Has anyone tried laser tail lights, which project red lines on the road?

Andy-Mat

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guerney

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At night, they might make some car drivers take a far wider path around you. They look good.
Let us know.
Regards
Andy
If they disappear in car headlights, they might not be worth it. On the other hand, if they're visible from a distance before laser light is swamped by headlights, they might be.
 

saneagle

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I have the ones that put two parallel red lines on the road. You can buy them from China for about £2. They're extremely effective in providing a large safety bubble arround you, in fact too effective in that it stops cars from overtaking, which can be very annoying and a bit worrying.

The actual red rear light is very good too. This is my favourite light and I've been using them for about 10 years. The only problem is that the brackets break very easily when you try to adjust the angle without loosening the screw. I solved that by getting a friend to 3D print a stronger one.
 

guerney

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Isn‘t a legal requirement for Red to be only visible from behind.
I believe so, but isn't it so that people know back from front, at times of poor visibility? Would I be thrown in the slammer for projecting lines on the road with sub 1mw red lasers? Something's GOT to work!
 
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guerney

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I have the ones that put two parallel red lines on the road. You can buy them from China for about £2. They're extremely effective in providing a large safety bubble arround you, in fact too effective in that it stops cars from overtaking, which can be very annoying and a bit worrying.

The actual red rear light is very good too. This is my favourite light and I've been using them for about 10 years. The only problem is that the brackets break very easily when you try to adjust the angle without loosening the screw. I solved that by getting a friend to 3D print a stronger one.
Thanks for your post! Hey is that the Gadget Show guy on your profile pic? Are YOU the guy from the Gadget Show? Can I have an autograph?

Wow, you've used them for 10 years? Any plod problems? I'm going to buy the ones with parallel lines projected backwards, because according to one Amazon reviewer, the ones which also project in front cause cats to jump in front of his bike. My cats loved chasing lasers, I can easily imagine that happening.

I'd rather cars loitered and hesitated instead of overtaking! Something has got to work!

If stopped by the cops, I suppose I could argue that they are rear lights, if they start pointing vertically down on the latter part of the bike, and oscillate rapidly (?) by means of a mirror back and forth behind the bike to appear as lines. Or are static lenses used? However they work, the lines will be projected mostly behind, not pointed forwards.

My Dahon is well suited because the seatpost is long compared to most bikes - if need be I could easily fit several of these laser lights onto it.
 
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StuartsProjects

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Does anyone do a laser rear light that can project text of your choice onto the road behind you ?

Projecting this for instance;

"If you can read this you are too close"
 
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guerney

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Does anyone do a laser rear light that can project text of your choice onto the road behind you ?

Projecting this for instance;

"If you can read this you are too close"
I think w're out of luck! Refracted using lenses, therefore no custom messages are possible. Despite my worries about lasers attracting cats onto the road, I've bought this one. I prefer to use rechargeable AA or AAA powered bike lights, they're better than a dead lithium ion battery pack in a year or two which may be hard to find or replace.


 

I893469365902345609348566

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Do badgers jump at lasers? :eek:
 

guerney

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I have the ones that put two parallel red lines on the road. You can buy them from China for about £2. They're extremely effective in providing a large safety bubble arround you, in fact too effective in that it stops cars from overtaking, which can be very annoying and a bit worrying.

The actual red rear light is very good too. This is my favourite light and I've been using them for about 10 years. The only problem is that the brackets break very easily when you try to adjust the angle without loosening the screw. I solved that by getting a friend to 3D print a stronger one.
Thanks again for your post - it's arrived in the post. Batteries were included! £4.99 delivered. Thus far, the lasers look bright in tota darkness, and I like the very rapid flashing rate of the LEDs. I'll road test it soon and report back. I certainly hope I'm not chased by herds of sprinting cats...






47774
 
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guerney

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My bike has frickin laser beams! The included "Panesamig" batteries didn't last long - about two hours, therefore I'm unsure of how bright the lasers actually are with good batteries. I'll have to do another test with rechargeable NIMH AAA, but here's a pic taken in almost complete darkness on rough ground - I haven't finalised laser positioning. I agree with @saneagle that the laser LED mount could be much better. Flimsy, so it's supported by my GPS light. My seatpost is getting crowded and I may need a longer one.

Five rear lights (including the wired in rear light from Junstar and flashing LED sash on my rucksack) plus two wide reflectors may seem overkill to some, but not me! I don't know if the laser beams at full power will make any difference, but every little helps. If not, I've bought a good rear LED flasher for a fiver.

I won't know if hordes of cats have been sprinting along the road behind me, until I buy a rear view camera.


47796

47797


The top light in the pic below has frickin laser beams underneath, the other two are GPS light and flasher (left to right). I might buy another LED/laser light to attach to the bike trailer flagpole, somehow.


47798



Wide reflectors

47799



LED sash:

47800
 
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AndyBike

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or maybe;

"1.5M passing distance is a guidline only"
Isn‘t a legal requirement for Red to be only visible from behind.
Legal requirement for UK rear bike lights
  • A rear lamp showing a red light, positioned between 35cm and 150cm from the ground, facing rearwards. If capable of emitting only a flashing light, it must emit at least four candela. If capable of emitting a steady light, it must comply to BS3648, or BS6102/3 standards
  • Rear reflector, coloured red, positioned between 25cm and 90cm from the ground, facing rearwards
  • Pedal reflectors, coloured amber, positioned so that one is plainly visible to the front and another to the rear of each pedal
It's obviously illegal to show a red light to the front or a white light at the rear.
 

saneagle

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It's obviously illegal to show a red light to the front or a white light at the rear.
The light you see from the lasers is lighting up the ground. You can't see any red light when you look at the light itself from the front. It's the same as a car headlight that lights up the ground in front of. There are two very big white patches that can be seen by the car following or anybody from any direction. Is that illegal?

Since I had the problem of cars too scared to overtake me. I stopped switching on the lasers, so I'm not sure about how they drain the battery, but the light itself lasts for a very long time with the two AAA batteries.
 

guerney

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Since I had the problem of cars too scared to overtake me. I stopped switching on the lasers, so I'm not sure about how they drain the battery, but the light itself lasts for a very long time with the two AAA batteries.
For me, that's a very desirable feature, not a problem! ;) Did you have your lasers on flashing mode? Could the drivers have assumed you were turning? I kept the lasers on continuously.

Better to be looked over, than overlooked.

The batteries they included were naff. However, two lasers must be a somewhat bigger drain than just the LEDs - those last for ages. Even with those naff batteries after two hours, when the lasers wouldn't power up - the LED bulbs were still bright. It'll probably be similar to my other LED flasher in that respect, if used in LED flasher mode only - even rubbish batteries power it for weeks, if used for a couple of hours a day.


The light you see from the lasers is lighting up the ground. You can't see any red light when you look at the light itself from the front. It's the same as a car headlight that lights up the ground in front of. There are two very big white patches that can be seen by the car following or anybody from any direction. Is that illegal?
And that's exactly what I'll say to the cops if I am ever stopped. I really don't see why they would object - the lasers are pointed down and illuminating the road in very narrow strips behind me, not pointing into driver's eyes. The reflections may be visible when viewed from the front (I'll check how visible later). From a driver's point of view, I don't think they'd look like the red rear lights of a vehicle reversing at you, or a motor vehicle braking.
 

saneagle

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I think I only had them on flashing. I ride mainly narrow country roads. I'm not sure why the drivers wouldn't overtake. I think they were just a bit confused by what was in front of them. I also wear a yellow reflective jacket that has a blue "Security" strip across the back. Maybe it was the combination of the two. I don't have a problem wearing the jacket with the lasers off. Whatever it is, the lasers definitely make the car drivers more cautious.
 
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