I've been meaning to do a "Lighting" post for a while now, and was reminded last week of this when Darren posted one part of his lighting system, and then was reminded again last night when he showed off his cool bike helmet lighting system at the end of what was hopefully the first of many Toronto HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) Dinners. It took place in Little India and the East Side in Toronto was well represented... there was talk of having the next one (and we should probably all post about it well in advance) in the West End.
Since his helmet system is pretty cool and ingenius (and he hasn't posted a photo), I've posted a photo of my helmet (which I rigged up with the two turtle lights when I got home from the dinner) to the right with the general concept - basically using the elastic bandy thing on the turtle lights to secure them to the top of the helmet. I only have 2 red turtles at present, so I pointed them backwards, with plans to add two white ones to the front, like Darren has. He says he's gotten a ton of compliments on the set-up, from drivers, pedestrians, and other cyclists. I can see why because it's an ingeniusly simple way of securing lights on your helmet. 
The second photo (over there --> ) is the turtles with the lights turned off. I probably didn't have to explain that. Haha.Now that the "Refugee Helmet Lighting System" has been demonstrated, I'm free to move on to general lighting.
Aside from good cycling practices that are not only safe but assert your right to use the road (yet another upcoming post I've been drafting in my head for a while...) and making sure you have a good helmet, lighting is probably the most important part of biking Toronto. This is because the more visible you are to the traffic around you, the safer you'll be (especially if the drivers are inattentive).
The official word on bicycle lighting, according to Ontario's Highway Traffic Act, is that you should have a white light on the front of your bike, as well as a red on the rear. You have to have them on if you're biking from 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise. It also mentions reflective tape on the front (white) and rear (red) forks so that car headlights light you up as well. Wearing clothing of light colours with reflective and shiny bits help a ton as well. An exhaustive resource on the subject is found on Wikipedia.Although the law only says one light on the front and one on the back, it's a great idea to use the legal requirement as a minimum. A couple headlights on the front (one steady, one flashing) is a great idea to grab people's attention. multiple tail lights on your bikepost will look pretty cool (you can also get ones that attach to the back of your clothes or helmet), and you can also copy Darren's Turtlelights on the Helmet idea.
In terms of pricing, MEC (of course) has some great deals. Those aforementioned TurtleLights are only $3 each (available in white and red), and I picked up a nice headlight and tail light combo almost a year ago for $16.75 and have only had to replace the rear light battery once. The original battery is still in the headlight. Look around the MEC Cycling Lights section... there are a lot of good ideas on there to increase your visibility at night or in bad weather.
Here are some other cool lighting ideas from around the dubya-dubya-dubya:
HokeySpokes - A really cool lighting system that attaches to your spokes. It's even programmable, so you can send messages while biking! Neon Safety Lights - you know those Honda Civics with the bassline thumping everything in a six-block radius and glowing with neon underneath? You can get that neon look for your bike!
Ground Effects Lights - Just like above, but a Do-It-Yourself option.
Cool Neon - nice thin neon that can go anywhere! About $2 a foot, and how can you go wrong with colours with names like High Bright Long Life Hella Phat White?
Discuss this topic and a lot more on the BikingToronto Forum
