In Victoria, cyclists are required to have a red light at the rear of their bike and a reflector, and a white one at the front which must be visible from 200 metres. The fine is $185. ''It doesn't just annoy drivers when a cyclist doesn't have lights, it scares them. I have no issue with someone being fined for it. It is just disrespectful to other road users, not just drivers, but pedestrians too,'' she said. ''If you are a driver and you are coming along or turning a corner and suddenly you are virtually on top of a cyclist without lights and wearing dark clothes - it is scary. They are invisible until that moment. There is no more disrespectful road user behaviour than a cyclist without lights,'' she said. Bicycle Network spokesman Garry Brennan pointed to a survey four years ago that looked at riders coming out of the University of Melbourne that found about 30 per cent of riders did not have a working light on their bike. He said the numbers would have decreased because improvements meant riders could more easily remove lights and keep them safe from thieves. Dr Johnson said of the 1471 reported crashes for cyclists last year, 23 per cent occurred at dusk, dawn or at night, although VicRoads statistics did not stipulate whether lights were used.

Police began Operation Nora on Monday, targeting cyclists and drivers who did not obey traffic lights and signals and riders who failed to wear a helmet in Melbourne’s CBD, Carlton, Fitzroy, Richmond and Collingwood. Bike lights were not mentioned, but other less common offences, like riders who failed to ride to the left of tram stops - which could include target between the tracks - were included. A Victoria Police spokesman on Tuesday said the blitz did include lights even though it was not specifically mentioned. ''The operation is targeting all aspects of cyclist safety including but not limited to those mentioned in the media release,'' the spokesman said. He could not give a blitz breakdown but preliminary results showed 66 road users had been fined so far including 24 drivers, 17 cyclists and seven pedestrians. Dr Johnson said police were still right to fine the few riders who rode without helmets and those who ignored red lights. Failing to obey a traffic light attracts a fine of $369 and not wearing a helmet $185.

Dr Johnson's study in 2011 found that 99.8 per cent of morning riders were already wearing helmets. Mr Brennan said Bicycle Network had observed that in the inner north there was a small number of riders who refused to wear a helmet. ''They are travelling outside commuter hours, coming home from the pub, often after dark, getting to sports and other activities,'' Mr Brennan said. ''These are non-commuting riders in the inner north who are less than compliant,'' he said. In another survey by Dr Johnson, released last year, nearly two-thirds of cyclists reported they always waited for a green light.

Of those that broke the law, some said they did so because it was safer to turn left into the shoulder of the road than to turn with other traffic. Others complained their bike did not trigger the inductive loop embedded in the asphalt - leaving them a choice between going against the red and waiting for a car to trigger a light change. One in 10 went through pedestrian crossings on the red. Dr Johnson said the laws for bike lights should be changed to stipulate that lights should be flashing. She said this increased a driver's chances of seeing a rider because no other vehicles on the road had flashing lights. Riders who wanted to be seen and safe should also wear reflectors on their legs for increased visibility.