Originally Posted by
jgwilliams
Both. Research suggests that a flashing light draws the attention but a steady light makes it easier to gauge distance. I used to run two lights front and back for that reason but now I have one light for each with a pseudo random flash pattern over a steady light. Probably not quite as good as two lights but a lot less charging required.
Yes, this.
Though I often run a tail light (Cygolite) which has a slow flash -- it lights up and dies down gradually and gently, over a cycle of about two seconds, I would say. Seems like the best of both worlds: kind of steady, kind of flashing, but not flashing hard enough to dazzle motorists.