Cycle Lighting

Cycle lighting has been a complicated issue for a long time. Below you will find an article by Richard Harrison published in December 2003. The law mentioned in this article may be superceded by new regulations. as the following report from the CTC indicates.

The CTC reported on 16 September 2005, "The Minister of State, Dr Stephen Ladyman, this week signed an order allowing flashing lights to be used; and provided there are no parliamentary objections before then, it should become law in October 2005".

The details were decided in close consultation with CTC's technical officer, Chris Juden, who said: "This is a welcome liberalisation of cycle lighting law because provided they are bright enough, flashers front and rear will not only be legal, but will be all the lights you need."

In brief, to be legally approved a light may flash at least once and not more than four times per second with a brilliance of at least four candle-power. Most of the better quality flashing lights on sale today, meet that simple requirement.

The law of bicycle lighting

Richard Harrison addresses matters of concern to the urban cyclist in winter

A similar paper to this appeared in New Law Journal dated 19 December 2003

• why many lawyers may be breaking the law
• how the law fails to keep up with technological advances
• proposals for reform

Many lawyers, certainly in central London, cycle to their offices, chambers and courtrooms. These include eminent members of the senior judiciary, at least one of whom has been witnessed shooting a red traffic light.

Illegal lawyers

But none of us can cast the first stone. In these dark winter mornings and nights, many of us are breaking the law. If our lights are the modern, flashing variety and we select their flashing mode, we are infringing the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989 No 1796) ("the Regulations").

Under the heading "Lamps to show a steady light", the Regulations state that: "...no vehicle shall be fitted with a lamp which automatically emits a flashing light". The vast majority of experienced cyclists will tell you that being seen at night by other road users is something of a priority. You do not want a vehicle to ram you from behind and you do not want anyone moving out in front of you if you can possibly avoid it. In the city, bicycle lighting is not about seeing but about being seen. It is about conspicuity, not about illumination.

On one analysis, you can never have enough lighting. There are of course practical limits but most sensible cyclists buy the best they can afford and set up a system which suits them. The most effective lights are light emitting diodes ("LEDs") and, in my experience both in a car and in the saddle, their most conspicuous manifestation is their flashing mode.

A sample system

I use two LED's at the front: a cylindrical white flashing spotlight to my right and a flat yellow light to my left. At the rear, I use a broad red fixed light attached to the luggage rack and a flashing red LED. My mudguards have fluorescent plastic strips affixed to my mudguard and helmet. There are amber reflectors on my pedals, white ones on my front wheels, a red reflector on the seat post and a white reflector on the handle bar. My side panniers have fluorescent strips and I also tend to wear a yellow and silver Sam Browne belt. But what makes me feel most safe and secure are my flashing LEDs. Observation suggests that many other cyclists also gain comfort from flashing.

What are the legal requirements?

According to the Regulations:

• You need a front lamp. It should be on the centre-line or off side of the vehicle and aligned to and visible from the front. It should be not more than 1500 mm above the ground. It should be white (or yellow if it is incorporated in a headlamp which is capable of emitting only a yellow light). It should be marked with a British Standard Mark namely "BS 6102/3" (or its equivalent).
• You need a rear lamp which should also be on the centre-line or off side of the vehicle aligned to and visible from the rear. It should also be not more than 1500 mm and not less than 350mm above the ground. It should have an angle of visibility 80O to the left and to the right and it should be red. It should be marked either with the British Standards Institution 3648:1963 or "BS 6102/3".
• You also need a rear reflector complying with the appropriate British Standard Mark between 350mm and 900 mm from the ground. New bikes will invariably be fitted with one: you wouldn't take it off but it is unlikely to be your main line of defence.
• Finally, you need two amber reflectors on each pedal complying with BS6102/2. Once again, you would not necessarily remove these from your pedal. They appear to be the least visible or useful of all lighting devices but if one breaks, as they invariably do, given their position, you should replace it in order to remain within the law.

In addition to the illegality of flashing lights, there are a number of other relevant restrictions:

• There is a prohibition on lights which move. So you cannot attach a light (other than a reflector) to pedals or wheels.
• No lamp should be used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to any persons using the road. Views will of course differ but the attentions of an enthusiastic policeman may be avoided if the angle of an intense front light is dipped slightly.
• The other surprising technicality is that modern LED lights arguably do not comply with the relevant British Standard. The standard has been amended to cover LED lights but because of the way the standard is referred to in the Regulations, they arguably remain illegal. To comply strictly with the law, you must use an old fashioned, less efficient filament bulb as your main light and the powerful, highly visible LED light as a somewhat artificial "back-up".

My own set-up described above certainly complies with the spirit and intent of the law and indeed goes beyond it in terms of generating visibility. Yet my lights may be illegal and I am still breaking the law by using LEDs in flashing mode.

Stratagems and ruses

Some people suggest that a useful way of avoiding the prohibition on flashing lights is for the flashing light to be attached to clothing, a belt or a helmet. In that way, the vehicle itself will not be "fitted" with the device and the prohibition will not bite. Other similar technical defence would be: (1) the vehicle is not "fitted" because most lamps are removable from the fitting; (2) the lamp does not automatically emit a flashing light because it has a fixed mode. Neither would work and I am equally sure that magistrates would be directed to find that a lamp fitted to a rider is effectively one fitted to the bike.

General anecdotal experience is that most police forces have better things to do than enforce bicycle lighting regulations. They would far rather penalise failure to light at all than use of a flashing light. Most would recognise reality and congratulate the users of flashing LEDs on their efforts to improve their conspicuity.

Illegality as contributory negligence

The main concern about the use of flashing lights appears to be the perception that a clever barrister in a court case involving a cyclist might use a breach of the regulations to argue for a decision adverse to the cyclist. It is of course true that failure to observe the provisions of the Highway Code is usually prima facie evidence of negligence. Equally, failure to comply with the Regulations is a matter to be taken into account in deciding issues of liability.

A comparison can be made with seat belts. It is quite clear that damages will be reduced considerably as a result of a claimant's contributory negligence in failing to wear a seat belt. However, that is because the basis of the legal requirement to fit and wear seatbelts is that they preserve lives and improve safety. The basis of the prohibition of flashing lights is unlikely to be that they reduce a bicycle's visibility. Rather it is to ensure that normal vehicles are not confused with emergency vehicles. Accordingly, I suggest that such an argument should receive short shrift.

Future reform

Even as lawyers break it, there are moves afoot to make the law less asinine. The Department for Transport earlier this year circulated a consultation documents and draft regulations which, amongst other things, would permit steady lights in wheels and pedals, and flashing lights to the front and rear provided they were used in addition to steady lamps. The Regulations would also be clarified to ensure that LED lights complying with the revised British Standard are lawful. Unfortunately, the Department are presently unable to state when or whether these amendments will be brought into effect. For the sake of the legality of many cycling lawyers, we should hope that this occurs soon. Then, no doubt, we can all flash, both lawfully and joyfully.

Richard Harrison is a partner at Laytons