Tonight i discovered a new law that is now being used by many. A cyclist riding in the dark with no headlights nearly got hit by myself. I was turning right and narrowly missed him. Ah well he was lucky. The funny thing was he was being followed down the road by a......................wait for it..................yes, you guessed a police car. So it is lawful to ride a pushbike on a road with no lights at night. No doubt if i did hit him i would of been in the wrong.
A new law
- Thread starter jasy
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Here i believe the highway code specifies lights on a bike in the dark. Probably law too but i don't know.
If you'd have run into him it'd be a grey area... He was irresponsible for riding without lights, but if you'd had your headlights on chances are you'd have seen him soon enough to take action in most cases...
whoever battles it out best in court, und whoever was most negligent would be at fault i guess.
If you'd have run into him it'd be a grey area... He was irresponsible for riding without lights, but if you'd had your headlights on chances are you'd have seen him soon enough to take action in most cases...
whoever battles it out best in court, und whoever was most negligent would be at fault i guess.
Pick the bones out of this lot :-
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_19891796_en_1.htm
Which of course may have, in part, been superceded .. but then again !!
P
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_19891796_en_1.htm
Which of course may have, in part, been superceded .. but then again !!
P
Thanks Pipme - exciting read that - yawn!!! 
much too much to read at this time of night. And too much legal gobbledigook.
I did have a glance through. Does it actually say you must switch the lights on at night? All the bits I read referred to lamps being 'capable of being seen from....'. Well, couldn't they be capable of being seen but not be on sometimes?
much too much to read at this time of night. And too much legal gobbledigook.I did have a glance through. Does it actually say you must switch the lights on at night? All the bits I read referred to lamps being 'capable of being seen from....'. Well, couldn't they be capable of being seen but not be on sometimes?
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Excitment my friend is a word somewhere between Drinking and F-ing therefore it - costs !!
No such thing as a free ride here
On a serious note, I was looking for the actual legal sizes of lit area or diameter for front and rear lights.
Did not realise that 'reflective' pedal inserts have been mandatory on new bikes since the 80's !!
P
No such thing as a free ride here
On a serious note, I was looking for the actual legal sizes of lit area or diameter for front and rear lights.
Did not realise that 'reflective' pedal inserts have been mandatory on new bikes since the 80's !!
P
I can see how this would happen, I have found that on some roads it can be very difficult to see cyclists without lights until you are right on them, especially if it is raining. Fortunately I live in a town with cycle lanes everywhere so the only cyclists you get on the road are generally the super-serious types in lycra.
If you had hit him though, provided the only real damage was done to the bike and the car, you would have probably found yourself paying for a broken headlight and scratched bonnet.
Happened to me when I had a percussive incident between my mountain bike and a minicab. No injuries sustained to myself or the bike, but he ended up with a smashed light, scratched bootlid and no CB, phone and stereo aerials left on the car (it is amazing how those things snap when hit with 100kg of person sliding up the windscreen and along the roof! By the way, thanks Rover for making the old 45 series so nice and curvy without pointy bits ) The idiot behind the wheel would have probably paid a couple of hundred quid to repair that lot.
If you had hit him though, provided the only real damage was done to the bike and the car, you would have probably found yourself paying for a broken headlight and scratched bonnet.
Happened to me when I had a percussive incident between my mountain bike and a minicab. No injuries sustained to myself or the bike, but he ended up with a smashed light, scratched bootlid and no CB, phone and stereo aerials left on the car (it is amazing how those things snap when hit with 100kg of person sliding up the windscreen and along the roof! By the way, thanks Rover for making the old 45 series so nice and curvy without pointy bits
) The idiot behind the wheel would have probably paid a couple of hundred quid to repair that lot.Sponsored Links
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