2008 End of Daylight Saving Roadside Survey
About this page
In the week following daylight saving we conducted roadside surveys in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. We found 35% of riders without proper lights.
A roadside survey conducted in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney has revealed that
thousands of bike riders are riding at night without proper lights.
The study which logged 1,220 riders on roads after sunset in the four centres showed that 65% of
riders had both lights, 17% had only one light and 19% had no lights.
“These results are very disappointing, giving us an indication of what is happening all around the
country. The steady growth in bike riding across Australia is a positive thing, but now there are
thousands of people who are putting themselves at risk by riding without lights at night,” said
Harry Barber spokesperson for the National Light Up! campaign run by member based bike riding
organisations across Australia.
“Bike lights prevent collisions. Everyone who rides on the roads at night must fit them to warn
other road users and protect themselves,” Mr Barber added.
“We are asking for police bike patrols across Australia to help us encourage everyone who rides at
night to have working lights,” he said.
“Bike lights today are relatively cheap and so much better than they used to be. There really is no
excuse not to have them if you are riding at night,” said Mr Barber.
Our light test conducted with Choice magazine and representatives from the police, the RACV,
road authority and bicycle retailers and riders showed that you can get a great set of lights for $60.