teenagers no lights

The vast majority of teenagers don't drive so they are unaware of how difficult it can be to see them.

(In my experience, it's the same for adult cyclists who don't drive - they tend to have no lights or very poor lights).

Ah no, it's grand, sure you saw them...

I see quite a few people on e-bikes/Scooters who have a really, really bright front light, bit no rear light! I see them because they are coming towards me. I have sympathy for the motorists who come across these muppets from behind.

I also saw a guy walking along the Naul road with his back to oncoming traffic. No lights, bright clothing etc.

finally, it was amazing that I saw them at all...when I arrived at work I realized the front lights on my car were off! (I had Front Fog lights and DRL's and i assumed my lights were bad due to frost/ice on the lens)

There's legal responsibility and personal responsibility.

As a driver you are legally responsible for not crashing into people and cyclists, whether they are lit up or not. That was the first part of my post.

The second part of my post is personal responsibility, cycling without lights at night is a really stupid, reckless thing to do. It doesn't, however, legally absolve you of anything if you crash into someone not lit up, so the ultimate responsibility still lies with you, the driver.

I agree with you completely. And I agree with the op that there are loads of unlit teens cycling around in the past few weeks.

But I also have to say that my kid is a teen now and all those lovely 'rules' I had when he was younger - like the helmet and the hi-vis - are more easily abandoned by him now. More often that not, he leaves the house without even a jacket on, never mind any form of cycling protection. I don't say this lightly, it terrifies me, but unfortunately our 'control' of them eeks away as they become teens.

As for the adults without lights etc, the mind boggles. I often think people don't consider things from other points of view. I'm a big walker, and I have one neighbour at least who I am convinced will kill me some day. He flies past me, gravel whizzing, waving gleefully. He never walks anywhere so has no idea of how fast he is passing me on country roads with no footpaths. Equally, cyclists who don't drive (most teens) haven't a clue just how invisible they are to traffic. Drivers, who don't cycle, are guilty of not considering the cyclists too perhaps ..

There is an obvious need for a 21st century lighting regulation which reflect the availability of LED lights etc. Then these need to be enforced rigorously, in this age of rechargeable batteries and led lights it is much easier to maintain lights than in times past. Regulations on the standardisation of mounts would help.

So you've seen them, and a large amount evidently. I too have no problem spotting cyclists in urban areas with street lights and slow speed limits even if they don't have bright clothing or lights. I've never knocked one down or almost knocked one down.

Maybe we're both excellent drivers, maybe we stick to the speed limit, maybe we're not distracted drivers... What ever it is, we should keep doing what we're doing.

They'll need to start in Templemore first, the amount of guards driving in their Hyundai's on DRL's only is absolutely shocking.

You'd have to start a lot younger than that if we were to put yet another parental responsibility onto Teachers. Most of the teenagers going around in dark clothes, on e-bikes with no lights on are the ones who won't be in school by the time they are 17. Their parents should be insisting on lights and a helmet long before they are teens. This behaviour might then stick if and when they progress onto driving a car.

Motorists and Cyclists should both be penalised if they are not using lights properly. However, the cyclist is the one who will come out the worse if a motorist fails to see them. There are plenty of motorists who fail to maintain or at times, turn on their lights. There are however a greater number of cyclists without lights on their bike. I don't excuse motorists who don't use their lights properly, but who needs to be seen if it were one or the other?

@...Ghost...

I presume you have some statistics to back up that claim