Riding without lights

This article was published in 2006, in Newsletter 64.

Police in Cambridge have announced a one-month experimental scheme to serve a new sort of ticket on any cyclist riding without legal lights. The cyclist must provide proof that they have bought lights, or fixed defective lights, within 14 days, or face prosecution. This fits between giving a verbal warning and issuing a £30 fixed penalty notice, and should have the useful effect of getting a few more cyclists to light up. The initiative is part of Operation Cyclone (see Newsletter 63), and is a cycle equivalent of the VDRS (vehicle defect rectification scheme), which gives drivers the opportunity to fix defects and avoid prosecution.

Mark Irving