As a driver, I rarely but still get annoyed at flashing bike lights. That means it's done it's job! A lot of that is about where you live and what the traffic conditions are, and even what the local laws are about flashing lights. It's illegal to have any flashing lights in some EU countries like Germany and Holland, while others ban the fronts flashing. I remember the UK made strobing lights legal sometime in the 00s.
Originally Posted by
hbsyncro
I still don't truly understand why people ride in the dark with the crazy bright flash modes on their forward facing lights. I get the rear flashing red lights and I get the front white flashing mode in the day light, but in the dark? It drives me (as a cyclist) crazy if I have my light flashing because I can only see the road in front of me when the light is on and it seems like it would piss off motorists and anybody else looking in your direction if you were getting strobed. Why not just run it in steady mode? Maybe they forget to switch modes after the sun goes down? Which doesn't make sense because they would see it flashing when it got dark. Maybe they are trying to save battery life? The worst are cyclists on off highway bike paths where there are no cars and they have their light in seizure mode. The only thing I can think of is they want motorists to know they are a bike (flashing) and not a motorcycle (steady). I have seen cars wait to turn left in front of me because of my steady light and their inability to judge my distance and speed, which for me is still safer. Also, I rarely run my light in the brightest steady mode, but I seem to be alone on that one. If you have the lumens why not use em? Crazy blinding bright.