Blinking red lights are not legal for bikes in a lot of European countries. I'm not sure of the rationale, but that is what I was told.

Our around town bikes have blinking red tail lights and night rider front lights. I ride down to the gym in the dark 5 days a week. Drivers seem to give me plenty of room. However, part of my route is shared by all the soccer moms driving their kids to school in big SUV's. This is always an exciting part of the ride, and it would take more than a blinking red to make me feel comfortable there regardless of the lighting conditions.

For touring we use a steady red rear light. Our headlamps ( no dedicated front lights) are used if frontal visibility is needed by drivers. The rear light is for all low visibility conditions, and the headlamp is used on those rare occasions when it is necessary to ride in the dark.

Train was late getting to our start destination; it arrived at midnight.