Lighting--Update to http://bicyclelighting.com

Steven M. Scharf said:

Are the non-certified lamps sold at all? Are these sorts of certification
requirements ever enforced by police (or anyone).

Yes, and generally no. But there has been at least one finding of
contributory negligence against a cyclist who was hit from behind when
using a flashing LED, even though research shows that flashing lights
are between three and five times more visible.

This is due to the influence of the species Mustela Litigensis, a
common urban pest which has proved surprisingly hard to eradicate.

Quoted message said:

Technically, in most of the U.S. red flashers are illegal, including where I
live, in California, but they are widely sold and widely used and I've never
heard of any enforcement action.

It is much more likely that this sort of thing will come up in
personal injury cases, since the small number of police (here anyway)
who actually know the law, are generally smart enough to realise that
it is stupid.

Quoted message said:

Interestingly, in the California vehicle code there is an explicit
prohibition on flashing blue lights for bicycles, and flashing red lights
for all vehicles. Why would the vehicle code explicitly state the
prohibition on flashing blue lights for bicycles, without mentioning the
flashing red lights?

Because they areprohibited for all vehicles, is my guess. You haven't
forgotten that a bike is a vehicle, have you? ;-)

Quoted message said:

Flashing amber is permitted when a hazard exists, though they don't
explicitly state what these hazards are. Technically, I should have a solid
red light and a flashing amber light on my bicycle, but I don't have the
solid red.

Read it carefully. Here you can identify hazards with flashing
/orange/ beacons, but flashing /red/ is reserved for emergency
vehicles.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Just zis Guy said:

Steven M. Scharf said:

Technically, in most of the U.S. red flashers are illegal, including where I
live, in California, but they are widely sold and widely used and I've never
heard of any enforcement action.

It is much more likely that this sort of thing will come up in
personal injury cases, since the small number of police (here anyway)
who actually know the law, are generally smart enough to realise that
it is stupid.

But in California the red flashing lights are legal for bicycles.
It's just that Steven doesn't actually know the law. A red reflector is
still required even if you also have a red flashing light.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Interestingly, in the California vehicle code there is an explicit
prohibition on flashing blue lights for bicycles, and flashing red lights
for all vehicles. Why would the vehicle code explicitly state the
prohibition on flashing blue lights for bicycles, without mentioning the
flashing red lights?

Because they areprohibited for all vehicles, is my guess. You haven't
forgotten that a bike is a vehicle, have you? ;-)

Depends on whether you're using "vehicle" as a normal English word or
in the context of the California Vehicle Code. In the first case a
bicycle is certainly included, but the CVC explicitly defines "vehicle"
for the purposes of the document to exclude human-powered conveyances.

Quoted message said:

What breaks most often on bicycle lighting systems?

In battery-powered lights, the fatal flaw is often the wiring and
connectors. The main cause is probably the abuse that motorcycle
lighting systems don't get. F'rinstance, I take the lights of the bike
when I get to work, carry them around in my helmet, occasionally letting
the battery or headlamp dangle from the wires by accident. And they
might even get dropped occaionally!

An added stress to the wires is the constant plugging/unplugging of the
battery pack for charging. All connectors have a limited life, and when
you plug it in several times a week during the winter...

Neither of these forms of abuse is commonly applied to motorcycle
lighting systems. And it would seem that generator systems are immune to
most of these problems, too, which should make them more robust. I have
no experience with either of those.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu