Dazzled by a Cyclist!

[Welly]

Have you noticed the increasingly bright lights that Cyclists arm themselves with? I'm all for Cyclists being seen and keeping safe but I was badly dazzled by one the other night, it was drizzly and dark and he was heading towards me (on the pavement) and had two Super-Mega-LED lamps.

Being inquisitive, I did a bit of research into the rulez:

The Law requires a Cyclist (during the hours of darkness) to have a clean, working, White lamp facing forward and a Red lamp rearward. If the lights are designed to emit a 'steady' light then they must conform to BS:blah blah and have a minimum output of 4 Candela.

From 2005 it is possible to display Flashing lamps only and conform to the Regs, since most flashing lamps also have a 'steady' mode then this steady mode must comply with the BS:blah (in other words have a minimum output, not maximum).

Additional lighting may be added over and above the standard Regs and this does NOT have to comply with any regs as long as they're the right colour and were not designed for other uses (like a search light).

In short then a Cyclist can fit massively bright lights, as many as he likes and can point them at the road surface or directly at your face when driving (as I found the other day).

Please note I'm not having a go at Cyclists but surely their lighting has advanced beyond the regulations ever intended?

[davew]

i'm a cyclist and also a mechanic in a bike shop and i totally agree with you some of the lights you can get now are ridiculously powerful, there is a light you can get which has 7,500 lumens and cost about £600 which is made for offroad use but people do use them on the road.
one of the main problems other than the brightness is they can be at any angle or worse still some people use them on there helmet guaranteed to blind someone.
i''m all for being seen when on the road but at the end of the day if a motorist fails to see you with a reasonably bright well aimed light i can't see how having a brighter one will make any difference.

[grasmere59]

I was driving to Oxford the other night on the A40 and there is a cycle path that runs either side of the road and there was a cyclist on my side driving towards me and he must have had a bloody searchlight strapped to the front of his bike.If it had been a car I would have flashed him to dip his lights it was that bright.

[mjb]

I still rage up at the cyclists using only flashing lights. I find it really hard to accurately gauge their position and speed, especially if they're doing car speeds

I actually wound down my window once and shouted "good lights" to a cyclist who had both flashing lights AND pretty powerful well-aimed steady lights. He stopped next to me at a red light It's a good combination - steady lights so you can see and so others can judge your motion, and flashing lights to say "cyclist"

[OllieNZ]

I was driving to Oxford the other night on the A40 and there is a cycle path that runs either side of the road and there was a cyclist on my side driving towards me and he must have had a bloody searchlight strapped to the front of his bike.If it had been a car I would have flashed him to dip his lights it was that bright.

Lol Ive had similar issues on the same road. I had one the other night whos white flashing light had to be brighter than the strobes fitted to the aircraft at work.

[grasmere59]

It makes you want to go on full beam to give them a taste of there own medicine.

[Doggy]

I suspect if welly had pulled over and let the faster vehicle, (cyclist), overtake, the poor chap wouldn't have had to resort to dazzling the lumbering volvo driver, or take to the footpath.

Seriously though, some of these lights are really bright. I used to have two on my pushbike years ago - a 'normal' one to be legal and a super-dooper converted spotlight, (6V motorcycle headlamp bulb running at about 10V off a 12V battery). It was amazing, but I used to turn it off and most car drivers dipped their lights too. (The world was gentler, kinder place, yet to suffer from Margaret Thatcher or disco music).....

I regularly see cyclists with these new dazzling lights, coming towards me on the cycle path on my side of the road when I'm taking the dogs out of an evening. I habitually dip my headlights out of courtesy / concern for their safety. None ever returns the favour.

At least they haven't got foglights, (yet)!

[Welly]

Ha ha Doggy

Funny you should mention Fog Lights; that there lighting regs what I said about also stated that a Cyclist is NOT required to illuminate his lighting solutions if he entered dense fog/poor vissy but during the daylight hours - although it is 'recommended'.

Other quirks are bikes fitted with Dynamos (can you still get them?) where it is permitted for the light to extinguish when you stop (durr) but only if you stop to the left of the road. Or something.

And; cycles manufactured before October 1990 can have any kind of white front lamp that is visible from a 'reasonable distance' - the Moon perhaps?

[Welly]

taking the dogs out of an evening

Maybe some strategically creamed Richards will teach them a lesson? are your Dogs ok with being told where to sh*t?

[grasmere59]

I bought my old mum a Raleigh Superb ladies pushbike a few years ago (lever brakes) and it has the patented "dynohub" lighting.It still works a treat but as you say when the bike stops the lights go out! When they are on they might annoy the odd hedgehog but they are perfectly adequate for day to day use without burning someones retina out.

[Doggy]

Maybe some strategically creamed Richards will teach them a lesson? are your Dogs ok with being told where to sh*t?

You can tell them anything you like- they'll listen with apparent interest, glance at each other, shake their heads and completely ignore you.

[steve_earwig]

At least they haven't got foglights, (yet)!

Oddly enough...

This is my "headlight" http://www.knog.com.au/gear-blinder-lights/blinder.phps (select red) - it's pretty damn bright, the beam (?) is circular, so if it points high enough to get in people's eyes then I guess it's not showing the important stuff right in front of the bike. It really is amazingly bright though, I wouldn't like to look straight at it, note the name...

This is my tail light http://www.knog.com.au/gear-blinder-lig ... pulse.phps (also in red but it doesn't seem to be an option there ) - it's also pretty damn bright, as much as a foglight or brake light, and I could imagine, no, I know how annoying that is to have to look at, so I guess I'll be angling that one down too, if I'm ever stupid enough to cycle at night on the road here... At least a car isn't going to be behind a bike for long.

How much is a candela? Oh, hold on, candela IS lumen, sort of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_%28u ... xplanation So 4 lumens? You ain't gonna see squat with that bud

I guess it needs some new laws to cover all these LEDs that are getting seriously powerful now, and watts just doesn't cover it. Still, I guess the government have more important things to do, like deciding who to blame for nothing being done about the flooding, bailing out incompetent and/or criminal bankers and stuffing envelopes full of cash in their sky rockets...

[Rolebama]

I had not ridden a bicycle since the early 70s, and decided to start cycling again in the early 90s. I opted for a dynamo lighting set which came with Xenon bulbs. I was very impressed as the front lamp actually lit up the road so I could actually see where I was going on some of the local unlit lanes. I am amazed though at the way some of them line their lights up, as they can't possibly see the road directly in front of them.