Moped lights: seeing and, above all, being seen
⏱️ 2 min read
On a moped, you are small, quiet and easy to miss in a mirror. Your lights are not just there to light up the road: they are there first and foremost to make you exist in other people's eyes. Here is the required equipment and the moments when you must switch it on.
✨ Key takeaways
- Equipment: dipped-beam headlight at the front, red light + reflector at the rear, brake light.
- Lights compulsory from nightfall to daybreak and in daytime if visibility < ± 200 m.
- The reflector is not a light: it never replaces the rear light.
- No indicators? You hold out your arm to signal your direction.
- Main beam: never when passing oncoming traffic or following someone — back to dipped beam.
Your moped's lighting equipment
- At the front: a dipped-beam headlight (white or yellow light) that lights up the road without dazzling.
- At the rear: a red light and a red reflector (the device that bounces back the light from headlights).
- A brake light that comes on when you brake, to warn whoever is behind you.
- Indicators, if fitted as standard: they must work. Without indicators, you signal every change of direction with an arm gesture, held out horizontally.
When must you switch your lights on?
- From nightfall to daybreak: dipped-beam headlight at the front, red light at the rear — always.
- In broad daylight as soon as visibility drops below ± 200 m: driving rain, fog, falling snow → the same lights.
- The rest of the time: keep the dipped-beam headlight on permanently. On most recent mopeds it actually comes on automatically at start-up — it is your best protection against "I didn't see him".
If your moped is fitted with a main-beam headlight (the big beam), the rules are the same as for any vehicle: forbidden as soon as you are passing oncoming traffic, following another road user closely or when street lighting is sufficient — you switch back to dipped beam so as not to dazzle.
Broad daylight, but thick fog limits visibility to 150 m. Your lights?
❓ Frequently asked questions
Should I ride with my light on in broad daylight?
It is strongly recommended and, on most recent models, automatic: a two-wheeler with its dipped-beam headlight on is spotted much earlier by drivers.