colnago62

I was heading down the local mup and noticed a sticker posted on a light pole that said flashing headlights are illegal. Underneath the statement was the RCW. number. The sticker, while well done, did not seem to be from a government agency. I have only ever seen that one. Somebody has way too much time on their hands. Some of those lights are bright and I could never understand why some riders use them on this trail as it is flat and straight for most of it's 15 or so miles.

LesterOfPuppets

Blinkie haters around here just break out the spray paint.

Foul language alert.

https://bikeportland.org/wp-content/u...07/lights2.jpg

Kindaslow

They did not learn in school that spray painting the street is illegal, since they did not make it past their 6th grade graduation....

colnago62

I think most of the problem is that many of the brands have their lights blink at full capacity. Not a problem with a light that puts out 60 lumens, but with a Nite Rider Pro 1800, that is a lot of light. If the manufacturer's could add a low beam flashing light, that might help.

woodcraft

Pretty much my sentiments.


Well, more directed at the light than the person...

banerjek

In Portland, a surprising percentage of cyclists ride with daytime flashers at night or poorly aimed stupid bright lights. The flashers are more than annoying -- they mess your vision up. Blinding and/or disorienting peds, cyclists, and drivers does not help safety.

I downgraded my lighting setup when I moved to the city -- there is simply no reason why anyone should use that kind of light power in such a close and slow moving environment. But Portland cyclists are nuts. I see them do stuff all the time that I never do -- like pass vehicles on the right when there's no way to know for sure the driver can see you. Then they whine if they get hooked.

kbarch

Very true!
Flashing lights indicate a hazard, so as ordinary running lights they would certainly be inappropriate, if not unlawful. The question is, is a bicycle always a hazard? It may make sense to have the rear light flashing all the time, but it's generally not annoyingly bright. Not sure that it ever makes sense for a headlight to flash, but perhaps someone should come up with an amber front hazard type light - like how both turn signal lights on your car will flash when you turn on the hazard lights.
When I used to ride the greenway along the Hudson in the early mornings, I had a little blinky in front because lights are required, not because I needed it to see the road - the light from traffic and streetlights was plenty, and it really did little more than indicate my presence - didn't really illuminate anything. Now that I'm out in wooded suburbs, I need a real light to illuminate the road; no way would I set it to flash - that would annoy ME.

banerjek

I never used a front flasher before moving to Portland, but I've found front flashers to be helpful in daylight and lower light levels where lights are for visibility rather than illumination since it helps people make you out in all the urban visual noise who would pull in front of you or right into you. I make sure whatever I'm doing with my lights is appropriate and I verify my setup by putting my eyeballs at drivers height from multiple distances.

Any bright light that flashes will have multiple modes for different circumstances. Night time flashing has much less utility than daytime flashing, but night time flash modes are more of a pulse that's not so disorienting. The yahoos I see run super bright daytime flashers that would be appropriate in bright sunlight on a highway at night.

TrojanHorse

There you have it.

My lights (magic shines or clones) only blink on super high power, so I tend to only use the blink modes at dawn or dusk when you're competing with the sun in drivers' eyes. It's just annoying at night and I really, really hate coming up on somebody with that kind of light on a bike trail. I mean c'mon!

rmfnla

I use my blinkies only during the day.

I have had several drivers comment positively on it and no negative remarks, so I take that as a good sign...

MotorToad

The cheapie, but very bright, headlight I have on my drunkbike that I ride around town at night goes to full-bright blinky mode when I turn it off and it bothers the hell out of me for the eighth of a second it takes me to click the button twice. If I rode with that thing flashing at night I'd just run into a bus to make it all stop. I've seen bright lights that change slowly from around 100% to 80% and back and I like that, but flashing is just awful.

banerjek

Drivers want you to be obvious and visible. The problem is not with flashers or bright lights per se, but using lighting inappropriately. For example, most drivers know better than to drive around town with their brights on all the time. A lot of cyclists have not figured out the cycling equivalent.

OwenMeany

I am convinced that had I had a bright blinky light on my bike on 2004, I would have two legs and not the 1.5 I have today.

kc0bbq

Or you might have less, because the human brain unconsciously steers you towards things like blinking lights, which is why so many cop cars were getting nailed on the shoulders during traffic stops.

rmfnla

Unsubstantiated:

Visual Expert Human Factors: Is The Moth Effect Real?

banerjek

Does this mean you had a steady light? What did you have, what were the conditions, and what happened?

I cannot understand how running a daytime strobe could possibly be good at night. It makes it much harder to judge distance, determine to tell what is even there, or to see other things in the environment. Facing a bright strobe is worse than automotive high beams. And a strobe won't help you see things very much if you're riding in the dark.

Keep in mind that what constituted "bright" in 2004 was completely different than what we have now. Only HID was that bright, but they didn't flash. LED wasn't nearly as bright as it is now, and the max you might do with halogen was 20W.

TimothyH

Re red/bold, some manufacturers are moving to a steady burn + more subtle pulse or fade rather than the full Black Sabbath strobe light. Apparently it is the best of both worlds - attention but is subtle enough not to blind motorists or disorient the rider.

You might see it marketed as "Daytime Pulse mode" or "Steady Flash" or something similar.

banerjek

I have this on my newer lights, and I see other cyclists riding with it. IMO, this is a good idea because it helps make cyclists pop out just a bit more without blinding people.

exime

As long as drivers are using cell phones while they drive I will continue to use my blinkies to increase my chances for survival. I guess that means I'll never stop using my blinkies. My sincere apologies if you die of an epileptic seizure

rmfnla

I agree with exime; subtle is lost on clueless drivers.

I do like "Black Sabbath strobe light", however...