Buy some friggin lights!!!!!

mr_eddy

PLEASE if you know people who commute by bike or ride a bike even if its a mate's kid etc etc tell them to strap on some lights!!!

This goes for all the students working for Deliveroo - Seriously WTF you should know better.

Its not difficult - You can buy a set of lights of £1 from poundland, Spend a tenner and you can get a USB rechargeable set from Halfords and you don't even have to change the batteries.

F**ing sick of it - You would not intentionally drive a car without lights on at night so don't do the same on the bike.

Most people reading this will already have lights but if you work with someone or know someone who does not have any then please just tell them to stop being a twat and to get a set of lights!!! I gave a work mate my spare set - His excuse for not using them was "I am only 15 mins from home"

fenix

I don't know anyone who rides without lights.

People are stupid. Look at how many cars you see driving along in fog/rain/dark and they haven't bothered to switch their lights on.

Tashman

I gave this advice to a student aged lad a couple of weeks ago after i narrowly missed him as he appeared from a side street (without giving way) and all i got was a mouthful and told i need to learn how to drive. Some people just won't be helped

jgsi

Get loads in my town.. usually
male
in "normal" clothes
on a BSO
on the pavement
they would never admit to being a cyclist, just riding a bike to get somewhere

nothing you can do about it

keef66

Fenix wrote:

People are stupid. Look at how many cars you see driving along in fog/rain/dark and they haven't bothered to switch their lights on.

+1 and IME they are frequently in grey or silver cars, ie fog coloured, and completely invisible. Add to that the number driving about with only one headlight, masquerading as motorbikes, and you really need your wits about you...

fenix

So true on the fog coloured cars !

It's only a switch they need to press. So its no wonder that people riding BSO's aren't going to the hassle and expense of getting bike lights, fitting them and making sure the batteries aren't flat.

Tashman

Fenix wrote:

So true on the fog coloured cars !

It's only a switch they need to press. So its no wonder that people riding BSO's aren't going to the hassle and expense of getting bike lights, fitting them and making sure the batteries aren't flat.

And when they do find the button they forget to turn it off for months, blinding everyone coming towards them.

The Rookie

The problem these days for car drivers is many leave there lights on 'auto', they don't come on in fog as the light sensors see it's light, additionally unlike the old days car instrument pack lighting comes on regardless of whether the lights are on or notso there is no ready reference that the lights aren't on. I'm not saying it's acceptable by the way, I'm just saying sometimes the technology meant to help us works against us. Given Silver is the most common car colour its not surprising many are silver - law of averages at work!

squired

It is such a tricky one these days. Tell them and there is a good chance you will get abuse. Otherwise they will probably just ignore you. A few weeks back I was riding into London in extremely wet conditions, in pitch black. It was very early and I came across a female cyclist who actually had lights, but neither front or back was turned on. I considered saying something, but decided that in the end it would achieve nothing. Too often when I have said something to a cyclist that had lights I've seen them a day or two later and either they still don't have them turned on or the battery is so low that you only see the light when you are less than a metre away.

kingstongraham

I didn't say anything to the cyclist I saw riding down my road last night with a red front light, because I didn't want to interrupt his phone call.

Secteur

I noticed last winter and more so this winter, for the first time - and presumably due to technology catching up, that bike front lights have all too often become TOO bright, and it's like a car coming at you with it's high beams on. They can blind you and really make it tricky for drivers. As you are dazzled by the ultra-bright or incorrectly angled front light of the oncoming bike, you become blind to anything in front and to the side of you - not so much cars, but a darker cyclist with a less powerful rear red light...

fenix

I have seen some people on bikes with red at the front and white at the rear. No idea if its just for a laugh or they genuinely think thats correct. V confusing.

As are people with helmet lights but no lights on the bike - hard to judge how far away they are and what they are like that.

wolfsbane2k

Collared someone last night on the road who responded with "they're broken, have been for months"...
I think the bit that was broken was either his attitude in trying to find the on/off switch, or the batteries...

thistle_

The Rookie wrote:

The problem these days for car drivers is many leave there lights on 'auto', they don't come on in fog as the light sensors see it's light, additionally unlike the old days car instrument pack lighting comes on regardless of whether the lights are on or notso there is no ready reference that the lights aren't on.

Don't forget that on most cars with daytime running lights, the tails lights don't seem to be connected...
On most cars I suspect this could be fixed with a software update on the car which dealers usually do anyway when cars are brought to them for servicing.

Tashman

thistle (MBNW) wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

The problem these days for car drivers is many leave there lights on 'auto', they don't come on in fog as the light sensors see it's light, additionally unlike the old days car instrument pack lighting comes on regardless of whether the lights are on or notso there is no ready reference that the lights aren't on.

Don't forget that on most cars with daytime running lights, the tails lights don't seem to be connected...
On most cars I suspect this could be fixed with a software update on the car which dealers usually do anyway when cars are brought to them for servicing.

Or people could take responsibility for their own actions. To much automation had made people complacent

mr_eddy

I also think that some people take it too far - I welcome any lights over no lights even very odd red front lights etc. That being said there are a few people on my commute home that have massively over powered lights - You know the 1800lm seperate battery pack sort !! Damn near blinds me every time. One chap I see regularly has his on a Cyclocross bike so maybe he has some off road stuff further down the road but the other lady I see is on a happy shopper thing with a basket so doubt very much she is hitting the single track on the way home.

Surely if you NEED 1000+ lumens for a short section on the way home just add on a 'normal' light as well or at least lower the beam so its not point straight at my boat race.

Anyway as a I said its the no lights people that I simply can't comprehend. I would love to have some law against it but alas too many cyclists think that a bike is a way to bypass the laws of the road so having a law for lights will be like the law for seat belts in Italy (Its the law but no one bothers to abide by it)

wolfsbane2k

mr_eddy wrote:

Anyway as a I said its the no lights people that I simply can't comprehend. I would love to have some law against it but alas too many cyclists think that a bike is a way to bypass the laws of the road so having a law for lights will be like the law for seat belts in Italy (Its the law but no one bothers to abide by it)

You are aware that in the UK there are already laws for bikes to have lights for the hours of darkness, right?
http://www.cyclinguk.org/cyclists-libra ... egulations

fenix

I'm a bit worried that you don't seem to know that its against the law - and you're a cyclist ??

So what chance would people on BSO's have ?


(to me its not the law breaking that makes me ride with good lights - it's that I value my life)

mr_eddy

Yep I am aware of the law I suppose what I meant was it would be good if it was enforced more often but as I said people would still ignore the requirement.

I am aware that you need a front light of a certain power and a rear of so much power. Also you are meant to have reflectors and a bell but again no one seems to bother

mr_eddy

The reason I take such an issue with no lights is that the person who chooses not to use them is endangering others around them, this is also why I don't care if others choose not to wear a helmet as it only influences their risks - I could not give 2 $h*ts if someone without lights has an accident because simply cause they could not be seen - If they ended up injured simply because they could not be bothered to buy some lights then I have ZERO sympathy - Absolutely none what so ever no matter how grim the outcome.

Its the poor sap who hit them that I feel sorry for. If a car driver knocks over a cyclist because they are essentially invisible then I am fairly confident in light (no pun intended) of all the evidence the car driver would automatically be seen in many eyes as guilty.

fat daddy

Last night going home I wished the guy infront of me didn't have any lights .... a very very powerful rear flashing light, it was blinding, I really struggled as I came up behind him, it cause my peripheral vision to be completely wiped out, it was disorientating, it hurt, when I looked over my shoulder to check if it was safe to pass him I wasn't convinced there were no cars due to my eyes being fried

It made passing him almost impossible, the closer I got to make a pass the worse it was

mr_eddy

Honestly ask yourselves this have you ever heard of or seen a cyclist be reprimanded for cycling without lights (or jumping red lights / or going the wrong way down the road etc etc) ? In decades I have been riding and commuting I have NEVER seen or heard of it happening - EVER

fat daddy

I heard of one bloke being done for jumping a red light, but that was int he news so probably a blatent lie

fenix

Just because you've not seen it - doesn't mean it doesn't happen ?

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... ads-145809

fenix

I do find the existence of these ninja cyclists quite reassuring though - if they've not been mowed down then I figure I'm hopefully safe for a bit longer with my reflectives and lights...

If they mow down all the ninjas - then I'll worry.

mr_eddy

Ok so seems in London they are making some progress but still a pretty small number compared to the 155'000 cycle commuters in London not least all the cyclists not counted as they were outside the commuter peak hours.

I still think more needs to be done especially considering that cycle commuting as a means of getting to work has risen massively in the last few years. If the police don't do more then it will become more and more accepted etc.

mr_eddy

I think the issue (as is the way with a lot of issues) is one of education. I bet if you were to stop say 100 cyclists on your way home and did a survey I would guess that a fairly large % would probably be unaware of the laws concerning lights / Cycling on the pavement etc.

fenix

Really - you think ?

Then again in the year that brought us Brexit and Trump - if we haven't learnt how stupid people can be by now....

It's not rocket science people. I knew all this as a kid.

wolfsbane2k

mr_eddy wrote:

Honestly ask yourselves this have you ever heard of or seen a cyclist be reprimanded for cycling without lights (or jumping red lights / or going the wrong way down the road etc etc) ? In decades I have been riding and commuting I have NEVER seen or heard of it happening - EVER

Yes. Hampshire police proudly shouted at the hour change about how many they had fined and how many they had stopped for 'advice' , something like 40 charged and 500 given advice/hi vis 2.

It was very annoying, because as per other posts, these are the ones that drivers seem to think they can't see, but always complain about them , while the police failed to even view a video from a friend of a friend who had been close passed so closely that the vans wing mirror went over the handle bars... There was an interesting piece from bez on roadcc about it at the time... Link here http://road.cc/content/news/210041-poli ... -dont-have

grant2307

I see people when I drive home from work all the time with no lights on their bikes.

I was on the back roads between Dalston and Islington and had a lady pull out in front of, no lights at all. Pretty dark and had been raining earlier. When we got to lights I told her I couldn't see her because she had no lights. Her reply was what do I know I'm driving a car not a bike. Oh.

Your life not mine. Luckily I'm an alert driver and always look out for cyclists from side roads. See far too many people who just expect cars to come to a halt.

Oh and not giving way at round abouts! But that's another story.

Just buy some lights and be safe and seen.

jgsi

They may ride with no lights... dark non cycling clothing.. ride on pavements.. scooting over red lights... but they never get run over do they? .... means feck all that Darwins Law.
Me with lights and everything else ... keep getting the feckin close passes from aggressive c unts whose dicks are as miniscule as their brains.