It's that time of year when you have to find your bike lights and make sure they're working. The commute home comes after it gets dark, and it'll get even worse with the time change next week. The other day police were standing in a bike lane, waving down bikers that didn't have lights and giving them out for free. It was a nice gesture, though not the kind of encounter I'd expect to have. The lights were red and both offered a flashing mode that makes you stand out pretty well. The funny thing is that I heard using red flashing lights on any vehicle is illegal. The law was created to prevent motorists from putting lights on their car that would make it look like a police car, but it's equally applicable if rarely enforced on bicycles. I wouldn't be surprised if next week the police were back where they were standing handing out lights, only this time handing out tickets for using illegal red flashing lights. It would generate a lot of revenue for the city and pull my police/biker worldview back into line.
No comments:
Post a Comment