you are trying to comply with a stupid law."

I don't think that it is a stupid law. I think that the manufacturers are stupid not to produce good pedals that comply with the law.
For instance Eggbeater make one called the "Smarty" which is reasonably priced and has replaceable, coloured plastic inserts which could very easily be reflective; but they aren't. The fact is that the manufacturers make no effort at all to make bikes or bike accessories which are legal.

T800

"Finally, a lot of it is stupid. Tell your MP."

He's right about that, though it's unlikely to make much difference, given that the pen-pushing, bean-counting civil servants have just spent so much time coming up with the 2005 rubbish.

And what good would "legal" pedal reflectors be for someone who rides a 'bent?

Cunobelin

andyp wrote:

SilverSurfer wrote:

http://www.leedscyclists.org.uk/legal.htm

"The British Standard for front lamps includes a requirement that they be capable of running for 10 hours on a set of batteries. This means that most of the powerful rechargeable front lamps fail that part of the standard unless you have a car battery in your pannier."

Is the British Standard the same as the law though?

The law changed recently with the Road vehicle Lighting Regulations (2005). The CTC describes this as:

Front Lamp

One is required, showing a white light, positioned centrally or offside, up to 1500mm from the ground, aligned towards and visible from the front. If capable of emitting a steady light it must be marked as conforming to BS6102/3 or an equivalent EC standard. If capable of emitting only a flashing light, it must emit at least 4 candela.
Rear Lamp

One is required, to show a red light, positioned centrally or offside, between 350mm and 1500mm from the ground, at or near the rear, aligned towards and visible from behind. If capable of emitting a steady light it must be marked as conforming to BS3648, or BS6102/3, or an equivalent EC standard. If capable of emitting only a flashing light, it must emit at least 4 candela.

This implies that to meet the RVLR (2005) and hence legal - the lights need to be BS approved. Note flashing lights became acceptable within this change!



The answer is "Bobby-dodgers"!
I have a set of minimum standard BS lights in order to satisfy the law and then "supplement these with front and rear Dinotte LEDs and a Hope HID. They are not "legal" as a primary light, but they are only supplementary and hence do not need to.

rich r

So how do you turn clipless pedals into legal pedals with reflectors. Can't be fussed changing them all the time !

Yellow Cliff

rich r wrote:

So how do you turn clipless pedals into legal pedals with reflectors. Can't be fussed changing them all the time !

There are a few SPD type pedals which accept reflectors. They are generally the ones with a cage so they can be used with normal shoes on one side and cleats on the other. Not an ideal solution, but it works. You can also get plastic widgets which clip in on one side of a double sided pedal to provide reflectors but I hear that they are slippery in the wet and break easily.

I bought some cheap SPDs from Lidl which came with BS reflectors on them. Wellgo make some (Wellgo clipless trekking), the Shimano M324 SPDs also take reflectors I think.

jedster

a lot of cycling shoes have reflectives on the back of the heel - seems like a reasonable compromise to me

even if you did put a small reflector on, say, SPD pedals I doubt that it would be very visible given how it would be tucked away under the shoe

jedster

you could also put a band of reflective tape around your cranks

Belv

I can't understand the police stopping cyclists with decent lights!

Regardless of the nuances of the law, the 'spirit' of it is to ensure the cyclists are seen and flashing lights help to ensure that - THAT'S WHY THE POLICE USE THEM! I've used a flashing rear for about 6 years and would be furious if i ever get stopped because a mode i don't use does not have a BS mark.

:x

redddraggon

rich r wrote:

So how do you turn clipless pedals into legal pedals with reflectors. Can't be fussed changing them all the time !

Most come able to be fitted with reflectors. Both of my sets of 105 SPD-SL pedals have come with attachable reflectors.

Old Holdie

Is there such a thing as a BS approved rear light for bolting to a rack?

All the ones I can find only have a seatpost bracket

SilverSurfer

redddraggon wrote:

Most come able to be fitted with reflectors. Both of my sets of 105 SPD-SL pedals have come with attachable reflectors.

Interesting... mine didn't!

Can you get similar ones for the old style Looks?

el_presidente

Belv wrote:

I can't understand the police stopping cyclists with decent lights!

Regardless of the nuances of the law, the 'spirit' of it is to ensure the cyclists are seen and flashing lights help to ensure that - THAT'S WHY THE POLICE USE THEM! I've used a flashing rear for about 6 years and would be furious if i ever get stopped because a mode i don't use does not have a BS mark.

:x

I don't think you would ever ever get stopped for that, the potential issue is if you are up in court after an accident and the opposing lawyers say"well sadly your honour the cyclist was not using appropriate lighting, not BS standard as set out in the law therefore it is not my client's fault he drove into him..." etc

jedster

Is there such a thing as a BS approved rear light for bolting to a rack?

what you need is a B + M DToplight - there are lots of dynamo powered versions but there's one called the DToplight permanent which is battery powered if that's what you are looking for.

here's a link

http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/b_m_dtoplights.shtml

Gambatte

I use the Wellgo version of SPDs. They came with clip on reflectors.
I used 'em for 2 days. Spent too many times picking them up, having them handed back etc. At the end of 2 days I'd got 2 of the 4 left. They went in the bin.

I'm just considering putting a piece of 3m diamond grade tape on the pedals. Don't know if that'd legally meet the requirement, but I believe the tape is reflective to a level greater than the BS?

alfablue

I got these reflectors with my Shimano SPD's



however they make the two sided pedal into a single sided pedal so I don't use them!

alfablue

Gambatte wrote:

I'm just considering putting a piece of 3m diamond grade tape on the pedals. Don't know if that'd legally meet the requirement, but I believe the tape is reflective to a level greater than the BS?

The reflectors on pedals have to be BS approved and marked as such, however I reckon we have to vote with our feet and do what we feel makes us most visible, even if not to the letter of the law.

Gambatte

Old Holdie wrote:

Is there such a thing as a BS approved rear light for bolting to a rack?

All the ones I can find only have a seatpost bracket

would this help?

http://www.dotbike.com/ProductsP379.aspx

:?: :?:

alfablue

Unfortunately the Smart rear lights "conform" to BS but are not approved.

Gambatte

alfablue wrote:

Unfortunately the Smart rear lights "conform" to BS but are not approved.

Ah well........

Won't stop me using my smart superflash..

alfablue

Gambatte wrote:

alfablue wrote:

Unfortunately the Smart rear lights "conform" to BS but are not approved.

Ah well........

Won't stop me using my smart superflash..

No, I use one too - brilliant light!!!

I have been searching around for choices of BS approved lights, and there are few, and often bulky, old tech, and pricey (like the Cateye's). I thought I found some cheap ones in Eurolights range (I just want some small cheap ones to be legal, and leave main duties to my Dinotte, Electron Nano and Superflash), but despite making a claim of meeting BS requirements, these too just "conform" rather than being "approved".

We really need some "smart" manufacturer to give us both quality and BS approval in one unit! I would have no objection in spending big bucks on a really good light that met both requirements. I guess the UK is a small market and not worth the extra expense.