Lights On All The Time

A yes, the Daytime Lights Deniers - quite a few in the UK. Last in the EU to accept lights-on-with-ignition for motorbikes, I think. 40 years after Oz? 30 years after most of the world? No rush. It's rarely dark here. Just half the year.

And even on a sunny day, that sun rises and sets. And some traffic will be driving directly toward the sun, being blinded, and it will be very, very difficult to see what's coming at you - or travelling 1.5 metres into the lane on a bicycle, 30 mph slower.

Then there are the places where you're riding in bright sun, but pass into shade. Where you disappear to following drivers, whose eyes take a few seconds to adjust.

All EU cars now must have daytime running lights (you've seen them, the fancy LEDs). It happened years ago in Canada and Scandinavia, but then they are sooo much more northern than Scotland (not).

My understanding is that DRLs were mandated by regulation as it was statistically proven to reduce accidents.

Here in the the UK about 10% of cars don't even have the intelligence to turn their lights on in the rain. Then there's the other idiots with the Full Fog effect. Oh well. Me, rear red LED all the time. Front on as conditions suggest.

Yep, always have lights on. You might start a ride in nice weather, finish in the pouring rain or maybe just be later home than anticipated and it's getting dark. And where I ride there's a lot of intermittent tree cover, the road often goes from light to dark and it can be difficult spotting a rider in those conditions.

Even super bright lights now are so small and weigh so little that its a no brainer to have them on at all times.

Wow. I can't believe something so simple has created so much waffle. I won't pretend to have read all the above but having your lights on in the daytime can not be a bad thing thing in any way. At best it increases your visibility, at worst it achieves nothing. Almost every motorcyclist I know (including myself when I was motorised) keep their lights on regardless of the time of day, it's just a little extra safety feature. Also, with a full face helmet on, sat astride a big engine with the wind rushing past you, you can't hear much more than if you had headphones on. It's a no brainer surely. Lights on = better than lights off.

The reason I started riding with the lights on all year round - day or night - is because I was on a tree shaded downhill road in the day light, doing about 35pmh . Oncoming traffic a couple of hundred metres away when he gets overtaken by a car...now on my side of road.... in a 40mph zone. He obviously never saw me (or did not appreciate my speed.)

It scared me a bit! As I say, since then, lights on! Simple.

As many have said - I have lights on most of the time, apart from the brightest of days (I.e summer) In winter I can't really see why not and since a lot of my clothing is quite dark I understand that I'm not particularly visible!

I mean it can't hurt having them on surely?

At this time of year when the sun is low I have lights on F&R all the time (Devon lanes lots of in and out of shadows) I don't bother in summer, because I'm on the summer bike and tend to only ride in the broad daylight.

I use lights all the time as well. Flashing front and rear. I have always done it on my car as well and now new cars have to have running lights as standard.

Likewise I can see a flashing light a long way off and that alerts me that a cyclist is ahead even if they go round a bend or out of sight between the time I see the light and catching up with them I have already clocked that they are there.

Nice bright rechargeable lights make this a relatively cheap and effective way to improve road safety.

I also happen to be an advanced driver and the mantra of advanced driving is TTR = Time To React. Seeing a cyclist/being seen by a motorist that bit earlier gives them time to react to adjust and to think about passing you safely.

I happen not to wear a helmet (they don't make you any safer). I am a big fan of visibility as a safety measure . That includes road position, lights hi viz etc.

I would like to reach the situation in the UK where cycling was done in ordinary clothes as per The Netherlands and Denmark but so long as we have to mix with the traffic on faster and country roads without much provision then your best safety measure is being seen as soon as possible.

I don't mind leaving the Dynohub to power nice B+M lights that are engineered for a lot of use, during the day if its a bit gloomy, but aside from that its not needed or necessary. But I normally use quiet country roads rather than busy city streets so YMMV.

That said I think it's a bad idea for cars, at least bikes stood out from other traffic and I would say the new LED daytime running lights on cars are too bright, I have these lights on mine, a pointless idea.

Both of my bikes are equipped with dynohubs, each powering a powerful LED headlight. As well as these, I also have similarly/more powerful rechargeable battery LED lights, including the new ferociously bright Cateye Volt 1200. The rear of each bike is protected by two ultra bright LED rear lamps. I ride with ALL lights on, the battery lights in Flash mode in daylight or darkness. I feel somehow "safer" with with lights on and particularly with the Volt 1200 lamp in pulsing Hyper Constant mode, which really is extremely visible, even in bright sunlight. I do this out of personal choice, but I feel to make bicycles more visible to motorists is very important. This is why in the past 25 or so years, it has become the "norm" for our motorcycling friends to have their lights on constantly, and particularly in a crowded urban road environment, it is so vital to be seen and acknowledged as being seen by motorists. With lighting technology improving by leaps and bounds every year and improvements in light output and battery life and relative cost, I think a safety campaign may be in order to encourage cyclists to display an ultra bright, in daylight visible front and rear light.

'I don't know any to ask, so could you explain please? I run my rear lights on flash day and night, is this not recommended?'

Why do all other vehicles have their lights on *constant* instead of comedy disco mode? Because battery life is less of an issue, so they can focus on *visibility* instead. Personally I would have thought that this was a priority for bike lights too...

I drive neither a Volvo nor a motor bike, yet I leave my lights on all year round now, just because on a sunnyday (if we get them) there is some times a contrast in the shadows near a hedge or under trees.

[[[[ Well, I've never been a daytime flasher...but while on the velo, if I see a dozy on an ipod or walkie-talkie up ahead, I wobble a bit from left to right----nice to see its startled face, its widening eyes, its sudden realisation that not all modes of transport approach noisily.
And the weavey-wobble appears to work on the driver emerging from that side road too....she thinks I'm gonna fall off, and she wants to see it, so she's not going anywhere! Mind you, I don't overdo it. Wouldn't want to look as incompetant as half the drivers on the streets of London these daze (sic).
No, I use flashing lights when it's dark, or even gloomy, and the rear light's attached to the outside of me right ankle with a Q/R strap, so it flashes....but also zooms up and down (seen from behind) and spins round and round (seen from the side). And for those up ahead who pretend not to have noticed me, there's a special treat sitting on me Cinelli 66's. It's the 140-decibel HORNIT. Toodle-oo.
P.R.

'Apparently the fitting of strobe lights on cars is illegal, but on pedal cycles it's perfectly acceptable!'

Stupid, isn't it?

As a driver I find some of the front lights being used dazzling and I fail to understand how blinding your fellow road users improves overall safety. Especially at night whilst the drivers eyes are adjusting back to night vision. Anyone else remember "Dip don't dazzle!"?

I also fail to understand why annoucing your "presence" half a mile down the road, up to 2 minutes away, improves overall safety. Do you honestly expect drivers to drive looking in the mirrors to see where you are and not look at the car, lights, road... in front of them.

As a cyclist I fully understand the use of lights at the back during the day. However, considering nearly all my accidents have been as the driver pulls up alongside, runs out of road and side swipes or decides that the cycle lane is part of the main carrigeway or junction, I very much doubt how much of difference lights in the day make.

How long will it be before cyclist are held accountable because the driver did not see a small flashy thing?

One last thought. Apparently the fitting of strobe lights on cars is illegal, but on pedal cycles it's perfectly acceptable!

I've started to ride with blinking lights in daylight now. As I've got USB rechargeables, there's no issue with carrying loads of spare batteries. I also drive with sidelights on too. You can't be too visible, no matter what your preferred mode of transport.

Not mutually exclusive perhaps, but surely a little odd to go to the lengths of using lights in broad daylight to maximise your own safety while wearing headphones and so compromising - however marginally - your own safety.

The cyclist that does both might give the impression s/he thinks road safety is the responsibility of others.

What Dave said.

It is amusing that there is currently one thread full of people saying they ride with lights on in broad daylight, presumably because they think motorists are too distracted to notice and take care not to injure their fellow human beings unless lit up like a Xmas tree, and another full of people saying they ride with headphones on. I couldn't be bothered to compare the names of those posting comments, to find out if anyone belongs to both groups, but if there are I hope they haven't procreated yet.