Cyclist Cop Dies

StuartsProjects

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IMV the Police shouldn't object to red rear bicycle lights flashing brightly enough to be alarmingly visible to driving Facebook user cretins inside their vehicles
If the rear cycle light is no brighter than a car\van\lorry\bus rear light, or even a brake light of same, how could there be an objection ?
 

guerney

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The give away is the choice of music, would a 13 month even have heard of Coldplay ?
Had to be iPhone - Apple push Coldplay onto handsets for free, the monsters.
 
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guerney

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This is just one case of many that occur, it will be next year now before the facts appear of the recent killing of the 'Warrior Princess', yet another case for the welsh courts to proceed over.
That poor woman wasn't a cop, witnessed cycling with a bright rear light by another cop, who happened to be a colleague... and as yet there are no reports of dash cam footage. All cyclists should carry cameras imho.
 

guerney

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If the rear cycle light is no brighter than a car\van\lorry\bus rear light, or even a brake light of same, how could there be an objection ?
The Police are bound to object, given it's (to my eyes at least) about as bright as a car headlight... although I could insert several sheets of acetate sheet to dim it down, which would defeat it's purpose of lighting up vehicle interiors and distracting Facebook swiping driver cretins from their phones.
 
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StuartsProjects

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The Police are bound to object, given it's (to my eyes at least) about as bright as a car headlight.
That makes no sense at all.

If a bike has a rear light thats bright, the 'Police are bound to object' but the same brightness on the rear of vehicle is OK ?
 
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guerney

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That makes no sense at all.

If a bike has a rear light thats bright, the 'Police are bound to object' but the same brightness on the rear of vehicle is OK ?
Are rear vehicle lights really that bright? If so, I might indeed proceed with my original plan to replace the pallet plank section my ebike battery is presently resting upon (always intended as temporary), on the rear rack, with a slightly longer aluminium sheet which I already have got for that purpose - slightly longer so I can bolt and solder on a freaking monstrously bright and and horrifying red flashing light to the end. I suppose if I'm stopped by the rozzers and not fined, I could agree to only use the lesser of it's three modes ie dimmer but not flashing - it has bright constant, bright flashing and nauseating, somewhat dimmer and constant. I measured it all up about an hour ago...

If I'm still taken with the idea next week, I'll just do it.
 
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guerney

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That makes no sense at all.

If a bike has a rear light thats bright, the 'Police are bound to object' but the same brightness on the rear of vehicle is OK ?
Thus far I have been unable to find the brightness of vehicle LED rear lights in lumens, but these incandescents are 460 lm, which is about half the brightness of my headlamp on it's lowest setting (half of 1800lm).


A mere 460lm isn't going to do the job, and neither is twice that. Cyclists have a much higher risk of injury or death in a collision, we should be allowed to use extremely bright rear lights.
 
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Chainmale

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Thus far I have been unable to find the brightness of vehicle LED rear lights in lumens, but these incandescents are 460 lm, which is about half the brightness of my headlamp on it's lowest setting (half of 1800lm).


A mere 460lm isn't going to do the job, and neither is twice that. Cyclists have a much higher risk of injury or death in a collision, we should be allowed to use extremely bright rear lights.
As a "slow moving vehicle" the use of a flashing orange beacon could be justified. Be interesting to see a test case on that.
 
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guerney

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As a "slow moving vehicle" the use of a flashing orange beacon could be justified. Be interesting to see a test case on that.
Would the orange colour cause problems? What would Police objection be based on?

I'm now considering whether to disguise the bright 1800lm headlight which I intend to use as a rear lamp, by pop riveting the assemby and lens from a Vespa rear light to the back of my bike rack, then mount and shine the headlight through it. I'd have to cut a circle out of the back of this unit. I'd get a bit of side light function too, the lens would disperse the beam and be less dazzling, but it'd still look freociously bright on it's scary flashing mode :eek:

It might even get driver's eyes off their phones and back onto the road.







Trouble is, I don't want my rear rack getting too long, because that would increase the size of my bike when folded.
 
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StuartsProjects

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It might even get driver's eyes off their phones and back onto the road.
You want a powerful laser that 'alerts' the drivers eyeballs that maybe they should not be looking at the phone.

Unfortunatly, I suspect the only real way of dealing with and reducing the number of drivers who stare at and use their phones illegally when driving is to very significantly increase the penalties, a mandatory 2 year ban, very large fine, and a jail sententance maybe.

At the moment the attitude does seem to be that its an OK thing to do if nothing happens when you do it, which it wont, most of the time, until you kill a cyclist.

And of course the whole metholodgy of evil applications on mobile phones is to keep you glued to the screen in order to increase revenues.
 
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guerney

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And of course the whole metholodgy of evil applications on mobile phones is to keep you glued to the screen in order to increase revenues.
They're exploiting all our cognitive biases they can to make that happen. Cyclists don't stand a chance.

Unfortunatly, I suspect the only real way of dealing with and reducing the number of drivers who stare at and use their phones illegally when driving is to very significantly increase the penalties, a mandatory 2 year ban, very large fine, and a jail sententance maybe.
Increasing sentencing will work if they're actually caught and prosecuted, which quite plainly isn't happening.
 

matthewslack

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The 21W incandescents are the brake light, not the rear light, which is only 5W, so about 100 lumens per side...
 
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StuartsProjects

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Increasing sentencing will work if they're actually caught and prosecuted, which quite plainly isn't happening.
They are being caught, many thousands of them.

But its treated as a minor offence, if your viewing stuff online, in slow moveing traffic, or waiting for the lights, then its perceived as 'minor'.

Of course the complete nutheads who do these 'minor' offences are fairly likley to be also using thier phones in moving traffic, and some of them will kill people.

So hit the offenders where it hurts, they are offenders after all.
 
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guerney

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matthewslack

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guerney

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1800lm will be seriously noticeable! I wonder if it is as attention grabbing as flashing reds in addition to normal brightness steady ones?
I've got two flashers and a steady at the back, and even now there are still some very worrying passes which are so close, they make me wonder if those drivers are blind to the road for whatever reason.

Given that I can't bear to look at the road ahead when it's flashing at 1800LM, I expect it could cause accidents flashing red behind me, which gives me pause and for now stays my Ebay "Buy Now" clicking finger again... because I would be tempted to use it all the time, knowing it made me pretty much impossible to not notice. That and being booked by five oh...

I suppose I could keep it at half 1800LM steady brightness, which defeats the objective. :rolleyes:
 

guerney

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They are being caught, many thousands of them.

But its treated as a minor offence, if your viewing stuff online, in slow moveing traffic, or waiting for the lights, then its perceived as 'minor'.

Of course the complete nutheads who do these 'minor' offences are fairly likley to be also using thier phones in moving traffic, and some of them will kill people.

So hit the offenders where it hurts, they are offenders after all.
We're one of the most video surveilled countries in the world - why the hell can't these arseholes be automatically recognised, fined and/or imprisoned? Phone app design will only become more effective at ensnaring and retaining user attention.

They're trialling noise detecting cameras. As a cyclist, I don't mind noisy vehicles... at least you can hear them. I'd much rather see AI assisted auto fining for driving phone users, backed up with license hobbling and imprisonment!

 
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matthewslack

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There are some drivers who are 'hard to reach'. There is nothing you can do light wise to keep them further away.

Same with daytime drivers on A roads. Some just don't understand, even when the car in front and behind them are showing them how to do it!

Cameras and report the worst offenders is my strategy. Plus some dramatic arm waving in their rear view mirrors and a GoPro soundtrack not always for the fainthearted!
 
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Plas man

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If one puts a rear light with a LED it should be red LED as a white LED will show pink through the red lens . Don’t give plod a reason to stop you . Myself Ride with dynamo lights on 24/7 as well as flashing LED’.s

goodluck with your project .
 
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