Ask someone you love: Are you using lights?
Posted by: MichelleOct 24 2007, 1:47 pm
Tis the season for falling leaves and pumpkins and turning on the heat and reading books indoors. Tis also, unfortunately, the season for bicyclists riding after dark without lights.
As fair-weather cyclists continue biking into the fall, which we wholeheartedly support, they often don't buy lights to put on their bike after dark. But lights are extremely important. Lights prevent crashes. They are NOT OPTIONAL – particularly not the front light, which is required by law.
The police used to enforce light violations more than they do now, and even distributed bike lights for a while. But their priorities are elsewhere now. So we must police ourselves.
When you're out there and you pass someone who doesn't have lights, here are some less confrontational ways you can encourage them to get some:
"Oh my gosh, I didn't see you at all! You scared me! You should get LIGHTS."
"Hey, did you know you have to have LIGHTS? I just want to tell you because I got a ticket for it last week and it was really expensive." [This can be a white lie, it's okay, it's for a good cause].
"Hey, you might want to get some LIGHTS. You'll notice that drivers see you a lot more when you have them. It feels safer."
And for your friends, if they don't have lights, just buy them some and make them pay you back. Or don't make them pay you back.
On a good day I use two rear lights ( when my step-daughter doesn't have one) and have also put reflective tape on my helmet,
I personally can't imagine intentionally riding at night without both a front light and a rear light. I've been caught without one or the other due to dead battery or mechanical failure, and it's really scarey to me. I currently have a dual-beam NMH and a 5-LED headlight on my handlebar and a 1-LED on my helmet (which I also never ride without) for front lights and seatpost-mounted plus backpack-mounted red taillights. Everything has re-chargeable batteries.
Headlights are needed both to be able to see, and to be seen. Get something substantial enough to accomplish both of these. Helmet-mounted is great, because it allows you to point the light in the direction of vehicles if you suspect they may not be paying attention or can't see you because of the limited beam projection angle. Sometimes it gets a bit tricky mounting the lights, so look for one that specifically includes a strap for that purpose.
Last week I bought a new Planet Bike 1W LED front light. It is painful to look at and has a really attention getting flash mode (blink-blink-blink-BRIGHT…). I was showing it to a friend of mine and he started going off about how he hated these kind of bright flashing lights because they were going to cause people to have seizures.
Has anyone ever heard of this happening?
Keith, hopefully, the people who are susceptible to photo-induced epilepsy know it and are not driving cars! It's very rare, but it is real. As I understand it, flash rates need to be somewhat higher than the one per second that most bike flashers run at.
I use a headlight mounted on my front handlebars, I wear a headlamp on my helmet, which I then attach a blinking red light to the strap on the back…I also wear a bright yellow vest with reflective panels and blinking red lights…I look a bit like a landing strip but YOU CAN'T MISS ME! and well, that is the point.
My friends nicknamed me Bike Safety Girl…and I even wore my winter/night time, well-lit biking outfit as a Halloween costume last year.
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I agree USE LIGHTS!! Foggy mornings, dusky evenings….use lights!!! But my gosh, I have to take my eyes OFF the road whe someone is riding at me with one of those flashing LED's. I cannot see ahead of me, the light is so distracting. Its like 'you have night vision…oh, no you dont…you have night vision….oh, no you dont' Granted, we are trying to make ourselves visible to vehicles, but THEY dont have flashing seizure lights!! Why is a BRIGHT STEADY not good enough? eh? I agree with the helmet light. Then when you look either direction, there is a MOVING light to catch the drivers' attention
I have a blinking red light on the back and no light on the front. I have nowhere to mount it. I have a basket on the front to carry my work clothes and lunch. This prevents me from putting the light on the handlebars. I tried mounting one on the basket but can't get it tight enough so it just bounces all over and flips back up into the basket. I put a bike light that I paid 20 bucks for inside the basket but it's not even close to bright enough to be able to see anything. I heard I have to pay at least 50 bucks for a good front light. Maybe my next attempt will be a helmet light – I know other riders will be able to see me then from the front but will it put out enough light so I can actually see what's in front of me? Also, what should I use for "side lights"? Something on the spokes maybe? I'm more worried about being hit in the intersection by a truck because they can't see me from the side. I think I might get some battery operated Christmas lights and just wrap them all around myself. I have almost been hit over a dozen times so far and that is in broad daylight – I can imagine I'll double my chances in the dark!
Chris,
Consider that, if you were going to get hit at an intersection by a truck, it would be because the truck driver had failed to see you a few seconds earlier FROM THE FRONT – by the time your side lights are relevant you're nearly in front of the truck.
Side lights are fantastic, there's no question, but they're not a replacement for front lights.
As for mounting a front light on a basket, I have a friend who's done that, so I'll find out how he did it. Helmet lights are great too, though, and can be bought at most bike shops. They have the advantage of being directable – you can point them at someone who's not paying enough attention to you.
Michelle
PS – I've always loved the Christmas Lights too. And there are some flourescent-looking bar lights you can mount under your downtube and then you look like a hovercraft.
Thanks Michelle – I put the cheapie front light in the basket this morning so I could be seen from the front. I still need something brighter so I can see – I ran something over (probably a rock, who knows) and darn near ended up in the ditch! I'll be shopping this weekend and probably pick up a few "Hey here I am" things and definitely invest in some sort of spotlight. I like the hovercraft idea – that sounds pretty good.
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I have used a head lamp for over 20 years. I purchased one that would be used for caving or night hiking. Very bright and very effective to see and be seen. Put some velcro strips on your helmet.
Like others, I like being able to point the light at traffic. You can see them register that this is something they need to pay attention to.
I also have a smaller light mounted on my forks. It is a cat eye that was designed for the handlebars but and be tightened to a very small diameter.
Lights are a must. Planet bike offers something called the SPOK that is a small but very bright light that can be steady or flash. they sell it in both white and red and attaches via an extremely versatile velcro strap (Chris: i think u could use these and they are pretty cheap, 11 bucks i think). i use two of the whites on my front handlebars, with a headlamp on my helmet that is absolutely neccessary for seeing where you're looking and not just where you are pointing your bike… also they sell those spoke-lits that flash a whole bunch and attach to your spokes for good side-view lighting if you are worried about that…i'd also recommend using reflective straps ( i use two: one on each pant leg) so that whatever you have it strapped to will be moving and this creates visiblity from all angles
and yeah those glow tubes that attach underneath are sweet!! i t reminds me of the underkits they have on a lot of fancy cars nowadays (which apparently arent street legal)…. good of them to allow us bikers to be cool tho