"Your bike's illegal!"

AndyManc

DavidTQ wrote:

jedster wrote:

Two things:

1. flashing lights are legal but they are not SUFFICIENT. That is you can use them in addition to steady lights not in place of them (if you want to remain within the law)

Not true its completely legal to use JUST flashing lights

Correct again .. , not only are some car drivers oblivious to the law, surprisingly bikers are coming out with made up gibberish :shock:

AndyManc

There's been a number of threads about bikers determination to be legal to the letter of the law.

Has there ever been a prosecution for failing to abide by the laws concerning pedal reflectors and BS approved lights.

Even in a court if law, they will only be concerned with those cyclist that are negligent.

Those that have made no attempt to make sure other road users can see them, none or ineffective lights and zero reflective/hi-viz clothing.

I am certain no biker will ever be prosecuted for failing to use approved lights, especially considering 99% of lights sold in shops are not compliant, it's a failure of the law in allowing 'illegal' lights to be sold, and not the fault of your average biker.

jedster

alright, I was somewhat out of date but given
a) I was correct until late 2005
b) most flashers don't comply with the standards (see below)
It was hardly gibberish

Flashers
Thanks to the enactment of Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 2559: on 23rd October 2005, it finally became legal to have a flashing light on a pedal cycle. Even better: it became possible for a flashing light to be approved, meaning no other light would be needed in that position. And since BS6102/3 does not yet cater for flashing (but is likely to be amended to do so quite soon), approval is for the time being, granted simply on the basis of brightness.

Because DfT very much prefer anything that possibly can be evaluated against a proper technical standard, so to be evaluated: any flashing lamp that is also capable of emitting a steady light is approved only if it conforms with BS6102/3 when switched to steady mode. Since most (probably all) flashing lights do also have a steady mode, and since none of their manufacturers can be bothered to test and mark them to the pernickety standards of one small country on the fringes of Europe, it's unlikely that any flashing light actually qualifies for approval. But since it became theoretically legal to ride a bike with only flashing lights on it, the Police are nowadays no more likely to quibble its legal status than one equipped with steady lights – unless they're rather dim or involved in an accident of course.

AndyManc

jedster wrote:

alright, I was somewhat out of date but given
a) I was correct until late 2005
b) most flashers don't comply with the standards (see below)
It was hardly gibberish

I was a bit harsh, it's just that I get the same misinformation from car drivers in the form of abuse and I regularly have to correct them.

Even prior to late 2005, (maybe by a year or two) flashing lights were accepted in view of awaiting the official legislation.

There was an on-line campaign to make them legal in which I took part and the legalisation was reasonably well publicised.

Just another point , how many cyclists get told at the point of sale that the lights they are purchasing are not legal ? , I would guess no-one does, that's another reason why cyclists will not be prosecuted for failing to have lights that don't comply to standards and prosecution teams will not be able to use the fact to the detriment of the cyclist.

fossyant

My brand new Deore XT SPD's didn't come with reflectors......thank god...more landfill !

PS I have more lights than is necessary on my bike/rucksack.......

richk

Decathlon also do some 520 'look a likes' that come with reflectors: http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/823-clipless-pedals-3885821/

dondare

AndyManc wrote:

There's been a number of threads about bikers determination to be legal to the letter of the law.

Has there ever been a prosecution for failing to abide by the laws concerning pedal reflectors and BS approved lights.

Even in a court if law, they will only be concerned with those cyclist that are negligent.

Those that have made no attempt to make sure other road users can see them, none or ineffective lights and zero reflective/hi-viz clothing.

I am certain no biker will ever be prosecuted for failing to use approved lights, especially considering 99% of lights sold in shops are not compliant, it's a failure of the law in allowing 'illegal' lights to be sold, and not the fault of your average biker.

There was a thread on the old C+ forum about cyclists being prosecuted for lack of pedal reflectors.

Finbar Saunders

AndyManc wrote:

Has there ever been a prosecution for failing to abide by the laws concerning pedal reflectors and BS approved lights.

That is one aspect to it. But the other aspect has also been pointed out by another poster. If you are involved in an accident that isn't your "fault" and make a claim against the t0sser that ran into you, your claim can be reduced or even rejected on the basis that your bike was not technically legal.

But it is up to each of us to assess that risk. I happen to have double-sided reflective pedals on the bike I use to commute, just because they came with them. But I don't on my road bike (that I sometimes use to commute) or fixie project in progress (that I might use to commute).