I am now a classic, middle-aged man on an adventure bike with a tent on the back. Recently I was heading back from Wales when I got lit up by a policeman. To be fair, he was a lovely chap and stopped me because my rear light was dirty (we had been trail riding and they were pretty muddy, as was I).

I was polite, but in my head I was thinking, has he got nothing better to do?! He made me give the rear lights a wipe, had a quick chat about bikes and let me go on my way.

However, as it was broad daylight it got me thinking why he bothered and whether he could have actually nicked me, especially as you can have a daytime MoT and have no headlight, etc. (I would add that my bike has full lights and a ‘normal’ MoT). I welcome your thoughts.

Answer

The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 state, ‘No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road a vehicle unless every lamp, reflector, rear marking and device to which this paragraph applies is in good working order and, in the case of a lamp, clean.’ Therefore, as your bike has ‘full lights’, if they were all covered in mud and not visible, the policeman could have nicked you and you would have had to pay a fine, etc.

Whilst I appreciate it may have felt like he was being pedantic, he may have saved you from getting knocked off, i.e., because the car behind you did not see your brake lights and drove into you.

Anecdotally, we had a case years ago where our biker client ran into the back of a car and got seriously hurt. His insurer thought he was going to lose because he rear-ended the car in front. However, what came out in evidence was the back lights of the car couldn’t easily be seen due to the dirt on them, and we won 100% for our chap.

Whilst I sound like I am preaching, it’s essential that you can see and be seen. It really can make all the difference between having a fun journey and one that ends in tragedy. Riding with dirty lights is a safety issue which can be corrected in a matter of seconds, so my view is, why take the chance?

Andrew Prendergast

More Bikes – September 2026