How to cycle at night

A front and rear light is legally required but more importantly, it makes you visible to vehicles and pedestrians (assuming they're looking, of course. If not, see "Technique"). Save money and the environment: use rechargeable batteries, or choose a light that comes with a plug-in or USB recharger. Go solar with a light that charges under lamps. Better yet, use your wheel's motion to power a generator light set!

Front lights: The more LED bulbs and the more watts it has, the brighter the light will be. "LED" bulb lights are best for almost all city night riding because they're bright and reasonably priced. Keep batteries fresh to maintain brightness.

Handlebar or helmet mounted front light? With a handlebar light, aim the beam at drivers' eye level, not at the road. Helmet lights are great because a turn of your head lights up obstructions and attracts attention. To really boost your visibility, use more than one front light such as a handlebar and helmet light in combination.

Rear lights, get the brightest you can afford. Why? Vehicles coming up behind you in the dark need to see you're there.

Seatpost, rear rack, frame, helmet or clip mounted rear light? Many rear lights attach to your seatpost, so if you tend to wear a long coat or carry loads on top of your bike rack, it could become obstructed. Consider a rack-mounted light instead. Helmet-mounted lights put the beam higher up, but do keep the batteries fresh so the light doesn't appear dim. Clip-on lights are very common — they attach to panniers and clothing for versatility, but make sure they stay well-aimed.

2. Increase Visibility

Be bright even when it's not dark. Increase your visibility during dawn, daylight and dusk with clothing, reflective gear and accessories.

Clothing

Regular clothing is fine if you choose bright colours and avoid black, gray and earth tone shades. Add a fluorescent vest with reflectors and any garment becomes bike clothing! If you're really keen, try a high-tech bike vest with turn signals!

Cycle-specific clothing is bright, reflective, and well-suited to movement.

Reflection

Be reflective. Brighten any pants or leggings with reflective ankle straps. Make your bike and helmet light up with reflective sticker sheets. Similar to the striping you see on emergency vehicles, reflective sheets come in lots of colors. Pick a colour, cut your own shapes, and stick them anywhere.

Accessories

The latest thing in high-visibility is wheel-mounted lights. MonkeyLectric's tiny lights attach to either your air valve or your spokes and are motion-activated. Start pedalling and the multi-colored LED’s create eye-catching circles in the dark! Fluttering, bike-designed flags draw attention to bikes pulling trailers. To really alert inattentive traffic and pedestrians in the dark, try an "Air Zound" horn—a gentler bike version of an air horn!

3. Apply Technique

Riding at dusk, dawn and night involves all of the good practices of day-time riding, plus the added responsibility of anticipating the actions of motorists, pedestrians and other cyclists who may not see you.

Be conspicuous - make yourself and your bike bright
Be cautious when traffic is heavy - use traffic lights and crosswalks to walk your bike across
Stay behind, not alongside slow traffic – motorists don't always check before they make a sudden turn or lane change
Watch for cars in the right lane - they don't always signal before they make a turn

Finally, our best advice for safe riding—at night or any time—is always ride as if you're invisible: act as if every vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle you encounter has NOT looked your way and has NOT seen you. And there's always that air horn...

Feeling better? This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have more questions about lighting, visibility and riding at night.