Originally Posted by noglider

Hello everyone,

Please read this and tell me if you disagree.

There are big differences among various regions of this country and the planet when it comes to regard for the law and how it is enforced. 1. In some places, enforcement may be light but people move about lawfully and orderly anyway. 2. In some places, things are orderly and there is heavy enforcement, too. 3. In some places, people don't give a hoot what the law is and they just do what they want, and they get away with it because enforcement is lax. 4. The fourth type of place is the type where things are disorderly and law enforcement is there with heavy artillery but this doesn't make the place orderly anyway.

You have to take these four different styles into account when talking about how to ride through traffic or how to equip your vehicle. People are shocked at joeybike's riding style, but if they lived where he lives or in NYC, you'd see it in its proper context. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm saying they would feel differently.

Flashing lights didn't seem like a good idea to me, but now that I've seen a lot of them, I see they have their place. If they're illegal, they should be made legal, because I don't think they're overly distracting, nor do they cause confusion that makes it hard to distinguish a cyclist from a law enforcement officer. If they are illegal where you are and you would be cited using a blinky, then by all means, don't use it.

If you don't want to do it AND you think they're a good thing AND you know that users don't get cited for using them AND you wouldn't merely because it's against the law, then you are a stupidhead. (Wow, my browser doesn't flag that word as misspelled.)

If you think they are a bad thing, don't use them.

If you think they are a good thing, use them unless you don't want to be cited AND you think it's likely that you will.

Isn't that all there is to the issue? Or have I left something out?