RSSby Tom Birks
Visibility while cycling is important. Unfortunately motorists have a lot of things competing for their attention. The more visible cyclists are the better the chance is that drivers will see them. During the day being visible is not hard. Wearing bright colors and following the rules of the road will help you be seen. At night things are more involved. The state of Colorado requires that bicycles ridden at night have a white headlight, a red rear reflector and reflectors visible from both sides. Meeting these requirements isn’t difficult but many cyclists ignore these basic safety measures. Maybe they don’t realize the problems they are creating for themselves. Maybe they don’t know that they are hard to see. Whatever the excuse there’s no reason for not being visible.
Bicycle manufacturers are required to include reflectors with each bicycle they sell. A white front reflector, a red rear reflector and white wheel reflectors are standardly included with new bikes. Sometimes these are not installed when the bike is assembled. Other times the reflectors are removed by the buyer. Although the reflectors aren’t attractive they satisfy 2/3rds of Colorado’s bicycle law. With the factory supplied reflectors and a decent headlight your bike will be legal to ride at night and your chances of being seen by other road users will be good.
What about the headlight? The cycling industry offers plenty of options for lighting your way down the road or trail. They tend to fall into three distinct catergories. For a small investment you can get an all-in-one unit powered by disposible batteries. Most of these lights use LEDs and achieve long run-times on batteries available at your nearest store. This segment of headlights have improved greatly over the years and should fit the needs of most commuters.
LED Headlight
For more money you can get a high-powered light with a rechargable battery pack. These systems generally use a halogen bulb, put out a tremendous amount of light and drain the battery in a few hours. The brightness of these system will really light up the road and get the attention of motorists. The downside is that they will need to be charged regularly or you’ll be left in the dark. Also the battery will wear out eventually and need to be replaced. By that time you may be better off buying a new system.
Halogen Rechargable Headlight
Another type of headlight is the dynamo powered light. A dynamo is a device that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The energy of your bicycle’s rotating wheels can power a headlight. The dynamo can be one that is mounted to contact the tire or it can be built into the front hub. The beauty of this system is that you never have to worrry about batteries. The dynamo does add a small amount of resistance. You may have to pedal a little harder with this setup. Usually the headlight works only when you are moving so you’ll probably want to add a small LED light to the front of your bike for those times that you’re stopped at an intersection.
Dynamo Hub and Headlight
Once you’ve got a headlight and reflectors mounted you have met the legal requirements for riding a bike a night but there’s more that can be done to increase your visibility. Although the state only requires a rear reflector a rear light is preferable. Reflectors only work when light is shined at them. If a car is approaching with it’s headlights off the reflector is useless. Many commuting cyclists are riding at dawn or dusk when visibity is limited but motorists may not have their lights on. A red LED taillight powered by a couple of small batteries will help you be seen. Keep in mind that LEDs are extremely directional. Your taillight must be securely mounted and level in order to be effective. When you clip the light to a bag or let it point at the ground or the sky it’s usefulness is severely decreased. Also remember to replace your batteries on a regular basis. LED lights have a long run time but will get dim when the batteries run down. It’s a good idea to carry some spare batteries with you just in case.
Even with the taillight installed you’re legally required to have a rear reflector. Many times the taillight and reflector are competing for the same space. One way to avoid this is to get a taillight that has a built-in reflector. Cateye and Planet Bike both make such a light.
Cateye LED Taillight / Reflector Combo
We’ve all witnessed the cyclist riding at night in all black clothing. Obviously what you put on your body will have a big effect on whether people see you or not. Light colored clothing is more visible at night. Lots of cycling and atheletic clothing incorporate reflective material in their design. You don’t have to buy these clothes to get reflective accents though. Reflective tape is available that can be sewn onto your favorite biking clothes. Reflective tape with an adhesive backing is also available and can be applied to a bike’s frame and components. It’s easy to get carried away with reflective tape but a little goes a long way. Some reflective tape on your crankarms or on your rims will create a strobing effect that gets people’s attention. If you run fenders a strip of tape on the rear fender will increase your visiblity. Your helmet is usually your highest point while riding and it’s a good place to add some reflectivity. Of course you could just cover yourself and your bike in reflective tape and stop traffic. It’s up to you.
Once you’ve increased your visibilty, you should feel safer riding at night. Motorists will be less of a problem and pedestrians and other cyclists will be able to see you coming. Of course, just because motorists are able to see you, doesn’t mean they will see you. No matter how visible, reflective or luminous you are, some motorists may not be looking for bikes on the road at night. So remember, being visible makes you safer… not invincible.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:04 am
thats very informative. wish more young bikers follow safety rules.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I think the one thing that ought to be added is that if you’re mostly concerned about drivers seeing you, statistically a blinking light is more likely to get their attention than a static one. If you are looking at a LED front light, find one with a blinking option. It won’t illuminate the road well enough for you to ride, but they don’t when they are on solid either. It WILL increase your likelihood of being seen by other drivers.
August 30th, 2008 at 5:31 am
I highly recommend wearing bright neon colors and stickers on your helmet and bike as much as you can so that people are more likely to SEE you. Being an aware and considerate bicyclist goes a long way, too. In my opinion, Denver drivers are far more considerate than Colorado Springs, but don’t assume anything.