...without yet another article having a pop at we lawless cyclists.
Shame on them for putting this on the online page directly above the story about the tributes to the cyclist who died months after his accident in Spain.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
It wouldn't be the Edinburgh Chipwrapper...
(19 posts)-
Posted 6 years ago #
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On this logic then any motor vehicles not painted fluoro yellow and pink, without a gazillion metres of reflective strips, and flashing lights on top, should be banned immediately.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Plus the increasing number of cars driving at night using their daylight running lights only - which means a couple of weak little lights at the front, whilst the rear of the car is completely unlit.
Not to mention the staggering number of 'cyclops' cars on the road with only one working headlight.
But still - cyclists, eh? Biggest danger on the roads yada yada yada....
Posted 6 years ago # -
a couple of weak little lights at the front
Except daytime-running lamps (DRLs) are not weak. As they're meant for daylight use, they're normally brighter than headlights and they have no beam-forming, which means they can also be dazzling if used at night.
I for one, would be happy if everyone drove around the city on sidelights only at night, which reduces glare, making cyclists more visible, and is perfectly legal in an urban environment.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@nedd1e_h: Except daytime-running lamps (DRLs) are ... normally brighter than headlights
You sure about that? The EU regulation for DRLs requires them to be a maximum of 1,200 candela (ECE Regulation 87). As far as I can tell the equivalent ECE specification for headlights allows up to 38,000 candela (even if that's for full beam, dipped is likely to be around half that).
Thing is, the DRL regulation only came in to force in 2011 so there may be many vehicles still driving around with "DRLs" that wouldn't comply with the current rules. For example, ECE87 requires DRLs to be functionally separate from other lights - you can't "piggyback" the DRL function with side, fog or dipped headlights, or indicators. So those old Volvos where the headlights are always on would not comply with the current regulation.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Perceived brightness of unaligned, super bright LEDs can easily surpass that of correctly aligned beam shaped headlights.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I'm quite surprised that anyone makes a car which has DRLs and doesn't automatically switch to regular lights at night time. Automatic headlights have been available for much longer than 2011.
Or is there something in the regulations stopping this?
Posted 6 years ago # -
" So please, if I promise to be a good driver, could you lot on two wheels start doing something to make sure you’re seen this winter?"
My bold.
I am a driver
We are cyclists.
Aparently.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I'm quite surprised that anyone makes a car which has DRLs and doesn't automatically switch to regular lights at night time.
Yeah I'm often confused by this, my 2001 406 had this feature. Although my current much newer car doesn't, it was made before DRL.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Mr Montgomerie only has 4 articles on the EEN website, the earliest dating from 1st November.
Perhaps the editor felt there weren't enough opinionated, ill-informed men filling the papers columns with reactionary drivel.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@acsimpson: There is nothing in the regulations stopping this. My 2010 car has automatic headlights, and the DRLs turn off if the car decides to turn the headlights on.
However, I can turn off the automatic headlights and then it's down to me which lights I use - in which case the DRLs turn themselves off if I turn on side or head lights (as I believe is required by law).
As nedd1e_h observed, headlights aren't legally required after lighting-up time where there are street lights (Highway Code rule 113), and there may be some merit in the argument that if everyone drove on sidelights in such situations then it would help to de-escalate the "brightness wars". However, given that far too many drivists seem unable to cope with a simple binary no lights/headlights choice (witness the difficulty many of them seem to have with the concept of fog lights having a switch as well), introducing an even greater requirement for conscious decision making would probably be regarded as an unwarranted intrusion into the valuable time they need to spend bonding with their smartphones while behind the wheel.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Today, it appears that if you're doing a story about a cyclist hit by a car, the headline has to state the cyclist's age:
"23-year-old cyclist hit by car at Lauriston Place"
Strangely, we don't need to know the age of the "George Watson's Headmaster" or "Mother of dead student" etc.
Perhaps there's a minimum word limit for articles which could only be met by adding in a line about how old the cyclist was?
Posted 6 years ago # -
I think they put the age and gender up when an accident occurs if they are not named so people can verify it’s not someone’s friend associate etc.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Saw another car on LW last night with no rear lights on at all. When it turned off right into a side-street, you could see that it had its wee corner-of-the-bumper DRLs on. Interior dashboard lights on too - so obviously there's no immediate sign to tell the driver that he has no lights on and he's puzzled by the bus behind and the approaching cars flashing him for his entire trip down the Walk.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Managed to communicate to the driver of an oncoming car that they didn't have their lights on last night - flashed my front lights by putting my hand over them.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I have given up flashing lights at drivers with their lights off or faulty. Just too many and it's their lookout anyway.
It's hardly dangerous driving around without lights in an urban street lit area. In the country I would warn them however
Posted 6 years ago # -
It's hardly dangerous driving around without lights in an urban street lit area.
Though they get their radge on about cyclists without lights so..
Posted 6 years ago # -
I was cycling through kirknewton last night and an old black Astra with no lights ( or running lights) came up round the bend if it had lights on would have seen it far before I sore it just in time to move. If it was hi viz like an ambulance then may be, but if a car is a dark colour then think may be a little unsafe with no lights even in a town.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Chipwrapper being Chipwrapper again (and the RAC being the RAC)
“Scotland, and it seems Edinburgh in particular, have a lot of work to do to fix the roads and restore drivers’ faith. Motorists contribute many millions in the form of tax so understandably feel totally short-changed when they’re forced to drive on surfaces which resemble assault courses more than they do roads."
Posted 4 years ago #
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