During this dark time of the year (Sweden is dark most of the day), I am often blinded by other bikes. Today, biking home from work, I was really blinded by another bike. When we met, I yelled at him “YOU’RE BLINDING!!”. He stopped so I also stopped. “What did you say?” He asked. “You’re blinding other people with that headlight, a lot!” I told him. He was surprised and said he had it pointed down. He pointed it down even more and thanked me for letting him know.
The problem is that a lot of bike lights are flood lights that are designed to spread the light as much as possible. Then, even if you point it down, it can still blind people. However, there are StVZO compliant bike lights that are just as powerful but do not blind other people.
by thedudefromsweden
2 Comments
Is there a way to tell, other than the retail packaging?
Unfortunately, these aren’t commonly available in the US. I agree it’s an issue as bike lights become more powerful. Rear lights can be too bright as well