Use and quality of bike lights - We need more and better!

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Dominic Richards
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1 Introduction Use and quality of bike lights - We need more and better! 2013 Science Fair Project Leonard Brockerhoff, Year 7, Cobham Intermediate School, Christchurch Biking is a popular activity in Christchurch and many people cycle for fun and/or commute to work. However, there are also a lot of cyclist accidents each year and many are at night when poor visibility often plays a role. Having bright lights and high visibility clothing will make it safer for cyclist as they are more likely to be seen by motorists and other road users. When cycling in the hours of darkness (30 min after sunset and 30 min before sunrise) or when visibility is poor, cycles must have the following in regards to lighting/reflectors according to the official New Zealand road code for cyclists 1 : - One or two white or yellow headlights that can be seen at night from a distance of 100 metres. Only one of these may flash. - One or more steady or flashing rear-facing red lights that can be seen at night from a distance of 100 metres. - Wear reflective material if the bike does not have pedal reflectors. Many people probably do not know about this rule and simply try to have some good lights on their bike at night and some wear also high visibility clothing. I wanted to investigate how common the use of bike light is and if bike lights conform to the NZ road code and are bright enough to be safe. Questions 1. Do people use bike lights when required under NZ transport regulations? 2. Are their differences in between road and mountain bike users when it comes to using bike lights and high visibility clothing? 3. Are bike lights bright enough under NZ transport regulations? How do lights perform in different environments (a dark park compared to a lid street) and how wide is their light radius? 4. Can people make informed decisions when buying bike lights online? Hypothesis: Many cyclists have insufficient bike lighting because they underestimate or ignore the danger of cycling in the dark. Methods 1. To test the use of bike lights at the hours of darkness: I recorded the number and location of bike lights of cyclist biking in Ilam/Fendalton/Upper Riccarton, Christchurch between June 2013 between 5.30 pm and 6.50 pm. In addition, I noted whether the lights were in flashing or steady mode and whether the light intensity was weak (hardly visible). Sunset hours in those days were at 4.58 and 4.59 pm. 2. To test differences of the use of bike light and high visibility clothing on mountain and road bikes: I recorded the type of bike (mountain/road), the lighting (as described above) and the type of high visibility clothing/equipment of the cyclists.

2 3. To test whether bike and toy lights are bright enough under NZ transport regulations (i.e. minimum of 100 m visibility): First, I measured out 100m with a 100m measuring tape. Then, I tested 8 white lights (Front, bike and toy lights) and 8 red lights (Rear, bike and toy lights) using the steady light mode. One person shining the light directly towards the other person standing 100 m away and the other person then responded by walkie talkie once they could see something. The other person did not know which lights were tested. In addition, I compared the brightness of eight white lights. For this, the lights were placed on a ladder at about one metre height and two metres away from the dark garage wall. Then, I measured the width of the light circle using a measuring tape. If there were two light circles, I measured the inner brighter and outer still well lid circle. This measured circle gave an indication of how much of an area would be lid by the light. 4. To test whether people can make informed decisions when buying bike lights online: I looked up bike lights on the internet on 3 popular websites (The Warehouse 3, Torpedo7 4, and AvantiPlus 5 ). I recorded the manufacturer, model, price, description on light brightness and intensity, measurable light unit/distance, number of LEDs of bike lights up to $60. This price limit was chosen because most people will spend no more than that. (Product details are in workbook.) Results 1. The number of bike lights and their locations was recorded for 237 cyclists in North-West Christchurch. Most cyclists (88.2%) had at least one light and 11.8% had none. About two thirds (69.2%) had the minimum number of required bike lights, i.e. one front and one back light. However, when excluding the weak/hardly visible lights, only 57.8% of cyclist had clearly visible front and rear bike lights and therefore observe the New Zealand Road Code for cyclists (Figure 1). Flashing was the common mode for front (73.8%) and rear (92.8%) compared to steady lights. Lights were located on the front handlebar (186), seat post (181), helmet (17), backpack (11) and spokes (3). % Where are bike lights on bikes? Figure 1. The type and location of bike lights of 237 cyclists in the hours of darkness in June 2013 in North-West Christchurch. The column in red highlights the percentage of cyclists (57.8%) with the minimum legal requirements of having a clearly visible front and back light (excluding weak lights). 2

3 2. Fewer road bikes (7.0%) had no lights compared to mountain bikes (13.3%). Commonly used high visibility clothing were jackets/vests and backpack covers. A few cyclists wore high visibility pants or leg clips. A total of 97 people (40.9%) wore high visibility clothing, some only jackets (31.6%), some only backpack covers (1.7%) and others both jacket and backpack cover (7.6%). More mountain bikers (42.8%) wore high visibility clothing compare to road bikers (35.1%) (Figure 2). High vis jackets were often blocked out by the backpack people were wearing. Do mountain and road bikers use bike lights and high vis clothing similarly often? % Mountain bike Road bike Figure 2. The use of bike lights and high visibility clothing of mountain and road bikers. 3. All lights tested (white, red, proper bike lights and children toy lights) could easily be seen from a distance of 100m which is the minimum visibility standard for bike lights in New Zealand I found that all lights could be seen easily in a dark park and on the road if pointed directly at me (Table 1). However, some were brighter than others. For example, the Topeak Whitelite was much brighter than the toy finger light. Also, it was easier to see the light in the dark park than in the street lid environment as on the street the lights did not stand out that much. The light circle produced by the tested lights at a distance of 2 m ranged from 27 cm to 360 cm. Of the nine lights tested, 6 had a distinct inner brighter circle and a larger less bright circle around it. Three lights had a uniform circle. The simple 50 cents finger light produced a reasonably large uniform circle of 90 cm. However, in comparison, the very bright Topeak Whitelite produced a 360 cm clearly illuminated area (Figure 3). 3

4 Table 1. Visibility at 100 m distance (NZ Road Code requirement) of lights in a dark park and lit street environment 1. Some toy lights were included which in theory could also be used as bike lights if attached to a bike. = visible, = more visible. Product Price Dark Park Lit Street Front Light - White 1 Ontrack Blaze Front 5 LED $35 2 Ontrack Grey Model $40 3 Cateye HL-EL135 Front Light $40 4 Planet Bike Beamer 5 White LED $45 5 TOPEAK Whitelite HP 1W LED $60 6 Fingerlight $0.5 7 Small, children's laser pointer $5 8 Kathmandu Handtorch Keyring mini $10 9 Kathmandu Dual Mini LED light $15 Rear Light - Red 1 Ontrack Blaze Rear 5 LED $20 2 Cateye LD130 LED Light $25 3 Planet Bike Superflash (oval) $35 4 Planet Bike Superflash (Square) $37 5 TOPEAK Redlite Mega LED Rear Light $50 6 Drop shape, Red $3 7 Small, children's laser pointer, Red $5 8 Kathmandu Dual Mini LED light Red $15 1 Tested between 7:30-8:30 pm on 23 & 24 June 2013, steady mode pointed directly to observer at Upper Riccarton Domain and Hare St, Christchurch. How big is the area illuminated by lights? TOPEAK Whitelite HP 1W LED Ontrack grey model Keyring mini torch Ontrack Blaze Front 5 LED Dual Mini LED light Cateye HL-EL135 Front Light Fingerlight Small toy light Planet Bike Beamer 5 White One uniform circle Outer well lit circle Inner brighter circle circle width (cm) Figure 3. The illuminated diameter of white lights at a 2 metre distance. 4. I collected and compared information on bike light brightness and intensity from three online website. A total of 48 bike lights were compared and I found general information such as super 4

5 bright lights, 50% brighter, powerful light, ultra bright LEDs and the number of LEDs. Very few had actual measurable/comparable units such as lux, candela, metres, lumen, and candlepower (Figure 4). One cannot convert these units easily into the same measure, for example, lux into lumens or candela. In addition, 41 lights listed the number of LEDs they had which was between one and six. However, the number of LEDs does not directly relate to brightness as a light with one LED can be brighter than one with 5 LEDs. Therefore, a direct comparison brightness and quality of bike light is almost impossible using the information available on the online shopping websites. What do online shopping sites tell us about light quality of bike lights? general (unspecific)(32) candela/candlepower (6) lumen (3) lux (3) metres (4) Figure 4. Light intensity or brightness description of 48 bike lights for up to $60 from three online shopping websites (TheWarehouse, Torpedo7, AvantiPlus). General included words such as super bright, 50% brighter, powerful, high power, high lumen. Measurable units included candela, lumen, lux and metres. Discussion 1. A large number of cyclists (43%) had no or insufficient lighting that exposes them to a higher risk of being involved in a bike accident. Cyclist might not use bike lights because they either ignore the danger of biking in the dark or they have no money for it. Most of the recommended good lights are relatively expensive ($70-$100, see details below) and people might not be able to afford them. Another reason could be that they forgot their lights or did not know that they must have lights when riding at night. I found that flashing lights were the preferred lighting mode. Flashing lights are more easily seen compared to steady lights and attract more attention. Officially, bikes must have a steady front light to shine the way and to be seen but as most cyclist only have one light they choose the flashing option to be seen. 2. Overall, mountain and road cyclist used somewhat similar lighting and high visibility clothing. However, there were some small differences - more road cyclists had lights. This might be because the road cyclists tend to have more expensive bikes, do more cycling, and are more safety conscious. Because they cycle and like their bikes so much they buy a better bike light for it. People commuting on mountain bikes might not be so enthusiastic about biking as a sport and general cycling. They might have more simple bikes that cost only $100 and therefore buying two good bike lights for $80 each (total $160) seems a bit much. 5

6 3. I found that all tested lights past the test when it came to being visible from 100 m which is the minimum NZ requirement for bike lights. This was surprising as a simple 50 cent toy light, which passed the test, would not be very safe to use on a bike as it only shines on a very limited area. In comparison, my strongest light Topeak Whitelite 1W lid up an area that was almost 4 m wide. Bike light standards vary from country to country and New Zealand seems to have a minimal standard. For example, in the UK the brightness of a bike light should be at least 4 candelas (the luminous intensity of a light) and this should be shown by the manufacturer, either with the statement BS approved, or a kite mark. However, there are hardly any BS approved lights available on the market and many follow the European/German standard. Germany has a 10 Lux at 10 m requirement which makes it a very bright bike light standard. Their approved lights are marked with a K-number. In comparison, NZ has no specific light requirements but simply state that the light must be visible from 100 m. This essentially allows a tiny children s finger light to pass the test in NZ even though it would not be safe enough to be clearly seen or to show the way in the dark. Generally, police do not seem to enforce certain lighting standards as they are happy as long as somebody has a light. However, bike lighting technology has developed quite a bit over recent years and much better, brighter lights have become easily available and should be used and encouraged in NZ and better standards introduced. 4. Online shopping for good bike lights is almost impossible as not enough information is provided to make an informed decision. Therefore, one can either go to a bike shop and test out the lights directly or ask a friend on what they can recommend. Coincidentally, the Greater Wellington City Council together with the Consumer Magazine carried recently out a bike light survey where the light output was measure in lux at a distance of 1-2 metres straight and at two angles. They recommended four front lights costing between $80-$100 (Lyzyne Micro Drive, Ontrack Phazer 240LI-11F, NiteRider Mako 2W 5043, and Topeak Whitelite HP 1W) and three back lights costing between $70-$100 (Moon Shield, Lezyne Micro Drive 71068, Nite Rider CherryBomb 1W 5072). These survey results can help people make good choices when looking for bike lights. Conclusions 1. More cyclist need to use bike lights (good ones) to keep them safer when it s dark. 2. NZ needs better bike light standards as the minimum 100 m visibility standard does guarantee that the light is bright enough to be seen or to see. 3. NZ needs better bike light labelling so people can make informed decisions on how to buy a good bike light. References

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