DENMARK: Sunday, October 25, we change to winter time, and that means true to form, the garden and the clock must be set back and that we all face an hour earlier in the morning.
It also means that you almost certainly going to cycle to work while it’s still dark. Therefore, it is high time to find out whether the lights on your bike are ready for the winter season.
And many will probably learn that their lights cannot stand the heat and will trigger fines, says special consultant in the Road Safety Council, Penile Ehlers.
If for example, you have a couple of small elastic-lights, many bought in the supermarket for 40 kroner lying, you may well throw them out and buy some other, she says.
The small inexpensive flashlights were banned three years ago, when they are not on good enough, and the battery life is too low, says Penile Ehlers.
If you have the wrong light on the bike, it costs a fine of 700 crowns, if you are stopped.
The new stricter requirements for bicycle lights dictate, among other things, that a lamp should have a battery life of at least five hours. The lights also light so strongly that you can see them on the entire 300 meters apart, and in fact, it is sometimes not enough.
Therefore, it may be a good idea with additional reflectors on your clothing or reflective vest, estimates Penile Ehlers.
At Polar Cycles in Aalborg can feel that the season has been slippage in sales of bicycle lights.
We have a good time in the sale of the fixed bike lights. They are the ones where the rear light where the red rear reflector usually sit. If one uses about 300 kroner on the bicycle lights, one is a good start over the winter, says René Hildegard, bicycle mechanic at the Alborg reproduction bike shop, Rita Focus.
The lights do require batteries, but they are equipped with power-saving LED bulbs, which means that they should keep the winter. And a safety vest is also necessary for riding
It’s tempting to get fitted with magnetic lights that run on power from the bicycle wheel, but it will René Hildegard certainly not recommend.
I do not quite understand why the lights are still approved. Coming trilling, and a car comes out, looks motorist nothing, he says.
There are good dynamo lights, but the bicycle repairer estimate that they cost so much that they simply are not worth the money.
If you want to bike lights that do not use the battery, you can get lights that can be charged via the USB connector. Generally recommend René Hildegard, however, that to use bike lights that are either recharged with a standard power adapter or battery.
Lamps must come light straight forward or straight back.
Headlights and rear lights must be clearly visible at least 300 feet away and will also be visible from the side.
Headlights and tail lights should sit so the lights respectively straight forward and straight back – they must therefore not hang and light into the ground.
Headlights and taillights must continue like flash.
Powerful headlamps designed to illuminate the road in front of the rider must be mounted so that the light obliquely downward and does not dazzle oncoming.
Approved bicycle lights typically costs 300 kroner for a set. Ask your local bicycle retailer what he or she can recommend.