This could easily have resulted in a nasty accident.
This dashcam footage records how a motorist was momentarily blinded by the searchlight-type lamp on the front of an approaching cyclist’s bike.
The driver whose dashboard camera recorded the incident off Lockwood Road and up Swann Lane said the adult male cyclist was riding on a footpath.
“Not only is that illegal [but] you will then see how I was blinded by his high-intensity front white lamp flashing away like a searchlight,” he said.
“The lamp was directed upwards and if that had been a car at an MoT test it would have failed.”
Mirfield councillor Martyn Bolt, himself a keen cyclist and a trustee of the charity Cycling UK, urged all road users to be mindful of safety concerns as the darker months draw in.
“It’s not a blanket offence to ride on the footpath. If it’s safe to do so and then cyclist feels safer then they can.
“Cycle lamps have come on a long way since the Ever Ready days of big batteries. On the one hand we would welcome that this cyclist is making himself visible but they have to consider the effect on others.
“His light shouldn’t be shining up at the stars. It should illuminate the road. It’s probably further exacerbated by the person being on the footpath because they will be four or five inches above the road.
“However we should all share the road space and think about actions and impacts on other people.”
