Camel

On my commute in last night, a cager going the opposite direction yelled: "Your vote too high tourn it louddd f***...".

It took me a bit to translate, but seems my bar mounted blinking LED was bothering the poor fellow. A few miles later a guy turning out from a side street "didn't see me" and cut me off.

So, sorry to disapoint the fellow with the sensitive eye's, but unfortunately, I'll be leaving my "vote" just the way it is.

TCNJCyclist

Could your light been tilted up too high?

Camel

I aim my "to be seen lights"-blinking white LED's at car drivers eye level. To be seen.

Unlike halogen lamps+HID's (ie car high beams), mine are hardly bright enough to cause temporary vision loss. At most an "annoyance" to the night vision sensitive. A more appropriate car drivers response would be to "flash" high beams.

jeff-o

My LED lights will cause your vision to go squirrly for a bit, much like when you look into a flash bulb.

darkmother

I like to blast those bastards right in the face. No mercy, your life is on the line.

slvoid

At night, aimed properly, my 3-LED cateye el400 can blind you pretty good at an intersection if I stare straight at you. Plus I have my 16 watt focused high beam pointed at the ground to light my way but my 11 watt low beam is on a wide reflector aimed squarely forward. Not taking any chances.

Nicodemus

It seems a bit daft that any bike headlight should be a concern when I see so many cars out there with super-bright headlights. What a clown.

lilHinault

I have a little theory that cars are purposely made to make it difficult for people to communicate at a human level from them, to them, and between them.

bostontrevor

Theory? How about ad campaigns? Cars are heavily marketed for the ways it can isolate you from the ambient environment. And people love themselves some tinted windows. Looking into someone else's car is considered bad manners.

It's no theory, sadly.

womble

It's the doppler effect

Rowan

Great. Just what we need. Blinded drivers. Wake up to yourselves. Aiming lights directly in the eyes of drivers and other bike riders is stupidity personified. I suppose it goes with the complaints about cars drivers leaving their lights on high beam. Just remember, there might just be another cyclist on the other side of the road that gets cleaned up because you're too thoughtless. Oh, and I think you might find with a little digging that it's illegal to use llights that blind other road users.

Camel

Now, now. I'm pretty darned courteous both to fellow cyclists, and drivers alike.

I find it incredibley unlikely that my flashing LED blinded him, more that he was a typical "raged" driver deciding it was perfectly allrite to yell at someone they didn't know because he (safely) could. Like the old "get on the sidewalk". Doubtfull he'd have the rocks to give hollering a try to my face outside of a cage. Again though, had he simpley "flashed" his high beams at me-I most certainly would have turned the blinky off.

kf5nd

If it had been an HID maybe it would've been blinding someone... but an LED? C'mon, the cager was just raging.

Another effing cager to ignore.

(oh... we we a Cajun restaurant here named "Ragin' Cajun"... sort of like "Ragin' Cager", huh?)

Alloy Addict

Multiple white Nichia LEDs can be very blinding. Why don't you experiment on yourself with the light. Have a friend ride your bike on a side street while you drive or ride a different bike towards it. If you feel that the flashing isn't distracting then you can write it off as road rage/ cager rager whatever. Your response that it is their problem, without testing your rig, sounds too much like the antibikiking motorists out there (ie "I'm not going to pass that bike at a safe distance, it's there problem if they don't like me passing so close to them.") Don't be part of the problems on the road.

thechrisproject

Car headlights are pointed at the ground, not at other drivers.

CJoshuaV

My triple-LED front flasher isn't blinding, but it is attention-getting. It's aimed at eye-level since, on my tests, it's not even noticeable to oncoming traffic when aimed at the ground.

If they made a hologram generator that put a twenty-foot, neon-red arrow in the sky saying "Cyclist Here" I'd use one of those too.

Joshua

slvoid

I've tried it at night and the LED's aren't absolutely blinding unless they're aimed right at you plus or minus a half degree or so. Which is great cause on my helmet, I can blind drivers when they're stopped at intersections waiting to make a turn. Most of them misjudge my speed and turn right into me, at least if they can't see, they won't be tempted to keep driving.

kf5nd

When I walk at night, and cross intersections as a ped, if a car gets too close to me while I'm in the crosswalk I zap it with my SureFire police flashlight. Right in the eyes.

My goodness, they stop as if they'd been shot with a .30-06 through the brain!

Tactical use of LIGHT as a non-lethal weapon. Because they're using their effing car as a weapon against me.

ghettocruiser

Supposedly.

But a lot of motorists around here are installing their own "HID look-alike" headlights, and they have no idea how to aim a set of lights.

Apparently they default to "aim high".

Not good.

Camel

Yeah-same with mine. Mine's not even very attention getting when pointed 15 degrees or more off angle. Its the "old" (?original/first model) cateye 3 LED, 4AA one.

vrkelley

Yes the LED's work great for approaching traffic, but unless they have the flashing body like a "torch", they lack on side-vis. My rig is not up to snuf in side-vis. Problem areas include.

* Side vis for the the front half of the bike
* Side vis for the back half of the bike
* Total vis when riding with a green foliage back ground

My better half says it's hopeless but when I get more time [like in a month or so], that'll mean more lights.

catatonic

I just use my niterider halogen and point it up high enought that the "edge" lighting will light up signs about a block away, but still give me a nice bright spot on the road far enough to give me plenty of reaction time.

Given this pisses off some drivers, however I couldn't care less, as their lights blind me possibly worse than mine blinds them, as my beam lacks range or wattage theirs has.

Plus car headlights aren't tilted up, they are tilted down, however due to the way the reflector is designed, especially on older "sealed beam" lamps, there is a significant amount of upward reflected light. Those tools that put on "driving lamps" who don't know how to use them irritate me all the worse. Driving lamps are to illuminate the ROAD ahead....NOT the signs....if they illuminate ANY sign, they are set way too high....grr....

Really though, I have no clue how an LED is causing this much grief...but if it's lighting up road signs a few blocks down, you might want to do somethign about it, as that means the LED is going to blind someone...and a blind driver is as dangerous as a tired driver IMO.

catatonic

Yep I lack side vis as well, all i have is the sideview of my taillight, which is plenty bright, but I need something for the front as well...to say "look, I'm going THIS way....slow down you fool!"


I may jerry-rrig something to go inside my front triangle right behind the head tube.

azesty

I use my very bright HID to light the road, and to attract attention. I will aim it at their eyes to make sure they see me. I have had only one cager flash his high beams at me....

a

vrkelley

When a cager is brushing his teeth, using cell, plucking eye brows he wants *NO* distractions