Bike Lights

 There SHALL be light!

Decreed the Italian infrastructure minister in his new national vehicle code. Front and rear, on all the time. So we bought some of these to try. We already have some of those tiny, rubbery things that use the watch batteries but something a bit larger and rechargeable seemed a better idea.

Zio's never believed lights made any difference in the daytime, despite the "saved my life" proclamations from users, but now we have no choice. Not that the law is going to be strictly enforced but if someone runs us over at least they can't claim they didn't see us because we weren't following the law!

NOBODY ever says they SAW the cyclist they've just hit/killed, do they? That would make them a homicidal maniac rather than just some jerk too busy looking as his/her cell phone instead of where the hell they're going. Despite the fact cyclist/pedestrians are rarely at-fault, it seems the penalties are always very lenient for the motorists. It's illegal to talk on a cell phone (you have to use a hands-free setup) but nobody we know has ever seen the law enforced. Our experience is that most of the time if there are issues, it's because the driver was paying more attention to the phone than the road.

So now we'll enjoy all the motorists who don't run us over, don't challenge our right-of-way and generally behave much better as the light users would have us believe. Heck, they might stop honking the horn (bells are now required on bikes too) or yelling at us to get outta the way?

On the other hand cycling in Italy still seems far safer than in the USA, both of us were involved in collisions with automobiles during our cycling lives there. So far, much better luck here though with this bike-hater in-charge of things for how much longer? Most pro cycling teams do their winter training in Spain these days where they find the roads much safer. Why can't Italy do whatever they're doing? One might think the Italian bike industry might lean on some politicians?

Does anyone think there will be a bike lane on the bridge this Italian infrastructure guy wants to build to connect Sicily to the mainland? He doesn't even like cities to set low speed limits (though they work) to reduce cycling and pedestrian injuries caused by motorists.

But we'll comply with the law and cross our fingers.

Lights arrived. We got these tiny ones with rubber band type mounts, but Zio didn't like the space the headlight used-up on the handlebar nor threading the rubber band through the loop sewn onto the seat pack so...

Some changes were needed. A section of an old handlebar was attached under the stem so the rubber band light can easily be hidden out of the way. Other than an ugly zip-tie around the stem, it's all good.

Out back another section of old handlebar was cut-up, leaving a long tab to insert into the loop sewn onto the seat pack. Both of these schemes allow the lights to be easily removed for charging or to use on other bikes. Test ride shows this rear setup needs a rubber band anyway so perhaps it's better to get an extra one and rubber-band it on there more securely?