Should cyclists use daytime running lights? Plus the best front and rear daytime cycling lights

I like to use my bicycle as a getway vehicle in bank robberies so I like to run without lights or hi-viz, but does it ever work? 

I have these fantasies that people will say - he came out of nowhere and then vanished into thin air - but always someone with functioning stereoscopic vision eyeballs me and grasses me up to the dibble, regardless of the time of day!

Been riding road bikes for around 10 years and would never dream of going out at any time, Day or night with out flashing Front and Back lights. Anything to make sure that I am able to be seen by all and sundry.

No, cyclists should not use lights in the daytime.

How many things are driven past, succesfully, by drivers every day? Hundreds, thousands?

Few of these objects have lights on, yet they manage to avoid being hit, and if they are hit, it is the drivers fault. How can you blame an unlit tree for not being seen, then hit.

Trees, dogs, trash bins, pedestrians, parked cars, traffic signs, guardrails, and many others are avoided all the time, and they are not lit.

If you can't avoid a moving, probably light colored five to six foot tall object right in front of you, you need to stop driving.

This is another case of blaming the victim, by suggesting that cyclists are at fault because they are not fifty foot tall, dayglo wearing beacons of light.

Why don't drivers put down the phones, razors, eyeliner, tacos, vibrators and hamburgers and DRIVE?

I'm in the yes camp especially for the rear, but to be effective it must be very bright and flashing.

Why? Well, they are likely to be at least partially effective:

• The academic research on balance suggests it.
• Forty plus years of cycling and thirty or so of motorcycling and driving experience says they help, e.g. Try spotting an unlit vehicle as it passes through a bright light and shade environment, unlit cars on a misty day, particularly the German default silver-grey road/fog coloured ones.
• If flashing lights are pointless, then why do all emergency vehicles use them?

Cost wise, frankly if I could spend £1,000 on a device that I could move between bikes that stopped cars close passing and crashing into me, I would.  The enjoyment of riding the bike without having to worry about motorists putting me in the ditch, or worse, would easily be worth the cost Di2 or some carbon wheels. Said wonder device doesn't exist yet, so in the meantime, I'll spend a lot less on lights and take the proportionately smaller improvement they offer instead.

Pointless exercise. Those drivers who are paying attention might notice you a couple of seconds earlier, those who are not paying attention still will not spot you. No malice involved on anyone's  part, simply acting the same way day after day and usually without any consequences.

That said, I am a hypocrite because my Fly6 rear camera is flashing away and my dynamo hub rear light us always on and I rarely bother to turn the front light off either.

I am in Japan (Yokohama prefecture) at the moment and the number of utility cyclists rivals anything I have seen in the Netherlands. No helmets in sight, very few lights at night, kids front and back with Mum or Dad pedalling away while holding an umbrella etc. It's a relief to ride without all the faff I accepted as normal in London.

There are plenty serious athletes here as well. They head out on club runs dressed the same as I used to back home, helmet, sunglasses, team kit etc. Seeing them alongside the electric assist Mama Chariot users shows what a wonderfully broad church cycling is and how what applies to one group might not translate to all cyclists.

"It may not have escaped your attention that all new cars sold in the UK legally have to have daytime front lights."

This has escaped my notice. I guess that means that all new cars are driving around with lights permanently on. Apart from being an unnecessary waste of resources, I find this a dangerous trend: More and more cars will have their lights on during the day and more and more drivers will become accostomed to seeing other lit cars, meaning that they will become less likely to register unlit cars AND BIKES.

Once spring arrives with longer daylight hours, I enjoy the freedom from charging lights and buying batteries and I can tell myself that my bike is a good few hundred grams lighter when I leave my lights at home (even if I can't actually feel the difference). So, I am against running daytime lights! But, given the new law/trend, I can see a time when I shall probably use them.

'I'm able to make a rational choice - in this case a choice to make being hit as difficult as possible for a inattentive drivers - I'm running flashing lights all day long.'

a rational choice would involve running steady lights all day long. A fashion- or battery life-conscious one would go for the daft flashing ones. HTH.

Some great debate here. A few things I feel I can correct...

DRLs became LAW for all new cars and vans sold in the EU in 2011.

Trees and other unlit obstacles arent on the road and do get hit by drivers.

Drivers are generally not highly trained, it is possible to SMIDSY - most cyclsits are drivers and I have yet to meet anyone who didn't SMIDSY a cyclist at some point. Surprise, surprise cars also hit..... cars. No driver wants to hit anything. It's called an accident for a reason. No one is blaming cyclists or putting the emphasis on cyclists. It's just life, get over it.

Flashing lights work to grab attention, as said above, that's why the emergency services use them.

There is little downside to using high vis / helmets / lights - yes you have to buy and maintain them.

The studies and evidence is there and compelling - the links are in the article - read them! 

Lights won't make you safe, but they sure as hell help. Should they be law? I don't think so. Should you use them? I do and I think most people should.

Motorists have the resonsibility to watch our for and see cyclists. Cyclists have the responsibiity to be make themselves easily seen as possible.  My street has loads of them and I can't believe how many, especilly at dusk/night aren't runnionf lights.Bright clothing isn;t the answer but at least a rear running light is.  They'll see you up to a half mile away. At, say 45 mph, boom! >> They're on you but they've seen that blinky.  There 's no guarantee that some idiot won't hit you but it certainly lowers the odds. Like the gent with his motorcycle andnow his bike, I did the same.  I use a front in urban situations and turn it on/oof in more rural settings.  (Plug: I love my Blackburn Flea. About USD 30; no battery; very light. Comes with a USB and you recharge it on your computer)

Deep sigh,

Another pointless discussion.  

If an individual wants to ride with daylight running lights, that's their choice just like helmets and high vis - not  legal requirement. 

Good luck if you think requiring these things by law is going to solve anything as I live in a student town where the kids just ride on the pavement at night because they don't have ANY lights.  I went to the trouble of writing to my local MP many years ago asking why cheap bike lights are not legally required to be supplied with new bikes (like bells), he forwarded the question to the then minister for transport who replied that lights were required to be supplied with new bikes.  I responded pointing out that the minister was wrong and subsequently received an apology from the minister - his name - Sadiq Khan!   Did they change the law ? Nah, they didn't even consider changing the law!!!

The rozzers won't enforce it and the politicians don't even know the laws they are elected to make. therefore, this is another pointless discussion.

This is to be expected because as cyclists are making themselves less visible by wearing black clothing then we need something to get ourselves more visible again.
I personally refuse to become a blackshirt and wear everything bright I can.
The motorbike industry has shown us the folly of wearing black and have their headlights on constantly.
A message to the blackshirts, please use common sense and wear cycle clothing. As a motorist I'd rather see you sooner than later.

I have the Eposure Trace & TraceR. Both superb on the medium setting

I love this light with my garmin. The Garmin Varia Radar rear light  lets me know if and how many cars etc behind. really good on quite roads as it letsd you know a car has cought you up many times befor you hear it. Also good if you are turning right. It gives me an idea when best to look  over my sholder to check before pulling accross the road. I do use a front light as well. short rides fly12 long rides a big exposuer light.

No because I ride 100-300 or sometimes longer at a time. I don't want to carry 3kg worth of lights and batteries when I go out. This is more nonsense about putting the blame on people on their bikes than getting motorists to stop killing us. 

No: because we don't want to train motorists just to look for lights rather than, you know, objects.

I use the Exposure Trace and TraceR for daytime rides. They are excelent and bright enough on the medium setting, giving around 12 hours between charges

The study in cited in the article seem a bit suspect.  I can't wait for the first claim of, "they didn't have a light on so I couldn't see them" as a defense in an accident scenario. Cyclists need to ride responsibly and predictably and motorists need to take the time and care to ensure the way is clear for them to proceed. If you can't see an object as large as a person on a bicycle in your path then you should not be driving. Even at night there are so few areas where it is too dark to see a cyclist or pedestrian. Perhaps it's different in the UK than in N. America, but here most urban settings are lit up like alien landing strips.

I use then around town and in poor lighting conditions. I lso use them (perversely you might think) in bright sunshine - to highlight my presence when going under trees etc. where I might otherwise be hidden by the glare of the sun.

For awhile I did ride in the daytime with both front and rear lights, but I soon gave up on the front because people just drove as they did with the light on, and I was doing a better job of noticing them then them noticing me; but I always ride with my tail light strobing since the doctors removed my third eye that was in the back of my head...

I've been using lights at sunset, when sun's angle is low & can be blinding. Helps me to feel safe. 

I tend to use my lights according to the conditions of the day. Riding into school at 7am under grey September skies, I put my front and rear lights into flashing mode, riding in at 7am on a July day under blazing sunshine I don't. Likewise, a couple of my longer, more scenic routes home have wooded sections, and I generally stop before those and put my lights on regardless of overhead conditions. 

The problem I have with encouraging constant use of daytime running lights is it just gives drivers another excuse in an incident ... sorry, officer, I didn't see the cyclist I hit at lunchtime yesterday because he didn't have his lights on. Anything that makes it easier for the police and courts to blame the victim is a bad thing in my book. 

Yes, I want to be as visible as I possibly can, but I have also been driving for over 30 years without ever hitting a cyclist so I am not convince that daytime lights under all circumstances is the way to go. 

if you are going to use a daytime light make sure it is a front one (I do).

as this document says:

https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/advice-services/road-safety/cyclists/cycling-accidents-factsheet.pdf

“Almost two thirds of cyclists killed or seriously injured were involved in collisions at, or near, a road junction, with T-junctions being the most commonly involved”

No

Does anyone have a solution to fitting a rear light to a non-standard seatpost? I have TraceR rear lights but the bracket is designed for a round seatpost whereas my new bike has a post with a square back - the causes the light to work its way round until it's pointing sideways. 

Advice/suggestions appreciated!

"So should we all start using daytime lights then?"

Short answer - "Sorry, but fuck off."

A wee bit longer an answer.  So the most aggressively designed vehicles, appealing to the most aggressive drivers, increasingly have "get-the-f**k-out-of-my-fat-arsed-way" permanent lights ... and cyclists should go down that route?  FFS. 

Curb the aggression of Audi/BMW/Volvo drivers.    

I've always found the issue with lights to be a little too narrowly focused (sorry) . My issue is with cyclists without any lights or such pathetic lights that are useless anyway..AND...people with poorly positioned lights or lights that are over bright even at night. Commuting in London by bike it is quite easy to be blinded by cycle lights pointing up into your eyes and with a brightness suitable for the darkest countryside. This for me is as much a problem as not having lights. Context and appropriateness seems to get lost in the race to have the 'brightest is best' . 

Personally..... I tend to use lights at night or in poor lighting..... not day running lights...

Like hi viz and helmets, rear lights especially seem to give the green light to drivers that you are safe and so therefore they can take risks when passing you. 

We as a group met for a ride last weekend and while pre ride faffing a guy on a black bike, with black castelli with no lights went past us, we passed pleasantries and we saw him easily as his silhouette showed up well against the light sky. If we could see him then why can't drivers?

I'm not saying don't use flashing lights during the day either, we used them last Saturday as it was low light and raining, if only cars were lit up ... 

As for best lights.....it's like asking.... best tyres, chain lube, helmets, cycle kit... Take Care Out There #Respect

Personally..... I tend to use lights at night or in poor lighting..... not day running lights...

Like hi viz and helmets, rear lights especially seem to give the green light to drivers that you are safe and so therefore they can take risks when passing you. 

We as a group met for a ride last weekend and while pre ride faffing a guy on a black bike, with black castelli with no lights went past us, we passed pleasantries and we saw him easily as his silhouette showed up well against the light sky. If we could see him then why can't drivers?

I'm not saying don't use flashing lights during the day either, we used them last Saturday as it was low light and raining, if only cars were lit up ... 

As for best lights.....it's like asking.... best tyres, chain lube, helmets, cycle kit... Take Care Out There #Respect

Personally..... I tend to use lights at night or in poor lighting..... not day running lights...

Like hi viz and helmets, rear lights especially seem to give the green light to drivers that you are safe and so therefore they can take risks when passing you. 

We as a group met for a ride last weekend and while pre ride faffing a guy on a black bike, with black castelli with no lights went past us, we passed pleasantries and we saw him easily as his silhouette showed up well against the light sky. If we could see him then why can't drivers?

I'm not saying don't use flashing lights during the day either, we used them last Saturday as it was low light and raining, if only cars were lit up ... 

As for best lights.....it's like asking.... best tyres, chain lube, helmets, cycle kit... Take Care Out There #Respect

This article is over two years old and still gets dredged up every year at this time.

I think this bolg says everything you need to know about the subject: https://waronthemotorist.wordpress.com/tag/bollards/