Reflectors on Bicycles

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27679, 8 June 1955, Page 12

Reflectors on Bicycles

The statement of the Transport Department’s traffic superintendent that any approved red reflecting tape can be used as a substitute for red rear reflectors on -bicycles will be welcomed both by cyclists and motorists. The tape is fully effective as a reflector, and indeed is far more effective than a great many of the glass reflectors, for these are often badly set and do not reflect at all. It should be made clear, of course, that the reflecting tape is not a substitute for rear red lights on bicycles, on which the regulations rightly insist. In Christchurch too many cyclists nightly take appalling risks through not having rear lights and reflectors and wearing dark clothes. These persons are not only exposing themselves to great danger, but are also creating unnecessary hazards for other roadusers. Anyone who regularly drives a car or a motor-cycle at night can confirm this from experience. It seems impossible to save some fools from their folly, but there are surely many among offending cyclists who are more careless and thoughtless than stupid, though carelessness and thoughtlessness in such a matter amount to stupidity. The wise will see that their cycles are fully equipped with every safety device.