Safety comes first for night cycling. Although most bicycles are sold with small “toy” reflectors, these are terribly inadequate for safe night cycling. The car-bike collision rate is several times higher at night than during daylight, but the vast majority of these crashes involve cyclists operating without proper nighttime equipment and can be easily prevented. Proper equipment makes cyclists visible to motorists and can make cycling at night much safer than statistics suggest that it is.
Being Visible and Predictable
Proper bicycle lighting is important for two reasons:
1. It makes you visible and predictable to other road users
2. It can help you see well enough to avoid hazards and navigate your way
Many cyclists ride in urban environments where they feel that they can see well enough to navigate, so they don’t bother with headlamps. This is terribly dangerous, because without a headlamp, motorists often do not see them, even under street lamps. Reflectors provide good visibility for overtaking traffic, but most dangers of car-bike collisions come from the front or side of the cyclist.
Tail Lamps
Inexpensive tail lamps, typically employing red, energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs), don’t rely on a motorist’s headlamps to be visible, and can be seen clearly from the side as well. These lamps will last many hours on a pair of disposable batteries. However, they often glow dimly long before they fail; it’s important to inspect them before each ride and change the batteries regularly especially before you set out for a cycling trip.
I bought this reasonably cheap and useful LED tail lights from Carrefour today, only at SG$15.50. The LED tail lights set has not much of difference from those you can find from most cycling shops except that it has a an extra switching device where you can secure it to the rear brakes wire. This little gadget runs on 2 x AAA battery and has a rubber lining around the cover hence made it weatherproof. For its price, it has served its purposes well and you can watch the following video to see the braking LEDs in action…
Enter Your Comment
Eric Lim