contributory negligence may mean any award, if for instance you were knocked off by a car, may be reduced.
first thing a copper is going to do in the aftermath of any accident is establish if the parties involved were compliant with the law.

Friend of mine was knocked off his bike by a car. I promise you that the last thing the police were interested in were the reflectors on his pedals or the bell on his bar and I would be extremely surprised if this wasn’t the absolute norm.

Is this general interest in legal compliance a response to the the “Shoreditch fixie” case?

Friend of mine was knocked off his bike by a car. I promise you that the last thing the police were interested in were the reflectors on his pedals or the bell on his bar and I would be extremely surprised if this wasn’t the absolute norm.

there was a case a few years ago where a guy riding hit, and either killed or seriously injured, a girl pedestrian, and i remember reading part of the testimony of a policeman that attended. he noted that the bike had neither a rear reflector or pedal reflectors.
TBF i take the chance same as everyone else as far as pedal reflectors go, however all the bikes i ride at night have rear reflectors.

anyhow, it’s only a problem if it becomes a problem. 🙂

It does seem somewhat bizarre that so few pedals are strictly road legal (within this country at least). The rules have been changed following general usage regarding flashing lights so a similar change regarding pedal reflectors might be in order.

POSTED 20 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Well, no. The law was changed to allow flashing >4candela LED lights as they were without doubt better than the 2.4W NeverReady lamps that the law allowed.

There isn’t really a better alternative to pedal reflectors. It’s willful disregard rather than anything else.

If suddenly everyone started riding around with reflective SPD shoes on, then you could argue that pedal reflectors were archaic, but that’s not what’s happened.

And it’s not like there aren’t options available to SPD users. Shimano road pedals come with a little bolt on one that sits under the pedal, and they make SPD pedals with built in reflectors, time supply their pedals with a plastic cage with reflectors. The only popular pedal standard I can think of that doesn’t have a practical reflector option is Crank Brothers and heir clip in plastic pedal cover. Not sure about other roadie pedals though.

The lights and reflectors thing is similar to how loud cans and dark visits are treated on motorbikes.
If they stop you for speeding (say) they don’t care about your exhaust or visor. Nobody cares.
So yeah, you might be stopped for no lights at night as that’s in the interests of safety but nobody cares about reflectors.
On bikes I use for commuting I generally have reflective tyres (far better than wheel reflectors) and a rear reflector on the mudguard. My rear dynamo light is reflective too. Most cycle clothing and panniers have reflective stuff on them too.
I’ve followed Mrs PP at night and she’s lit up like a fairground with reflectors and lights but none of it is obtrusive