Bicycle lights

Hi all.
Thanks to some do gooders over here, my "homemade" bike lights are now illegal.
Seems that to avoid a £30 fine, the lights now have to comply with BS3648 which means most LED lights are technically illegal :-(

Any ideas?

The only approach I can think of is to buy the cheapest £18 BS3648 compliant lamp and bastardise it to include LEDs as well as the inefficient power sucking incandescent.
Adding wireles charging would also be a good idea (tm), as this allows the casing to be fully waterproofed with silicone.

A good tip is to get a broken LED laptop screen and rip out the usually intact strip, then cut it into 6" sections and wrap it around the inside of the frame.
This although technically illegal at least allows the bike to be seen..
Same with wheel lights, EL chasing wire, etc.


Ideas?
-A

Actually it is a good thing to get the LED lights regulated. These LED-lights can be blindingly bright if they are used at the wrong way ie shining to the front instead of to the ground. It can create a dangerous situation in the traffic.

conundrum said:

Hi all.
Thanks to some do gooders over here, my "homemade" bike lights are now illegal.
Seems that to avoid a £30 fine, the lights now have to comply with BS3648 which means most LED lights are technically illegal :-(

Any ideas?

The only approach I can think of is to buy the cheapest £18 BS3648 compliant lamp and bastardise it to include LEDs as well as the inefficient power sucking incandescent.
Adding wireles charging would also be a good idea (tm), as this allows the casing to be fully waterproofed with silicone.

A good tip is to get a broken LED laptop screen and rip out the usually intact strip, then cut it into 6" sections and wrap it around the inside of the frame.
This although technically illegal at least allows the bike to be seen..
Same with wheel lights, EL chasing wire, etc.


Ideas?
-A

Click to expand...

Do they not sell 'legal' bicycle lights where you live? Where I am, you can go to just about any place where bikes and bike equipment is sold and buy lights specifically for bikes.

Or do you just want to make your own?

Cornwall Council - The Laws about Lights

in that place, bs3648 superseded by bs6102/3

Lighting Regulations <this link says that the lamp must be marked compliant.

Cornwall Council - The Laws about Lights < over there, they seem to be more lax, allowing bike lights if they don't appear to be dazzling to other drivers, i.e. point them to the road, not in people's eyes.

To be honest, it looks like the main thing to keep in mind is that the assembly has a compliance stamp. Don't think it matters if the assembly came with the stamp or not ;-)

What kind of crazy world do you live in over in Britain?

Well, there is something to be said for regulation on bicycle lights, just like there are regulation on car headlights. I live in the netherlands where bikes are a popular mode of transportation (not that i own one, but most people seem to).

There are basically two problems with bike lights:

- dim/missing, so you don't see the darn things driving at night.
- bright/misaligned, which blind oncoming traffic.

The blinding aspect has not been a problem until recent years, but when people start fitting their bikes with 500+ lumen LED lights pointing straight ahead this really does become a nuisance to other road users, similarly to driving a car with the highbeams on.

I guess cyclists (and some motorists) just do not understand that there are two types of vehicle lights: those that allow you to be seen (city lights, normal bike front lamps) and those that allow you to see in darkness (highbeams, crazy 1000 lumen bike light contraptions).

Both have their uses, but running on lit city roads with the lights that are intended to allow you to see where you are going is darn annoying and should be fined as far as i'm concerned.

Obviously some situations give a conflict on which to use: unlit roads with opposing traffic require you to dim lights not to blind the other drivers, but this will not allow you to see that far ahead anymore. First of all, assume the incoming traffic is actually ON the road, so you know what direction the road is going. Secondly, if you are uncertain, just slow down

In my opinion, I like to stick with the side that says anyone should be able to buy whatever bike light they want. If the device is obviously dangerous to others, then take it from the user, don't ban it just because some people mis-used it. Absolutely anything can be mis-used to the harm (or just the silly annoyance) of others either intentionally or not.

Why don't we just agree that some bike lights are much better than others?

Lights on cars are different though, since they are insured machines and the operators have to be licensed. But bicycles? Give me a break...

Here in NE, the police fine you for not having a bike light on the front and the back if you're riding at night. Nothing so far as using lights that actually help you to see at night. If I'm going to use a light, I'll use one that actually helps me see.

Indeed.
If enough people refuse to pay the fine in one go then enough "prisoners of conscience" will get a public outcry and the law will get changed.
Provided the judge(s) don't just impose community service instead that is.

The problem is that this is the thin end of the wedge, (insert jackbootage here) are already stopping parcels containing electricals so you have to pay the "shop fine" rather than ordering from the Net and paying as much as 30% less.
Its getting ridiculous when you can't even get a PS3 drive without waiting three weeks because some petty official goes "Nyet!."
They don't even tell you it has been detained either unless you ask