The Chainlink

Query about lights on your bike . . .

Last night I did a leisurely round trip between Rogers Park and Pilsen, to meet a friend for a beer and to put some miles on in the nice weather.  On the after-dark ride home (Halsted to Clybourne, Clybourne to Racine to Clark, Clark to Argyle, Argyle to Glenwood to Loyola) I saw ten or twelve cyclists riding without lights.  No front light, no back light, nothing.  About half of them were decked out in serious lycra-and-aerodynamic gear, the other half in more mundane fenders-and-chain-guard rides with racks and panniers.  All were dressed in dark colors and so, without lights, practically invisible.

So, my question: if you don't have lights on your bike, why not?  It seems so basic and common-sense, yet riders who obviously spend a lot of time and money on their bicycles don't have lights.  It just makes no sense to me.  Trying to figure it out.

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Permalink Reply by Len Krietz on October 22, 2012 at 5:52pm

Why would you think they would ever use it after the battery ran down ( if they put it on at all)?  Bike welfare?

If people (adults) are not responsible or don't care, you aren't going to change them with freebees.



David Barish said:

Rather than ticketing these riders I would love to be able to give them a light.  I am going to propose to EBC to consider a blinky give away action. As many of you know, the club uses the proceeds of the North Shore Century for charitable bike related causes. I don't know if they will agree to this but I will be proposing it.  Does anybody here have a line on where a decent tailight can be found inexpensively with a bulk purchase?

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on October 22, 2012 at 6:03pm

David, I **love** the generous thought behind giving out freebies, esp. if there's funding and no other education, PR, or safety initiatives that take priority, BUT, and I say this among friends and not for the anti-bike public to hear: at some point soon, cyclists will have to step up and follow the laws and pay the $$ to keep up their vehicles so they comply with the laws.

It's this right vs. privilege thing that gets itchy with the cycling side of sharing the road, and it's about being a responsible user of the public way. Bikes need to bee visible in all conditions, and it's ultimately each cyclist's responsibility to "see" to it. It's not expensive. It's also common sense. 

Can you imagine police having a stash of headlight bulbs when they pull over cars? I mean, do we want them to?

Len Krietz said:

Why would you think they would ever use it after the battery ran down ( if they put it on at all)?  Bike welfare?

If people (adults) are not responsible or don't care, you aren't going to change them with freebees.



David Barish said:

Rather than ticketing these riders I would love to be able to give them a light.  I am going to propose to EBC to consider a blinky give away action. As many of you know, the club uses the proceeds of the North Shore Century for charitable bike related causes. I don't know if they will agree to this but I will be proposing it.  Does anybody here have a line on where a decent tailight can be found inexpensively with a bulk purchase?

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 22, 2012 at 6:50pm

Great idea. In a previous year, CCC set up a bulk headlight purchase with a local bike shop (Roscoe Village Bikes, I think) and sponsored a Bicycling Ambassadors education/light giveaway event.  You may be able to make a similar purchase through an Evanston bike shop.  It's worth asking.

This year, we helped Steve Vance with a Get Lit event in Pilsen in September, installing lights for people who didn't have them.  We're planning to do another event - location TBD.

David Barish said:

Rather than ticketing these riders I would love to be able to give them a light.  I am going to propose to EBC to consider a blinky give away action. As many of you know, the club uses the proceeds of the North Shore Century for charitable bike related causes. I don't know if they will agree to this but I will be proposing it.  Does anybody here have a line on where a decent tailight can be found inexpensively with a bulk purchase?

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on October 23, 2012 at 10:13am

I don't think that's a bad idea.  I keep a number of spare items in my car, including headlight bulbs.  Most cars will have one of about four or five bulb types.  It would go a long way to making someone want to interact with police rather than always being in fear and anger.

Sarah D. said:

Can you imagine police having a stash of headlight bulbs when they pull over cars? I mean, do we want them to?

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on October 23, 2012 at 10:22am

Agreed, that would be AWESOME! But I guess I was trying to put the impetus on cyclists themselves to make themselves and their vehicles seen. It's not "society's" responsibility to buy lights for cyclists - that's all I meant.

Tricolor said:

I don't think that's a bad idea.  I keep a number of spare items in my car, including headlight bulbs.  Most cars will have one of about four or five bulb types.  It would go a long way to making someone want to interact with police rather than always being in fear and anger.

Sarah D. said:

Can you imagine police having a stash of headlight bulbs when they pull over cars? I mean, do we want them to?

Permalink Reply by David Barish on October 23, 2012 at 10:46am

I understand that its not society's responsibility to provide lights. I completely agree that cyclists need to take responsibility for their own lives and own rides. Most of us do that (to some degree).  There are some who really don't know. There are some who are living a very spartan life. there are some who are just fools. I figured that a positive energy action that is FUBU can do some good.  No question it may simply be a freebie for a rider who already has one or already could buy one.  No question many lights will sit in a bag or perhaps get used until they run out of battery. However, if many of the lights reach the uneducated or poor we have done something.  If the guy wearing a black jacket riding stealth gets seen by a driver he may not even know that there has been a minor shift in the cosmos that now includes his/her life for a while longer or at least in one piece for a while longer. I agree that absent some education the action may be meaningless.  If somebody sees that an item that costs a few bucks and fits in a pocket, purse, bag, or rolled into your sock can be a good thing. 

I am not sure this action would do anything for the tricked out fools (both the junior  Armstrongs and the hipster elite) that Bill saw riding in the dark. They spend money on their bikes and know better.  If we don't impact them perhaps natural selection will be the only operative factor.

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 23, 2012 at 11:14am

Amen.

David Barish said:

I understand that its not society's responsibility to provide lights. I completely agree that cyclists need to take responsibility for their own lives and own rides. Most of us do that (to some degree).  There are some who really don't know. There are some who are living a very spartan life. there are some who are just fools. I figured that a positive energy action that is FUBU can do some good.  No question it may simply be a freebie for a rider who already has one or already could buy one.  No question many lights will sit in a bag or perhaps get used until they run out of battery. However, if many of the lights reach the uneducated or poor we have done something.  If the guy wearing a black jacket riding stealth gets seen by a driver he may not even know that there has been a minor shift in the cosmos that now includes his/her life for a while longer or at least in one piece for a while longer. I agree that absent some education the action may be meaningless.  If somebody sees that an item that costs a few bucks and fits in a pocket, purse, bag, or rolled into your sock can be a good thing. 

I am not sure this action would do anything for the tricked out fools (both the junior  Armstrongs and the hipster elite) that Bill saw riding in the dark. They spend money on their bikes and know better.  If we don't impact them perhaps natural selection will be the only operative factor.

Permalink Reply by lauren eg on October 23, 2012 at 11:51am

As a person who doesn't have lights on me every time I ride... I seriously have lost three lights now (of the Knog and Planet Bikes clip on variety) and have yet to put anything mounted on my bike. I will do the latter, especially as winter comes with the time change, but I figure that's something that applies to many. Not a stupid person, not trying to commit cycling suicide.

I will also take suggestions for good mounted lights here that are as theft-proof and water-proof as possible and not too garish in appearance.

Permalink Reply by Dragonborn on October 23, 2012 at 12:11pm

I agree. In my opinion, the best way to get more cyclists to utilize headlights and taillights is through education and enforcement.

Educating the public on the relationship between bicycle lights and safety is far more essential than having the police hand out lights that are funded through taxpayer dollars. The police role should be of law enforcement. Laws that are never enforced are pointless laws. If there is a law that states cyclists must have lights, then I support cyclists getting ticketed for breaking the law. People can flame me all they want, but the law is the law.

If a cyclist does not wish to wear a helmet, I have no problem with that and I am against forced helmet laws. The reason is because only the cyclist is at risk when not wearing a helmet. But cyclists who don't use bicycle lights are putting not only themselves at risk, they are also placing others at risk who share the road with them. I believe it's safe to say that most drivers don't ever want to hit a cyclist, but when the cyclist is invisible, it increases the risk of drivers getting into an accident themselves.

People learn more through education, less through handouts. Free lights won't change a person who is adamant on not using them. That's when enforcement and penalty should come into play.



Len Krietz said:

Why would you think they would ever use it after the battery ran down ( if they put it on at all)?  Bike welfare?

If people (adults) are not responsible or don't care, you aren't going to change them with freebees.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on October 23, 2012 at 12:11pm

Don't tell anyone, but when I park my bike I just unclip my lights and stash them in my saddle bag. I've been doing this for years and haven't ever had anything taken from my bag. I also keep a tool kit, plastic bag, and patch kit in the bag at all times.

if you want to make make ordinary clip on lights "theft-proof," super glue the lights to their mounts and use nuts 'n bolts instead of quick releases.

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on October 23, 2012 at 12:20pm

Another thing I've seen on some lights is zipties - easy to cut off to change batteries but not so easy to steal from a bike quickly if it's parked in a visible public spot. I always have been annoyed with the thieves who take the light and leave the mount - how are they gonna use my light? The newer velcro or rubbery on-off ones are much easier to take with you, but also easier to steal. And less bright, usually, than ones with mounts.

Lauren, there was a discussion of good lights a while back - link below - but they didn't mention theft-proof-ness or garishness. I too would love to find a lower profile but bright winter mountable light - one that doesn't look like some kind of gun-thing. 

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/head-light-revisted?xg_sou...

Sarah


Kelvin Mulcky said:

Don't tell anyone, but when I park my bike I just unclip my lights and stash them in my saddle bag. I've been doing this for years and haven't ever had anything taken from my bag. I also keep a tool kit, plastic bag, and patch kit in the bag at all times.

if you want to make make ordinary clip on lights "theft-proof," super glue the lights to their mounts and use nuts 'n bolts instead of quick releases.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on October 23, 2012 at 1:24pm

I have lost lots of lights if I bounce on a pothole or whatever.  It once happened and immediately got run over.  I rode the rest of the way home like one of those guys Bill saw. I try to remember to bring a rubber band with me to wrap around the bottom if I am putting the light on a bag. This usually secures it. (at the risk of thread drift...) I usually strip everything, bags, lights, computers when I lock up. I am going to get a rack mounted rear light and that will sit there all day waiting to be poached unless I get one of those zip tie lights Sarah mentioned.

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