Light Up - Background
About this page
Bicycle Victoria is in the fourth year of the Light Up! campaign. This campaign aims to increase the number of riders riding at night with compliant lights and to prompt two battery changes each year by regular riders.
Overview
Currently there are an unacceptable number of riders riding at night without lights. The campaign is based on a number of motives.
Reducing road trauma
Riding at night without lights increases the risk of collisions and road trauma
- In 2004 four of the eight cycle fatalities occurred at night or in semi-darkness and involved cyclists riding without lights or with inadequate lighting. (VicRoads June 2006)
- In 2005 none of the seven fatalities were associated with lights or light conditions
- In 2006 five of the thirteen cycle fatalities occurred at night or in semi-darkness. In one case the rider had no lights.
- In 2007 in one of the six fatalities, the rider had no lights.
Between 2000 and 2005, a quarter of all collisions (23.56%) leading to rider being killed or hospitalised were in dark conditions.
Increasing the proportion of riders with lights will reduce the likelihood of collisions. This makes this a high priority for us in our trauma reduction strategy which is based on prevention - rather than injury mitigation through helmets for example.
Developing a positive reputation for bike riding
Riding at night without lights also lowers the reputation of bike riding in the eyes of other road users – including those who ride bikes.
A survey of 4 500 drivers in Queensland confirmed that motorists find it frustrating when bike riders don’t use lights at night. The survey (RACQ October 2006) put riders without lights at night at 7th on the top ten annoying things for motorists. In this survey, riding at night without lights was the bike rider behaviour that was most annoying for drivers.
The current context
The traffic regulations require that a rider have front and rear lights that can be seen from 200m .
The fine for non compliance is
Victoria: $54
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