Originally Posted by
cyccommute
People do it but I don't know if it's legal or not. A flashing red gets peoples attention because we are taught (I'm teaching my daughter now
) that red usually means Danger! .
Most Japaneese and European cars use yellow for the turn signal. So when you turn on your danger/hazzard lites, you see a a pair of flashing yellow lights. So a bike can just also use flashing yellow to indicate caution. I suppose ideally you would want a pair of flashing yellow lights. But since we don't normally carry a pair of red lights, that is not so important...
My reason for liking yellow lights is it is a lot more visible from a distance than red. I see your point that it could lead to confusion about whether you are a turning car.