Lack of lights will bring fine

Press, 15 July 1982, Page 6

Lack of lights will bring fine

Any Christchurch cyclist travelling at night with insufficient lights is being issued with a $l5 instant fine for breaching traffic regulations. The senior city traffic officer in Christchurch, Mr I. W. McLauchlan, said that officers had been issuing tickets over the last month and would probably keep up the campaign for at least another month. Mr McLauchlan said that it was astounding the number of cyclists in Christchurch who travelled without a light. . “We are only trying to safeguard the cyclist. There has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of

cyclists killed, in New Zealand this year,” he said. The minimum amount of lighting required on a bicycle is a fixed front headlight, tail light, and a rear reflector. “If cyclists could also wear some reflectorised material, or a light that moves such as pedals with reflectors on them, or .a light attached to the leg, it is also of great, help to the motorist,” Mr McLauchlan said. It was illegal just to have a light tied to the leg without having a fixed headlight and rear light. "If the light was attached to the leg, a car coming out of an intersection might not see it,” he said.