Safety & Comfort
Lighting, Reflectors & Bells
- white at front
- red at rear (except pedal reflectors which are orange)
- orange (sometime white) for the in-spoke side reflectors
See, Be Seen and Heard
Shine On: bright lights and reflective clothing are essential for cycling at night (Photo: richardmasoner on flickr)
A bicycle is a vehicle. If you're cycling on roads on a bicycle or human powered vehicle, local traffic laws very likely require that your bike be equipped with a complete, functioning lighting system and reflectors and a bell for your own personal safety and that of others on the road not only at night but at dawn and dusk and in poor visibility / weather conditions.
If you are towing a bike trailer at dusk, dawn or at night, it should also be equipped with rear LED lights and front, side and rear reflectors.
Bicycle lights are powered by either batteries or a generator (dynamo). You should perform a quick safety check to ensure that both front and rear lights work before you set out for a ride especially if you know that you'll be cycling home later at night or in bad weather.
With more countries, states and provinces mandating the use of day-time running lights on cars, bicycles will are getting increasingly harder to see on the road. As a cyclists you should ensure the bicycles you ride on the road in meet safety standards for lighting and reflection and give consideration to the colour and reflectiveness of the clothing you wear on a bike at night.
Halogen vs LED Lights
Seeing Red: LED bicycle lights are bright, affordable and consume little power (Photo: jim212jim on flickr)
Bicycle lights have long used incandescent bulbs. A couple of decades ago, halogen lights were introduced. (You'll still often find either type when buying an older used bike equipped with lights.) More recently LED lights became widely available and are now standard on new bicycles due to better brightness and lower energy consumption.
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Dynamo- vs Battery Power
Dynamos come in several different form factors but the basic underlying principle is the same: the movement of the front or wheel bicycle wheel generates enough electricity to power the front and rear lights. Most dynamos are rated for 6V 3W but the quality of dynamos can vary greatly between models, specifically, the power and friction generated.
So-called bottle dynamos and have long been popular in Europe on city bikes but function only with tires that have ribbed sidewalls for the dynamo head to catch and rotate, causing electricity to be generated. Greater friction and noise from contact with the tire occurs when in use but is not present when the dynamo is disengaged by hand. For reasons that remain unknown, bottle dynamos are mounted on the left side in The Netherlands, whilst in Germany they are on the right.[1]
My Generation: a hub-based dynamo (generator) for bicycle lights is hassle-free (Photo: mackstann on flickr)
Increasingly popular (and standard on many new bikes) are internal hub dynamos. Compared to battery-powered lights, a slight amount of additional friction is always present but hardly noticable (even if the lights are manually switched off).
Most LED bicycle lights are battery powered. However, more people are choosing hub-powered LEDs for their newly-purchased or restored bikes, perhaps out of environmental concerns or just plain convenience. If you do choose battery-powered lights, be sure to look the lights can use rechargable batteries to reduce the environment impact.
Dynamo Standlights
Stand Tall: a bicycle is best equipped with lights that remain on while stopped (Photo: roland on flickr)
A standlight is a recommended feature for dynamo-based bicycle lighting systems, providing constant visibility at night of your bicycle for other traffic participants while you are stopped, for example, at intersections. (Battery-powered LED lights of course remain on at all times while cycling regardless of speed until switched off.) Initially introduced for rear lights, standlights are now available for front lights as well.
While you cycle, a capacitor on the circuit board of the lamp is charged enabling the light(s) on the bicycle to remain on for a few minutes after you stopping. The longer you cycle, the longer the standlight will glow after you stop cycling.
Best to purchase a dynamo-powered LED lighting system with standlights (front and rear) that remains on while you are stopped on your bicycle at intersections (and for a short time after you arrive at your destination).
As an increasing number of cars on the road use xenon headlamps and motorcycles add daytime riding lights, bicycles are becoming less and less noticable compared with motorized traffic. Cycling on roads during the days with lights may be better from a safety perspective. From an energy perspective, it makes no difference since the dynamo is constantly generating the required electricity anyway.
Daytime Running Lights
As legislation has been passed in most jurisdictions requiring motorized vehicles to operate with daytime running lights (DRL) as standard coupled with the fact that the xeon and LED headlights on newer vehicles are increasingly brighter than older halogen lights, the importance for cyclists of remaining adequately visible in traffic not only at night but during daylight hours increases, especially in inclement weather and at potentially blinding, low sun periods (sunrise and sunset).
For a bicycle equipped with a hub dynamo that constantly generates electrical power whenever the bicycle is in motion, the cyclist is well-advised to simply keep the front and rear lights switched on to improve visibility to motorized traffic. Bicycles with battery-powered LED and halogen lights use rechargable batteries to achieve the same always on effect without negatively impacting the environment.
Perhaps new city bicycles will be equipped with daytime riding lights as a standard feature in the very near future.
Front-, Rear- & Side Reflectors
Similar to automobiles, traffic laws regulating bicycles on the road mandate that a bike be equipped with reflectors using the following colour scheme:
Some laws requires two reflectors per wheel (which may not be required if tires with white reflective sidewalls are used).
Bicycle light manufacturers are increasingly adding reflectors to bicycle lights around the front and rear LED or halogen light itself to avoid having to attach separate reflectors to the front and rear of the bike. This is standard on almost all new bikes and aftermarket bicycle lights.
Reflective Vests
From Dusk til Dawn: reflective vests are the law when cycling at night in France (Photo: simon_music on flickr)
A reflective vest (or any bright-coloured material for that matter) is a smart choice to wear when cycling at night or bad visibility conditions, especially on suburban or rural roads where street lighting is minimal or non-existing.
In 2008, France introduced a law that makes wearing a safety vest and reflective triangles mandatory for all cyclists at night (including dusk and dawn) and during the day if visibility is poor.
To raise public awareness for the new law, the French government enlisted the services of famed fashion designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld to seemingly pose at the side of a country road in a reflective yellow vest, with the caption: "It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything but it could save your life."
While this author doesn't agree that reflective vests at night should be the law for cyclists, it certainly does improve personal safety.
Bicycle Bells
Road Ringtones: a bicycle bell helps a cyclist to get the attention of motorists (Photo: Tavallai on flickr)
Mounted on the handlebars in close proximity to the thumb or pointer finger, the bell should be used to alert motorists and pedestrians on crowded streets. The ringing sound can also be used to warn other cyclists, for example, when overtaking on narrow bicycle sidepaths.
When utility cycling, a cyclist should try to anticipate traffic situations and use the bell as early as possible to give others enough time to react and prevent an accident.
Light Stalk: a recumbent trike equipped with a diy light stalk improves visibility (Photo: ken ratcliff on flickr)
To summarize, any bicycle used for urban cycling should be equipped with lights, reflectors and a bell. A hub dynamo-based LED lighting system with standlight functionality is the most convenient and environmentally friendly option and standard on new, high quality city bikes available at your local bike store. If you're riding a recumbent bicycle or velomobile (which sits very low on the road and is difficult to see by motorists), you may consider making and adding a light stalk. A bell -while important to your safety- need not be boring, adding personality to your bike.
References
1. http://www.rijwiel.net/gallery/foto_5ae.htm
Keywords
personal safety, lighting, bicycle light, light stalk, halogen, LED, battery, generator, bottle dynamo, hub dynamo, UL, CSA, CE, bicycle reflector, reflective tape, reflective vest, traffic laws, legislation, regulations, riding at night, darkness, dawn, dusk, poor visibility, bad weather,
