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Lights On All The Time
Basically, I was driving to work (middle of the day, sunny)and there was a cyclist with his lights on, blinking on and off. I saw him a good 800 metres before I overtook him, and this was down to the lights he was using. I am considering adopting this approach as well. Does anyone else do this, have the lights on all the time? Safety is my main concern when out on the bike.
thanks
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54 comments
I`ve been intermittently using lights in the daytime, especially the rear certainly at this time of the year but not the whole year round.
The sun is low & the roads often wet which just produces such a glare that it is difficult to see.
I drive for a living too & it is incredibly difficult at times to see other road users, cyclists included because of these conditions. Having a decent light flashing away obviously helps to make cyclists more visible which can only be a good thing.
Its open to interpretation but I think the highway code states something about putting your lights on in adverse weather conditions. I`d class these sort of conditions as being adverse but I`m in a minority when I`m driving around in the daylight with my lights on.
The glare off a wet road can be blinding even with sunglasses on. For those road users who can`t wear sunglasses & don`t have a light sensitive lens in their specs, it must be incredibly difficult to see
I took advice to have a blinking light on at the rear all the time. A bit extra insurance, even in daylight.
I must agree with the comments about visibility and safety, but when going out on a club run, social or any group ride it's bloody annoying being directly behind a bright blinker.
Do your turn on the front then
I do on the commute all year round, Hope District+ on the rear and Exposure Sirius at the front now that I don't need to light the road up to see where I'm going.
I don't bother at any other time though if visibility and conditions are good.
I've noticed I subconsiously turn the lights on on my car much earlier as well if conditions are a little overcast overriding the automatic setting on them
In busy traffic I put my lights on flash. I find the front one gets attention when I'm on roundabouts or overtaking stationary or slow moving traffic.
All the time 3 on the rear and 1 or 2 on the front.
'do it. if you doubt it ask a motorcyclist why their lights are always on.
'
Indeed. Then ask them why their lights aren't on flash mode all the time.
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?
Yep, I do this too. Flashing front and rear.
do it. if you doubt it ask a motorcyclist why their lights are always on.
That would be because for the past twenty years the headlights on many motorcycles come on when the engine is running; no choice in the matter. Some damned American requirement that the makers just dumped on us, too.
...because on my BMW motorbike I can't turn them off!
Some EU law or something.
Yep, my big Suzuki has the same. The old motorbike doesn't though, as it was made way before that law came out but I ride that with the lights on as well.
I haven't been using my LEDs in daylight on my bicycles to date but since I'm effectively doing the same thing on my motorbike, it makes sense and I'll probably start doing so. Recharging the batteries for the LED lights costs so little in any case.
Always have at least 1 rear light flashing, normally 2 and if I put my flag on, I have attached one to there, so 3
Then a 2000 lumen double front flashing mode during the day
I use a rear on 'twinkle' (rather than on-off-on-off) all the time.
Not because I'm completely convinced it will make a difference, but in the event of an accident I don't want any shadow of doubt who was negligent.
Yes I tend to keep my Knog Boomers on strobe during daylight.I was riding an evening 10 TT last season,and one of our club had a rear knog boomer on strobe,he was my minute man and was clearly visible on the straight.
I have one of those frog type lights attached to my helmet that I leave on blink.
Puts it nicely at eye level for drivers.
+1 for the blinking / strobe on the helmet....I've put a red one in one of the rear vents too..
Then my seat post one stays on constant
I've been using the rear light on blink since September last year, on all weather runs out on my road bike (approx 1000 miles so far), it's surprising how long the batteries actually last! Just gives a sense of a bit more protection through visibility, especially in low sun conditions and when passing through sun and shady spots. I will continue to use the rear light on blink all year round because of this.
me too: dynohub and lights on the whole time. and i normally turn my rear on when i'm riding on the road on a bike that doesn't have a dyno system, whatever time of day
Yup, I use my rear light in daylight on my commute. On constant, obviously.
Yes. I have dynohubs on my commuter and my audaxish bike so I have full time lights on those as there's no point turning them off. The summer road bike doesn't have a dyno (yet) but even on that I have the rear light always on, even on the brightest of days (helps under tree cover - even with a really clean windscreen the changes from light to shade and back can be dramatic).
That is a excellent point about tree cover and the changes in the shade.
I am after a new set of lights, any recommendations?
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