First ride of the year
I had my first ride of the year this evening along the Ottawa River. Just a short ride to the War Museum and back because it was getting late. Though I have both a tail light and a head light, none of the other cyclists I encountered on either the path or the roads, except one, had any lights or reflectors.
HTA 62(17) – Lights a bike must have a white front light and a red rear light or reflector if you ride between 1/2 hour before sunset and 1/2 hour after sunrise and white reflective tape on the front forks and red reflective tape on rear forks. Set fine: $20.00
That’s taken from the MTO’s Cycling Skills website.
It’s not like lights are expensive. You can pick up tiny white and red LED lights from Mountain Equipment Co-op for under $4/each, so there’s really no excuse for cyclists not having lights if they’re going riding at night.
Ottawa police regularly issue tickets to cyclists for lack of lights, especially at this time of year.