Originally Posted by
jdefran
Hey all, it is possible to be pulled over for your lighting system is deemed 'too bright'? With less daylight approaching, I am setting up my light system for riding in dark conditions..I am going to ensure I am visible from at least 1 mile away.
Feel free to discuss any experiences you may have with this.
A mile? Absolutely unnecessary. Cars don't throw a beam out a mile and they are traveling up to 4 times the speed you are thinking of traveling.
Good luck on getting a ~1" parabolic reflector to throw a beam that far given the current lumen level for LEDs as well. I have overvolted halogen lamps that throw out 1500 lumens per lamp and even those aren't visible from a mile away. I can illuminate reflective signs from 7 blocks away but that's not even close to a mile and the beam is very spread out by that point. A cone that has a height of 1 mile (5280') and a beam angle of 25 degrees covers an area of 6,110,000
sq ft. If you want to have a light flux of even 1 lumen per square foot at that distance, you'll have to have a light that puts out 6,110,000 lumen or the equivalent of 4070 car lights. You'd need a small nuclear plant to generate the power needed.
It would also be a huge waste of your light power. Aim the lights at the ground 2 to 4 carlengths in front of you. Even a 400 lumen light will give adequate illumination for 30 to 40 mph.