I just stumbled across a couple of article of the web which say that bike lits that do not have to be BS, if they have another equally good European marking. [1][2] I presume this means that my cateye CE [3][4] marked lits are road legal.
I just stumbled across a couple of article of the web which say that bike lits that do not have to be BS, if they have another equally good European marking. [1][2] I presume this means that my cateye CE [3][4] marked lits are road legal.
In order to comply with the law you have to show during the hours of darkenss a working white light forwards and red backwards compliant with the appropriate standards (BS6102-3 in UK or an equivalent EU standard). You may also show any other lights of the appropriate colour and position.
CE marking basically says that the materials it is made of will not kill you. It is no indication of fitness for purpose. CE markings are not an equivalent standard so a light marked with them is not necessarily legally sufficient (though it is not illegal if it is the right colour for the direction it is facing).
I just stumbled across a couple of article of the web which say that bike lits that do not have to be BS, if they have another equally good European marking. [1][2] I presume this means that my cateye CE [3][4] marked lits are road legal.
The CTC article points out that it's unclear which standards are "equally good" though*.
Anthony
* - with exception of the clearly superior German standards
I just stumbled across a couple of article of the web which say that bike lits that do not have to be BS, if they have another equally good European marking. [1][2] I presume this means that my cateye CE [3][4] marked lits are road legal.
It's worth pointing out that BS1602-3 defines a minimum life for a set of batteries. This is 30 min per day for 5 days per week, for 4 weeks (10hrs total). A very bright light might well fail this test, but be better than one built to pass, especially if you're using AA size rechargeables (as I assume most of us do).
-- Roger Thorpe
My email address is spamtrapped. You can work it out!
CE marking basically says that the materials it is made of will not kill you. It is no indication of fitness for purpose.
Is the wrong answer. CE marking says it meets the legal requirements of the European Directive applying to that product.
But those requirements are predominantly that it won't kill you, rip your fingers off, make you go blind or whatever. In particular, they do not extend to fitness for use as bicycle lights. I think David's answer is close enough, and is more informative than the statement that the mark means the product meets the requirements of an unspecified directive.
CE marking basically says that the materials it is made of will not kill you. It is no indication of fitness for purpose.
Is the wrong answer. CE marking says it meets the legal requirements of the European Directive applying to that product.
But IIRC, there is no European Directive applying specifically to bike lights, so the CE mark means that they comply with the more generic requirements that apply to all (battery powered?) electrical equipment, ie it won't kill you.
