Do I need lights?

[bridle17]

Can someone answer this question please - do I legally require lights on my bike if walking it along a country road at night?
Thanks

[mjr]

As I understand it, no, but some sort of light or lantern (or even a phone) to see where you're walking is a good idea. Our country roads have borne the brunt of maintenance cuts and trip hazards are fairly frequent.

[honesty]

My understanding is No you don't. A bike is not being used when pushed, hence why you can push them on footways. The RVLR only requires lights when the bike is in use and in motion.

[thirdcrank]

Once upon a time, lights on pedal cycles were covered by their own regs., and there was an exemption for a bike being wheeled as near as possible to the nearside to accommodate dynamos which used to be more common in the heyday of Sturmey Archer. The regs were all rehashed in 1989 and pedal cycles were brought under the general regs covering all vehicles. I think this is now the relevant bit:

Exemptions—Vehicles drawn or propelled by hand
9.  A vehicle drawn or propelled by hand which has an overall width, including any load, not exceeding 800 mm is required by these Regulations to be fitted with lamps and reflectors only when it is used on the carriageway of a road between sunset and sunrise other than–
(a) close to the near side or left-hand edge of the carriageway, or
(b) to cross the carriageway.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989 ... ion/9/made

I think it's a lawyer's way of saying you don't need lights on a bike if you are wheeling it on the left, or crossing the road. Situation unchanged.
This is part of the territory CJ used to keep on top of.

[mercalia]

maybe no but I think a good idea so that OTHERS CARS CAN SEE YOU

[mjr]

maybe no but I think a good idea so that OTHERS CARS CAN SEE YOU

Don't be silly. Most cars don't have eyes and I suspect the self-driving ones will have infrared or similar to cope with night-time obstructions.

[rmurphy195]

Therer's the legal viewpoint, then there's the safety/common sense viewpoint.

No way would I walk along a road in the darrak without light/reflective clothing and a lamp of sorts, whether I'm pushing something with wheels or not. Even if there's a footpath.

being in the rightb legally doesn't help reduce the pain or injury if you are hjit by something - even if that something is a passing bicycle! (or even a jogger)

[Elizabethsdad]

I am sure there is an advisory in the highway code for pedestrians on unlit roads at night to carry a torch so that they can see and be seen

[Mick F]

We never go out after dark without a torch. Even if we go out in daylight and there's a possibility we may be still out and it goes dark, we take a torch.

Today, for instance, we're walking up to the train and going into Plymouth for some retail therapy. We'll be getting the 16:41 or even 18:23 train back, and no doubt will pop into the pub on our way home. It could well be dusk by the time we get back, so we'll be taking a torch out with us this morning.

[mattsccm]

I am sure that the point is that the OP is wondering if he will be told off by Plod if being sensible and walking rather than riding when caught out after dark. Or he has been told off and wants to see if that's fair.
I'm with the light, especially rear when its dark even when pushing but then I would also consider behaving like a pedestrian and walking on the other side of the road if safe.

[Sum]

I am sure there is an advisory in the highway code for pedestrians on unlit roads at night to carry a torch so that they can see and be seen

It's been a while since I've looked at the Highway Code rules for pedestrians, and reading this thread made me wonder what it actually said:

Rule 3 - Help other road users to see you. Wear or carry something light-coloured, bright or fluorescent in poor daylight conditions. When it is dark, use reflective materials (eg armbands, sashes, waistcoats, jackets, footwear), which can be seen by drivers using headlights up to three times as far away as non-reflective materials.

Rule 5 - Organised walks. Large groups of people walking together should use a pavement if available; if one is not, they should keep to the left. Look-outs should be positioned at the front and back of the group, and they should wear fluorescent clothes in daylight and reflective clothes in the dark. At night, the look-out in front should show a white light and the one at the back a red light. People on the outside of large groups should also carry lights and wear reflective clothing.

So no requirement for a pedestrian to show a light in poor daylight conditions or when it is dark although hi viz gets a mention. I guess that if you were showing a good light then you could argue that was just as good if not better. Interesting that large groups on organised walks have to show a white light at the front and a red light at the back of the group. I wonder what standards the lights have to comply with? :-J

[Mavis2016]

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/annex-1-you-and-your-bicycle. Annex 1 is pretty clear on the issue.

[[XAP]Bob]

Clear but not necessarily relevant.

Crank v Brooks is the classic judgement - a person walking (not scooting) a bike (across a zebra crossing) is a pedestrian not a cyclist.

As a pedestrian the question is then whether the rvlr (for vehicles) applies - and I don't think it's at all clear whether they do.
Note that reflectors often provide excellent visual aids to other road users who do have lights.

Of course the legal/desired requirement may be different - and a couple of cheap and lightweight blinkers are hardly going to wipe out your bank balance or slow you down terribly.

[Mavis2016]

I missed the bit in the OP about it not being ridden! http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/regulation/24/made.

Paragraph 9 allows an exemption. Or could allow an exemption 'waiting to proceed', whatever the intent is there. The more I think about it the more I think you are just a pedestrian.

I see someone has already quoted this!

[jgurney]

I think it's a lawyer's way of saying you don't need lights on a bike if you are wheeling it on the left, or crossing the road. Situation unchanged.

Which seems to create the rather odd requirement that on a road without a footway, where a pedestrian should normally walk on the right, one pushing a bicycle, wheelbarrow, etc, should instead walk on the left if it is nighttime.