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The Law that is.A young lad who rides with us ( I question his parents!!) was telling us how earlier this week he got all the blue lights by the local law who then told him his front light was too bright and that he was getting a 25 quid fine! All he was using was a 2 lens Hope thing. you know the ones that can be used on the bars or head. As he never unbolts it and generally its set too low, I doubt it was lighting up the skies. Any one heard of such crap? Maybe it doesn't have a BSI number or what ever but the bobby didn't know that when he stopped him and apparently didn't check. Conceivably he could be stopped for something like dangerous riding as he was blinding other traffic but he wasn't. Apart from no BSI what could he be done for. The copper recond it was purely for having to bright a light. Comments please. Alright, constructive ones.
They are nob heads.
I got stopped by the cops for riding on an a road. which, apparantly, is against the law.
they have no idea.
just drop them i think they are not allowed to chase two wheeled vehicles in there cars only by chopper, plus you can take alleyways, turn quicker.
they tried pull me once for lack of lights i just glided off through a cut through, don't think they even bothered to search for me.
Has he paid the fine yet - was it an on the spot, or did they issue him with a notice?
Sounds ridiculous - never seen them pulling over a BMW or a Merc with their ridiculously bright and cold lights...
[u]The Highway Code
Lighting requirements (113-116)114
You MUST NOT use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders[/u]
Its all I could find, copper eh not a brain cell amongst them sometimes
what paule said...
I think the max wattage for a bike on the road is 4W....
You're probably right sfb, but he'd kind of have to prove you had more. Provided he's not already paid, then I presume it's the normal sort of thing where you pay up or get taken to court, then if it were me I'd politely invite them to take me to court - I imagine they'd quietly drop something where the judge would throw it straight out for lack of evidence.
As far as I know, the British Standard refers to a max wattage. However, as a member country of the EU, lights applying to other standards relevant within the EU can also be used (some of which have no max W). I know that this argument is the one which made rear LEDs ok initially.
Maybe a polite letter to the chief constable would be worth a go, can't see him being too happy about the bad publicity this could generate if it ever made it to the 'papers.
Ok, that is dumb.
Surely if he took it to court he could point out how the brighter and more visible he is, the safer he is, and instead of spending the public purse fining him for being safe, he is stopping the public purse being spent on a lengthy hospital stay when aforementioned BMW takes him out.
Coppers in pulling cyclist for being seen and wanting to see where they are going shocker! I really cannot get my head around some of plods antics. I totally lost my respect for them when I got put in the slammer after being arrested for naked on my stag do! My mates stripped me literally 5mins from our hotel and the coppers wouldnt let them give me my clothes back to$$ers.
I would scan any paperwork they gave him and get on the internet as soon as you can.
Some very sheepish police apologies would be delivered pretty fast.
I commute to work and its pretty normal to have stuff thrown at you and be spat at and the police cant do anything then... perhaps I just need brighter lights before the police care?
Then use the £25 saved to get some cateye lights that have all the relevant stickers... 🙂
i bet youd get pulled for using a 4w led lol
I would think this wouldn't stand up in court - I would also contact the cheif constable and see what he has to say! It wont go to court for a 30 quid spot fine I am fairly sure! Contest it like you would a dodgy parking fine!
Blimey they were obviously bored! That give them a bad name IMO. I'll have a word to my mate on sunday he is a sergent with the met!
I got pulled on a road with a HID. Cop was in a car, and pulled over to the side of the road to let through what he though was a car with a headlight out. Imagine his surprise.
Anyway, he mentioned the dazzle thing and the limit on output of lights, but openly agreed that as a cyclist on the road at night he'd want as bright a light as he could get as well. Advised me to either manually "dip" it or cover it with my hand, which seemed reasonable to me. At no point were fines mentioned, it was all very chatty and friendly.
Aren't front lights also supposed to have some sideways seepage (hence why Lumi sell a diffuser for their halogens so you can be seen from the side. A lot of 'proper lights' only point forwards.
My old cateye had some clear bits on the side of the housing that illuminated.
It does seem a bit cak to be done for it though.
Was it one bloke or a pair that stopped him? If it was a pair, it could have been a PDO out with a 'fresh from training' copper. They tend to stop people for minor things that other officers might let go, so the newbie can gain experience.
Quite a few times I've been riding in groups where we used a stretch of road and oncoming traffic would have to stop, presumably due to dazzling (since that's what several of them shouted about).
I try to shade mine with a hand but I do think they're potentially dangerous (- once dazzled it takes quite a while for decent vision to return, doesn't it ?)
morons.
+1 for paulie here too
not happy if your too bright
not happy if your bright enough.
can they FORCE a spot fine on you?
cant they just ticket you, then you contest it?.
they'r still a long way of car light brightness though arent they?
I do think there is a limit to how bright you should go. I use a Hope Vision LED on my road bike, and never use full power on the road, even down the twistiest, tightest of back lanes. Plus I angle it down well - show consideration for other road users just like you hope they will show consideration for you.
I think lights have gone a bit mad, to be honest. Why light up the woods like daylight? Just as much fun with a reasonable light and slow down ever so slightly - perception of speed being the same. Some groups of night riders clearly think they are the only people out there and it doesn't matter how much they turn night into day - I've come across walkers and been very apologetic for spoiling their night vision.
they'r still a long way of car light brightness though arent they?
yeh - don't dip though. It's a circular beam pattern that's as bright "up" as down
Well having lights, there was his downfall! Should have been out
with no lights, in dark clothing, and riding on the wrong side of
the road. Then they would have completely ignored him.
Last time I checked the maximum permitted output for a cycle light was a
pathetic 2.4 watts .
To paraphrase ...
Road Vehicle and Lighting Regulations Reg27:
Offence for any person to
• Use, cause, permit
• A vehicle on a road with headlamps, front fog lights, or rear fog lights
• Which cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users.
• Such lamps may not be used when vehicle is parked.
• Offence for fogs unless in reduced visibility
To me, bike lights these days are seriously bright to oncoming cars and i think its a fair request to get folk to point them downwards.
With my homebrew ones, Oncoming cars dip their headlights on seeing me approaching, and even them I have them pointing twards the ground. If I dont, oncoming cars flash me.
I dont know what the £25 quid fine falls under. That must a different fixed penalty scheme to Scotland.
Tell him to refuse to pay the fine (assuming he didn't have £25 in his back pocket) and contact the CTC legal department. It sounds totally unreasonable to issue an on the spot fine - I would expect "words of advice" for something like that...
A police park ranger chased me last winter thinking I was a motorbike. 8)
Some people's lights do seem to be unreasonably bright. I'm not sure the fine is really fair, but hey. I generally use a normal set of cateye commuting lights. They are perfectly adequate and I'll put them on even if I'm running my lumi's for offroad or doing particularly dark and treacherous sections fast.
So if it went to court and the bobby did not check or take note of what type of light was been used, what proof do they have that the light was not legal?
Am I missing something?
The magistrate will listen to the police officer telling him it was too bright. He will then listen to the accused saying some twaddle about the police having better things to do, and he will agree with the police officer that the light was too bright. Case closed. 🙂
Thing that's laughable is the amount of cars with lights out on the roads these days. I loose count at how many cars are like cyclops in the night. As for those stupid xenon lights I am sick of being dazzled by them.