Cateye Cycle Lamps

[Deleted User]

Do you have a Cateye cycle lamp with the following statement on the package?:-



“When used in constant flashing (sic) mode this light complies with the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 2005 No. 2559. If used in constant mode, this light should be used in conjunction with a British Standard 6102/3 cycle light.”



If you bought one of these lamps on the understanding that it complies with Statutory Instrument 2559, and meets the requirements for cycling on a public highway at night, you may be interested to note that Cateye have withdrawn this statement after I notified Essex Trading Standards.



New stock now correctly states that these lamps must be used in conjunction with an approved lamp if cycling at night on a public highway.



Contacts:

Dave Green, Essex Trading Standards, 01245 341938

Brian Goss, Zyro (Cateye Distributors), 01845 521700



Ref:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20052559.htm

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_19891796_en_1.htm

vikingaero

Most coppers are fair handed and aware that the BS is outdated and technology has superseded the requirements.

I usually have my constant LED fixed on the bike and wear a flashing LED on my helmet and another one fixed to my rucksack.

Basically you would be a fool to use a BS lamp when LEDs are brighter, more durable, and more noticeable. Cyclists need all the help they can get to be seen by motorists.

custardy

yup i run one constant and one flashing

brightonman123

never been stopped with just flashing (rear only- front was steady) light on the bike, but thanks for the heads up.

[Deleted User]

The issue is not whether your light is constant or flashing, but whether it is approved or not. I realise that police are not very hot on cycle lighting, but I'm just waiting to see what happens after a cyclist ends up in a wheelchair, and then some astute defence lawyer notices that his lights are non compliant, and gets his compensation docked as a result.

There are plenty of flashing/constant BS6102/3 lamps about, although I chose a Cateye EL320 myself on the grounds that it's smaller, lighter, cheaper, brighter, and longer battery life than the EL300.

My reason for complaining to Trading Standards and posting here was to highlight legislation which is so confusing that Cateye and Trading Standards had got it wrong themselves. The law serves two purposes, to define which categories of light are prohibited, and to define which categories are compulsory for cycling at night. People confuse the two. Flashing lights used to be prohibited but now no longer are. But it has always been, and still is compulsory to use an approved light when cycling at night. There's nothing about a flashing light that means it can't be tested to BS6102/3 provided that it also has a constant mode too.

Cyclists and bike shop assistants alike seem to be almost universally under the impression that since the prohibition on flashing was lifted any old lamp will do, approved or not. This seems to stem from the clause in Statutory Instrument 2559 which allows for a flashing lamp of 4cd in lieu is a BS6102/3 one. What they fail to recognise is that this clause only applies if it has no constant mode. To my knowledge there aren't any such lamps on the market. (This is the mistake Cateye were making in their statement.)