Timeline for Legality and morality around wearing a red / blue flashing light on a bicycle in the UK?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17, 2021 at 8:48 | comment | added | Chris H | @gerrit I haven't seen them do so where I live. I have seen them with badly adjusted white front lights. But their bicycle use is usually patrol (of bike paths, parks, etc.) rather than response near me. | |
| Dec 17, 2021 at 8:43 | comment | added | gerrit | Do police bicycles in England use blue lights (perhaps allowing them to run red lights)? | |
| Dec 17, 2021 at 6:41 | comment | added | Chris H | @Lifeinthetrees that might be adequate if purely for being seen in urban areas. Even there I want light where I'm putting my wheels, and 0.5W spread widely doesn't do that above walking pace. In a single light with a good beam, 1-2 W (200lumen) can illuminate where you're going with just of its light plus have weaker edges to be seen by. High mounting of a be-seen light is good, to lift it out of the clutter of lights and reflections. For that a wide 0.5W strobe seems plausible, but I've never tested it. I try to buy my brighter lights without strobe modes | |
| Dec 17, 2021 at 4:01 | comment | added | bandybabboon | Use watt ratings... 0.5-1w LED is fine. Cars are 5-10w. Plus 0.5W lights last well. 150m visibility, 50m visibility in bright street. Same as a strong phonr light, broad 200 degrees beam lensing for side view... 100ds of options for them... | |
| Dec 16, 2021 at 10:48 | comment | added | Chris H | @LifeInTheTrees a significant minority of bike strobes here are far more dazzling than a car headlamp, unless the headlamp is being misused by not being dipped in the presence of other traffic. Partly that's poor aim, which can even be due to road vibrations, but some light are designed so that someone a mile away can see that something's there, but not identify or precisely locate the something. That doesn't help anyone. Very bright things can be very good, used carefully. And I bought several cheap hi-vis jerseys for winter commuting; if I need a jacket that's hi-vis too | |
| Dec 16, 2021 at 8:57 | comment | added | bandybabboon | A lot less dazzling than a car headlamp. Front strobe is for onconing n sides, yellow vest then? | |
| Dec 16, 2021 at 8:50 | comment | added | Chris H | @LifeInTheTrees that's certainly eye-catching, but can cross the line to dazzling very easily. I used to have a narrow-beam headtorch on my helmet, which I could use to make absolutely sure I was noticed, though it normally illuminated the way well ahead (mainly an unlit bike path that had a sharp bend or drop into a lake and people walking dogs off the lead). Strobing rear lights on the seatpost or similar height are horrible for cyclists behind, but on top of a helmet they work well - less in the line of sight of a following cyclist, and even more visible to approaching cars | |
| Dec 15, 2021 at 19:39 | comment | added | bandybabboon | The most attention that i've paid to a cyclist was a strong strobing light. white means forwards and red means back. | |
| Dec 15, 2021 at 9:20 | comment | added | Chris H | @eps Well found. That would also appear to rule out rear-facing amber lights and indeed rear-facing non-red retro-reflectors unless on pedals or wheels (I'm not sure how that would relate to reflectors on panniers for example, and of course I won't be removing my deep orange extra reflective material from my mudguard | |
| Dec 15, 2021 at 6:14 | comment | added | eps | Agreed on both, particularly blue lights based on legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/part/II particularly part 16 . The exemptions are clearly spelled out for pedal cycles and for blue lights there is none. | |
| Dec 14, 2021 at 11:46 | history | answered | Chris H | CC BY-SA 4.0 |