Originally Posted by
AmsterDan
Hey everybody,
When it's flickering I find myself being annoyed by it and gives the impression of being blinded and gives a worse sense of where the cyclist is. This is my personal finding ... what do you guys think?
Daniel
I agree that a rapidly flashing light can be overly distracting. There's an important difference between getting someone's attention, and taking up too much of it.
One option no one has mentioned is the third available on a lot of rear lights--the side-to-side movement of the diodes (or up-down, depending on how you mount it). i.e., instead of flashing all on/off together, the diodes flash one at a time in sequence across the unit, then back again.
The Vista light I use has this and it seems way less distracting, while still being attention-getting.
Flashing lights are great for being noticed, but it helps to have a steady one as well (front and back) so people can track your path and judge speed. Has anyone else noticed how hard it can be to do this with a cyclist using only a flashing light?
Allan