promoting lights good or bad?

More recently and with the price of LED lights being really low I have found myself buying cheapo 5 LED rear lights by the box, use them for a couple of weeks and they start to get scratched and dirty then I replace them and hand out the old ones to random people as I'm cycling. Have given away 5-10 lights across the winter, one I had seen them again and noticed it was still in use so good deed done I guess.

The last one I gave out was to a mother who was jogging while her child was cycling near the clapham junction end of clapham common around 8pm so dark and the route they took the kid biked clean across a zebra crossing with little regard for traffic then turned off the path and near enough vanished so unclipped a light and handed it to them.

Thinking back about it after and with similar debates like helmet promotion putting people off cycling could it have done more bad than good? I didn't highlight the danger or anything I just passed them the light and said "please take this, you can clip it to his hood or belt hoops" but even that might stir up the idea cycling as a whole was dangerous and not just cycling unequipped/badly.

I'm against promotion of lights, they shouldn't be allowed to get above their station. On the bar or on the post... never on the bonce.

Next thing you know they'll be taking our jobs, our women etc.

Wouldn't be the first time someone gets left for the big city lights....

I wouldn't lose sleep over it. But then i'd probably invest in proper lights.

Lights are a gateway to hi-viz and ultimately tracksters.

I wouldn't lose sleep over it. But then i'd probably invest in proper lights.

I use a cree xml as my front light(hence not giving them away). Cost me £14 on ebay which is far less than "proper lights" from evans, wiggle or whatever.

For the rear light I get ones just like these, usually have 2 clipped onto my bag.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-5-LED-Bike-Bicycle-Cycling-Rear-Tail-Caution-Safety-Flashing-Lamp-Light-/310896128796?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item4862da731c
http://www.poundland.co.uk/my-cycle-5-led-back-bike-light

I could buy an almost identical "proper light" but why bother? Here are some, the majority of £20 or less lights will come into this catagory. The first one is the same light?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/rsp/night-beam-5-led-rear-light-ec042377
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/raleigh/5-led-oval-rear-light-ec042184
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cateye/5-led-rear-light-ec040332

Or did I miss something and so adding usb charging or a different way of mounting makes them brighter?

I just don't see the point of getting what seems like disposable lights when you can get something more permanent. Brighter is not always better. Have a look at Lights for plenty of advice etc.

Lights are a gateway to hi-viz and ultimately tracksters.

I used to think like this but it's complete bollocks. Queen Elizabeth St, SE1 where I used to live runs between Tower Bridge Rd and Tooley St. It is PITCH black at some points with a tight fast junction running off of it. It's one way, and grated drivers joining it are on give way lines but that's not an argument I'd want to make from a hospital bed. Decent lights give them a heads up to your presence.
I've encountered too many roads with blown out street lamps and poorly surfaced roads where I don't want to be splitting my concentration between being seen and dodging potholes.

Also anyone that has driven vehicle at dusk chime in: Unless you have really bright lights or take a strong position cyclists disappear into the glare of headlamps from following vehicles. I found this unsettling and was surprised there were more little collisions tbh.

Yup, if Road users aren't looking out for cyclists, they're not going to see them. That said, pragmatism says be bright be seen! Personally I tend to light myself up like an epileptic hating disco strobe. Just to cover all bases. Ymmv.

I found this unsettling and was surprised there were more little collisions tbh.

why is it that so few cyclists are involved in accidents whist cycling in the dark without lights.
Whilst wearing black hoodies
and dark pants
and riding against the flow of traffic
and not giving a fuck
It statistically seems safe, oddly.

I used to think like this but it's complete bollocks. .

Chillout bro, was joking! I have a bike covered in reflective tape and would totally wear hi viz if having to ride sketchy roundabouts & dual carriageways regularly.

There is certain places like this that used to be on my regular routes, where even in bright daylight & taking primary, you could still guarantee cars running into your path and claiming they never saw you.

I was thinking of doing the same thing last autumn (but cashflow halted my philanthropy).

Through the winter I have vacillated between thinking this is a good idea and would potentially save some people for injury and thinking fuck 'em - it costs peanuts to buy a cheap set of lights, they get what they deserve.

I'm not totally a good person, obv.

OP - I think that's good work.

why is it that so few cyclists are involved in accidents whist cycling in the dark without lights.
Whilst wearing black hoodies
and dark pants
and riding against the flow of traffic
and not giving a fuck
It statistically seems safe, oddly.

It's fairly impossible to nail the above down statistically (lack of data), but ...

Our towns and cities are far, far brighter than they were when the requirements for lights on bikes were introduced.

Cars are much better machines than they were back then, in particular with respect to braking.

Drivers are trained better.

There are far fewer bike riders on the road today than before WWII. Europe only entered the era of mass motorisation after the war. Before the war, cycling grew to huge levels and was variously estimated as constituting between 55% and 75% of all vehicular traffic.

Car headlights were feeble then and drivers wanted to go faster all the same.

When people complain about unlit cyclists, that's because they have seen them and been extra careful.

good.
because they used to be as big as bricks, weigh the same,
and now they are are cheap as shit, and cost pence,
youre asking to be be stacked without lights

When people complain about unlit cyclists, that's because they have seen them and been extra careful.

exactly this, the complaint is about having to take extra care!