Bicycle Network: Behaviour

Boroondara routes to Light Up!

18 April 2013. Bicycle Network Victoria will be out in the City of Boroondara in the next couple of weeks, working with Council and partners to send out the reminder to Light Up again this year as winter descends. 

The City of Boroondara is hosting two interaction sites, the first on Monday 29 April along Church Street in Hawthorn, and then again on Wednesday 1 May along the busy Gardiner's Creek Trail. Riders who stop and speak to us about their lighting set up and behaviour may be rewarded for their time. 

With winter creeping in and the evening commute getting darker and darker, it's time to check your lights if you haven't already done so. Are your batteries charged up? Bulbs still putting out a strong beam?

Diminishing natural light means everyone needs to pay more attention out on the roads. Help yourselves see where you're going by having a good set of lights, and give drivers no option but to see you out on the roads.

With good quality lights of all types and at all price points flooding the market, there is no excuse for putting out sub-par wattage. Have a look through the latest Ride On magazine review of the lights market, which would have arrived in the mail box of Bicycle Network Victoria members in the last couple of weeks. 

Thanks to Roadsafe Eastern Metro and the City of Boroondara for supporting this initiative by organizing their own interventions. Bicycle Network Victoria is always willing and able to assist any Council run similar engagements in their municipality. 

Light Up! and claim your space

19 April 2012. With the dark creeping in earlier each day its time to assert your rights as a rider and claim your space on the road.

Your bike lights are a great device to let the world know you exist, that your are important, and that you have every right to be where you are.

Sure, lights are required by law whenever it is dark or when weather conditions are poor. The law says your lights have to be visible at 200 metres -- have you checked your set?

And you often need them to see where you are going. Many streets have debris lying around, waiting to get caught up in your wheel and bring you down.

And there are slippery manhole covers and other hazards that become invisible after dark. Unless your lights are up to the job.

So lights have an important functional role and help to get you home in one piece. (And at peace).

They are also critically important and communicating to other road users that you have a right to be on the road, and that you take that right seriously.

There is nothing worse than hearing a rider whinge about drivers not showing them respect, and then you see them ride off with either no lights, or pathetically ineffective lights.

Use your lights to assert your presence and claim your ground. You owe it to yourself and the other riders on the road.

The latest lights are now highly effective and and great value. Therte is no excuse.

Check out the latest edition of Ride On magazine, where you will find a thorough test of the 2012 lights on the market, and the recommendations for riders.

Mountain bikes prefer the dark

6 October 2011. Mountain bike riders are much more likely to ride at night without lights than people riding other types of bikes, according to the results from this year's Light Up! campaigning Melbourne.

And young people are much more likely to risk it in the dark than people over 30.

The finding are contained in the Light Up! 2011 monitoring report conducted by Dr Cameron Munro of Sinclair Knight Merz for RoadSafe Inner Melbourne Community Road Safety Council.

Light Up! is the annual campaign by Bicycle Network Victoria and partners to get more people with lights on their bikes at night.

The study found those without lights are more likely to ride mountain bikes than those with lights; 33% of those without lights and 17% of those with lights rode mountain bikes.

There is a strong bias towards younger people being more likely to ride without lights. 52% of those without lights were aged under 30, compared with 25% of those with lights who were aged under 30.

There was no difference between males and females in the use of lighting equipment. And the frequency of riding at night time does not influence lighting compliance.

Riding for journeys to or from work (i.e. commuting) increases the likelihood of having lights; 88% of riders with lights were commuting compared with 62% of those without lights.

Light Up! campaign first introduced its engagement activities in 2010, and repeated the exercise in 2011. an engagement activity with cyclists in inner Melbourne. The engagement consisted of an intervention combined with a research component.

Both components involved intercept surveys of cyclists at night, combined with complementary communications via traditional and social media.

In 2011 four sites were selected for the engagement, each of which involved interviewing cyclists during the evening on one night in late June or early July:

• Canning Street (Carlton)
• St Kilda Road (Melbourne)
• Fitzroy Street (St Kilda), and
• Napier Street (Fitzroy)

Video observations at each of the four sites found that around 9% of bicycles have no front light, a further 8% have a light which is unlikely to meet the visibility requirement (200 m) and 83% front lights that were sufficiently visible.

By comparison, 7% of bicycles did not have rear lights, 16% had a rear light that was insufficiently visible and 77% that were sufficiently visible.

Of those riders who did not have lights (or had lights which were non-compliant) 40% had no lights, 30% had only a rear light and 8% had only a front light.

The survey found that 84% of riders were not aware that the law requires lights to be visible at 200 metres.

The most frequently cited reasons for not having lights were: battery dead/flat (27%), stolen (17%) and broken (16%) lights.

Awareness of an elevated risk of injury does not in itself appear to deter riding without lights; 72% of those without lights acknowledged that it greatly increased their risk of injury. 



A number of recommendations were made to refine the survey design and engagement activity in future years. Among these recommendations is a focus on the importance of frontal visibility. The fact that many more riders were prepared to ride without a front light than a rear light indicates they are not aware of the greater likelihood of colliding with a motor vehicle on the frontal aspect.

Light up! keeps flashing

30 June 2011. The intensive campaign to get more people with lights on their bikes this winter is half-way through and has already improved the visibility of hundreds of riders.

Two of the four on-road interventions planned for June and July have been undertaken on busy routes out of the city and there is bad news and good news: the bad news is that there are still numerous riders willing to risk riding in the mid-winter black without lights; the good news is that many of those riders now lit up for all the world to see.

The Light Up! rider engagement campaign is in its second year and is developing new, more effective methods of getting the night time visibility message to riders.

The model involves setting up road-side interventions on busy routes where riders are invited to stop and have their lighting assessed by Police. Riders who don't meet the legal requirement are offered free sets of high quality lights selected by RideOn magazine.

Riders are also invited to participate in a long term research project which is surveying riders so that we better understand why some are tempted to risk fate by riding unlit.

The exercise is a partnership of Bicycle Network Victoria, Victoria Police, and the Cities of Melbourne, Yarra, Port Phillip under the RoadSafe Inner Melbourne grouping.

Check out the brochure.

A key observation this year is that regular year-round commuters mostly have good lights, with a considerable proportion having more than the required number of lights.

Less regular riders on the other hand, sometimes have no lights, or just one, usually on the back.

Follow up surveys last year showed that a high proportion of those intercepted riding without lights had changed their behaviour and were regularly riding with their new equipment.

The project expects to fit some 600 front and rear lights this winter.

Light Up!  It's a good look

22 June 2011. Roads, streets and public places were our original social network – public places where we signalled, communicated, transacted, got noticed.

When we ride to uni, work, the pub or the movies we are in a public place with a bunch of other humans doing similar things. What makes it all work is when we understand and anticipate the moves of the other. We observe and read the signals other people give us, and help each other find a way through and get to our destinations.

Lights on your bike after dark make this whole system work. Our lights are the messages we send out to the world about where we are and what we are doing on the road.

A well lit up bike tells other road users that you are confident of your place and assertive of your right to a safe and comfortable journey.

Thanks to the fast moving technological advances in lights there is no reason for any rider to be timid or shy on the road at night. It’s important that you and your mates have lights that are visible from 200 metres.

With more people jumping on their bike and riding to uni and work, it’s never been more important to light up and make an exhibition of yourself when riding at night.

The Light Up! Campaign

A small constellation of the Melbourne community have aligned this winter to light up your ride: Bicycle Network Victoria, Victoria Police, the Cities of Melbourne, Yarra, Port Phillip and RoadSafe Inner Melbourne.

The campaign involves a series of winter blitzes on popular routes where riders will be engaged with by Police, their lights assessed, warnings or fines issued if appropriate, and information provided on how to best light up and avoid a fine.

A major part of the engagement exercise is a research survey which some riders will be asked to undertake, providing important data on how and why you ride at night.

Riders who complete the survey on location will receive a reward pack. Others can take the survey online here.

Regular updates on the campaign will be posted on Facebook & Twitter.

2011 Light Up! Campaign Flyer

Containing all the information you need to know to light up your ride!

2011 Ride On Lights Test

This year, for its sixth test, Ride On magazine tests the latest bike lights to guide you to the best and brightest lights for your ride.

2010 Light Up! five year Campaign review

After five years of the Light Up! campaign we have looked thoroughly at the program to identify what is working and what needs to be changed.

Light Up! Campaign aims

The Light Up! campaign aims to get a light on every bike that is out and about after dark. At the moment more than a third of all bikes are missing either a front, rear or both lights.

Lights - the penalties

The rules are the same across Australia but the penalties vary. The penalities should be higher than the cost of a set of lights.

Lights - the rules

The road rules require riders to have a white front light and a red rear light at night or in conditions that reduce visibility.

National Light Up! Campaign Record

This page summarises the initiatives in the campaign so far.

Roadside Survey - End of Daylight Saving 2008

In the week following daylight saving we conducted roadside surveys in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. We found 35% of riders without proper lights.

Survey on penalties - 2008

17 June 08. Lack of education and enforcement hindering lights on bikes push, say Bicycle Network Victoria members

Victoria Police media release 2008

Cyclists urged to light up for winter riding: Victoria Police media release 3 April 2008

Light Up! 2010

On the blink! Riders urged to shine this winter.

2010 Light Up! five year Campaign review

After five years of the Light Up! campaign we have looked thoroughly at the program to identify what is working and what needs to be changed.

Light Up! Campaign aims

The Light Up! campaign aims to get a light on every bike that is out and about after dark. At the moment more than a third of all bikes are missing either a front, rear or both lights.

Lights - the penalties

The rules are the same across Australia but the penalties vary. The penalities should be higher than the cost of a set of lights.

Lights - the rules

The road rules require riders to have a white front light and a red rear light at night or in conditions that reduce visibility.

National Light Up! Campaign Record

This page summarises the initiatives in the campaign so far.