I am often blinded by other cyclists who set the bike’s light incorrectly. What should I pay attention to when adjusting the light?
K Wirth, Solothurn
At twilight and dark, bicycles and e-bikes should be equipped with a white front light and a red rear light, visible from 100 meters in good weather. These lights should be “still”, meaning they should not be flashing. However, the relevant regulation mentions “at least”, which means that additional flashing or non-flashing lights are allowed. For example, the light on a helmet or backpack cannot replace the light on a bicycle, but it can complement it.
The law also says that lights should not be dazzling. On the one hand, the fact that oncoming bikes dazzle you again and again has to do with lighting technology getting better and better. LED lights, dynamos and batteries are much better than previous side dynamo and incandescent lighting systems. On the other hand, detachable lights are sometimes set incorrectly. There are also off-road lamps that are not suitable for cycling on roads as they are too bright and have a different light cone than road bikes.
It’s that easy to adjust the light
Every cyclist is responsible for ensuring that their bike light is suitable for the road and adjusted correctly. Checking if this is the case is easy: you mark the mounting height of the bicycle light on a wall. Then you place the bike five feet away from the wall at a right angle and turn on the light. The top edge of the light cone should not be higher than the mark.
Pro Velo recommends additional reflectors and lights to increase visibility. The Accident Prevention Advisory Center BFU assumes that half of nighttime accidents can be avoided if the other parties see each other only a second before. It is therefore important that cyclists are clearly visible. Moreover, because bicycles have a relatively narrow silhouette and are more often overlooked by other road users than wider vehicles. Testing has also shown that the speed of narrow vehicles can be predicted worse than wider vehicles.