Originally Posted by
cyccommute
While points raised by Bicycle Quarterly may be good in theory, there is the real world to consider. Frankly, I consider the whole "bicycle lights blind people" argument is a bit of a tempest in a teapot...and somewhat wrong headed. If our lights are so focused that they never bother anyone, motorists won't see them. I want the motorist to be "dazzled" (to a small extent) because that will draw their attention away from the nondriving tasks they are doing and get them back on task...i.e. driving a multi-thousand pound, highly powerful and very complicated machine.
I agree. When I started commuting I'd already gone through at least 1 be seen light and started adding more lights with more output. It wasn't until I added "the" light then (the 185 lumen Fenix L2D) that people started both seeing me as well as reacting to me. I'd rode a motorcycle for many years before that was too well aware of drivers seeing you but continuing to turn in front of you etc unless you did something like flashing your lights or blowing the horn to get them to react. Brighter lights make it easier for drivers to react to my presence instead of staring at me and wondering where I came from.