Bike Lighting 101

Seeing and Being Seen

Bike lighting is about seeing and being seen, and having a safe cycling experience. It’s not uncommon to hear motorists involved in accidents with bicyclists say, “I didn’t see them, until it was too late.” Being seen is about more than just being visible – as a cyclist you want to not only be visible, but easily recognized as a bike rider (see article at bottom of page). The more awareness motorists have of your presence, distance, direction and speed, the safer experience you will have. So understanding your options for being seen and recognized from the front, rear and side are critical in improving your safety on the road. Be visible. Be recognized. Be safe.

Front Lighting

Although there are many styles and types of front lights, these lights are typically single points of light and generally fall into two categories. Always check your local regulations to ensure your lights meet local requirements:

  1. "BE SEEN" LIGHTING
    These “be seen” lights are generally low-powered lights and are designed to make you visible to motorists from the front of the bicycle. Although many “be seen” front lights will not light up your path, some may have enough power to provide limited “to see with” visibility. These “be seen” lights can vary in power, bulbs and functionality.
  2. "TO SEE WITH" LIGHTING
    While being seen is important to make you visible as a cyclist, many cyclists also need to see where they are going. This will depend on the conditions that you cycle in. “To see with” lighting is designed to not only make you visible to motorists and pedestrians, but also to light up your path.

    These lights can vary significantly in power, bulbs, beam and functionality. Medium-powered lights typically use halogen or LED technology and will provide adequate lighting for many commuting environments. High-powered lights are designed to blast out significant light – some equivalent to the output of a car headlight. The high-powered lights can be used for almost any night-time riding conditions – including technical, off- road trails, where seeing your path is critical.

Rear Lighting

All rear lights, for obvious reasons, fall into the “be seen” category. They are specifically designed to make you easier to spot from the rear. Rear lights are generally red, may have steady or strobing effects, and are generally more compact than front-facing lights. Although more compact, these lights may vary in power and functionality.

Side Lighting

Most regulations require passive side reflective components, which only work when in direct light. So if you want the safest riding experience, we recommend including active side lighting to ensure you have the ability to be seen not only from the front and rear, but also from the sides. Good side lighting will improve a motorist’s awareness of your presence in the environment, allowing them to make better decisions and judgments. 

Though there are many choices for front and rear active lighting, the selection of products designed specifically to provide Active Side Lighting is limited. Typical side lighting products incorporate a single LED mounted on the pedals, handles, spokes or some other location on the bike. Many of these products generate single points of light, which, like front and rear lights, can suffer from “being visible – but not seen” (see article at bottom of page), while others suffer from power, weight and integration issues that are also important to cyclists. The Lunasee System, however, creates an integrated, highly-visible and identifiable ring of light, almost 2 meters in circumference, on each side of the wheel.

Being Visible – But Not Seen

There are several types of in-conspicuity, but perhaps the most critical for cyclists involves circumstances where you are visible, but not seen. This can be caused by several factors, but most often it is simply when the cyclists blends into the background environment. This can happen at night — even when a cyclist has front and rear lights. These front and rear lights can blend into the background lights of the environment and though the cyclist is visible, they often go undetected. This can also be referred to as optical blending. Being visible alone does not mean you are conspicuous. Being visible, being seen and being recognized as a cyclist are critical.