Blue flashing light

Indricotherium

I saw a cyclist this morning and again this evening, on the n4 with a flashing blue/red light.

In the distance it looked like a Garda car cruising. I feel that it was causing cars to slow down and back up traffic.

Are these lights legal?

Fighting Tao

Nope. But when did legality come into what people do on Irish roads these days?

RustyNut

Fighting Tao wrote: »

Nope. But when did legality come into what people do on Irish roads these days?

Is there a law that outlaws colored lights on a bike?

Ahhhh for forks sake!

Would it be impersonation of a Garda? The act is very vague.

ACT:

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he or she—

(a) impersonates a member of the Garda Síochána, or

(b) makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to suggest that he or she is such a member.

John_Rambo

These blue/red flashing lights popped up on a Facebook ad for me. They were pretty cheap.

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/VS_Information_Notes/Vehicle_Parts/FAQs%20on%20Emergency%20Flashing%20Lights%20on%20Vehicles.pdf

Obviously not a good idea here in Ireland.

Fighting Tao

RustyNut wrote: »

Is there a law that outlaws colored lights on a bike?

I believe there is a thread here that covers the laws. If I recall, white front and red back.

It also may be considered impersonating a guard but I’m not sure because it’s not solely blue.

secman

Lidle or Aldi were selling wrist band lights a while back, bought a set , one is blue and one is red. I've used the red one... but wondered about using the blue one !

Wishbone Ash

RustyNut wrote: »

Is there a law that outlaws colored lights on a bike?

Yes - section 41 of the Lighting of Vehicles Regulations 1963.

fritzelly

Indricotherium wrote: »

I saw a cyclist this morning and again this evening, on the n4 with a flashing blue/red light.

In the distance it looked like a Garda car cruising. I feel that it was causing cars to slow down and back up traffic.

Are these lights legal?

Is it really that bad if it's making people drive safer...

Wishbone Ash

secman wrote: »

Lidle or Aldi were selling wrist band lights a while back, bought a set , one is blue and one is red. I've used the red one... but wondered about using the blue one !

Lights are legally required to be fixed to the vehicle. Your post doesn't indicate if Lidl/Aldi were claiming that they were bike lights - perhaps for pedestrians?

secman

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Lights are legally required to be fixed to the vehicle. Your post doesn't indicate if Lidl/Aldi were claiming that they were bike lights - perhaps for pedestrians?

Not sure to be honest, just came across them one of the days and they were in amongst the cycling items, a type of wrist band , almost like a watch the wide bit having the battery and light within it , when lit , the band lights up and becomes the light , one red one and the other blue. Thought the blue was an odd choice of colour and wondered about using it and the consequences. The band's are a one piece and you just stretch them on your wrist, no way of "fixing" them to the bike ! The usual 3 settings , slow pulse, fast pulse and full on.

John_Rambo

fritzelly wrote: »

Is it really that bad if it's making people drive safer...

Yes it is.

If it comes the norm for regular road users using emergency lights it will certainly affect the reaction of drivers when it comes to the rightful users of emergency lights.

It's not up to regular road users to police or make people drive safer.

Therefore, I say, leave the blues and reds to the emergency vehicles. There's a multitude of excellent cycle lights that are available to us without resorting to using dedicated illumination that's retained (by law) for much needed emergency response vehicles.

Wishbone Ash

secman wrote: »

Not sure to be honest, just came across them one of the days and they were in amongst the cycling items, a type of wrist band , almost like a watch the wide bit having the battery and light within it , when lit , the band lights up and becomes the light , one red one and the other blue. Thought the blue was an odd choice of colour and wondered about using it and the consequences. The band's are a one piece and you just stretch them on your wrist, no way of "fixing" them to the bike ! The usual 3 settings , slow pulse, fast pulse and full on.

This is where the law is out of date. For example, helmet light are arguably illegal but, if used in conjunction with legal fixed lights on the bike, it could be argued that they are not 'cycling' lights. Same with wrist bands I suppose.

(For the record, I'm breaking the law daily with my front lights as they are not fixed to the center of the front of my bike - something that's virtually impossible on a road bike without hub dynamo lights).

The tax man

John_Rambo wrote: »

These blue/red flashing lights popped up on a Facebook ad for me. They were pretty cheap.

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/VS_Information_Notes/Vehicle_Parts/FAQs%20on%20Emergency%20Flashing%20Lights%20on%20Vehicles.pdf

Obviously not a good idea here in Ireland.

Also popped up on my feed. Thought I was seeing things at first. Most likely some cheap Chinese crap that doesn't comply with any laws.

jimmycrackcorm

Wishbone Ash wrote:

(For the record, I'm breaking the law daily with my front lights as they are not fixed to the center of the front of my bike - something that's virtually impossible on a road bike without hub dynamo lights).

I think the law says that they must be either centre or to the right.

Anyway red/blue just adds to the previous arguments about flashing and brightness.

Wishbone Ash

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I think the law says that they must be either centre or to the right..

I stand corrected - don't know why I thought it was the centre only.

(b) be fitted on the centre line of the vehicle or to the right of that line,

(Now, my Garmin out front mounts have to be fixed to the right of the stem so the lights have to go to the left, so I'm still unlegit! )

Macy0161

The tax man wrote: »

Most likely some cheap Chinese crap that doesn't comply with any laws.

I would suggest that most modern day bicycle lights don't comply with the outdated laws, including the ones that the gardai and RSA hand out.

For example, most modern LED's aren't two inches square, with at least a diameter of 1 inch. My reading of the SI is also, as well as helmet lights mentioned earlier, the one steady/ one flasher option also wouldn't comply. The SI is all inches, feet and yards too. The law badly needs updating, ideally with a clear standard such as they have in Germany.

Whatever about blue lights, hard to blame some road users to be confused, to go OTT with unsuitable cree lights/ bulbs etc., given the constant message from Gardai and RSA of "be safe be seen" and a lack of a clear standard. That person with the blue lights probably thinks it's perfect, as they are being seen!

Borderfox

Plenty of cars around my area that have blue front side lights/front fogs, one bicycle having them is very small potatoes

mamax

Indricotherium wrote: »

I saw a cyclist this morning and again this evening, on the n4 with a flashing blue/red light.

In the distance it looked like a Garda car cruising. I feel that it was causing cars to slow down and back up traffic.

Are these lights legal?

We should all fit the blue lights to our bikes and when stopped by a garda just tell him your doin his job for him
And don't forget to tell him you pay his wages too

ted1

Remember this guy.


https://www.boards.ie/b/thread/2057636950

tomasrojo

Helmet lights aren't illegal, as I understand it, but they're not sufficient to make you cycling at night legal. You have to have lights fixed to your bike, red to the rear and white or yellow to the front. There doesn't seem to be any rule against augmenting these lights with lights attached to your person.

Kaisr Sose

Borderfox wrote: »

Plenty of cars around my area that have blue front side lights/front fogs, one bicycle having them is very small potatoes

What is the position on those blue car bulbs? I think the boy racer/car tuner types call them ‘Lexus lights’. Very confusing from a distance.

Pinch Flat

Sure everyone in Ireland drives within the speed limit, puts away their phone while driving and never takes a drink or a sniff of something before driving. Great drivers.

slow

John_Rambo wrote: »

These blue/red flashing lights popped up on a Facebook ad for me. They were pretty cheap.

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/VS_Information_Notes/Vehicle_Parts/FAQs%20on%20Emergency%20Flashing%20Lights%20on%20Vehicles.pdf

Obviously not a good idea here in Ireland.

So, lead cars in cycle races with amber flashing lights aren't legal...

They help to promote safety, so I can't see any officer of the law making an issue of it.

Indricotherium

slow wrote: »

So, lead cars in cycle races with amber flashing lights aren't legal...

.

Why?

ted1

Indricotherium wrote: »

slow wrote: »

So, lead cars in cycle races with amber flashing lights aren't legal...

.

Why?

Because they don’t appear on the list posted. But then again does that list reflect the S.I?

tomasrojo

You can have amber lights at the front (the SI says yellow or white, which is a throwback to when we didn't have blue capability in LEDs, so yellow was as close as we could get to white with LEDs) and flashing lights have been permitted for a good few years now. So I presume there's nothing to stop you uniting these two.

John_Rambo

Borderfox wrote: »

Plenty of cars around my area that have blue front side lights/front fogs, one bicycle having them is very small potatoes

I see these a lot. But they're not blue flashing lights. The OP is talking about blue flashing lights on a bike. Blue flashing lights are for emergency vehicles.

magentis

tomasrojo wrote: »

You can have amber lights at the front (the SI says yellow or white, which is a throwback to when we didn't have blue capability in LEDs, so yellow was as close as we could get to white with LEDs) and flashing lights have been permitted for a good few years now. So I presume there's nothing to stop you uniting these two.

There certainly was not led cycle lights when those instruments were composed.

tomasrojo

magentis wrote: »

There certainly was not led cycle lights when those instruments were composed.

Oh yeah, true, the yellow light bit is from 1963. But the SI permitting flashing lights is from the LED era.

Anyway, I think flashing yellow lights are legal at the front of the bike, but not sure that includes amber.

Carawaystick

tomasrojo wrote: »

Oh yeah, true, the yellow light bit is from 1963. But the SI permitting flashing lights is from the LED era.

Anyway, I think flashing yellow lights are legal at the front of the bike, but not sure that includes amber.

The SI quoted allows any type of flashing lights on a bike as long as there are lights to light it up correctly also

Count Down

mamax wrote: »

We should all fit the blue lights to our bikes and when stopped by a garda just tell him your doin his job for him
And don't forget to tell him you pay his wages too

And he'll say "I'm a taxpayer just like you, so I must be paying my own wages!":D

tomasrojo

Carawaystick wrote: »

The SI quoted allows any type of flashing lights on a bike as long as there are lights to light it up correctly also

The flashing lights are sufficient to make cycling at night legal in themselves though. Not just permitted as an extra to go with steady lights, but sufficient even without steady lights.

At least, that's what the minister at the time said, and the explanatory footnote says.

Oh, no, I've got a sinking feeling about this ...