Hello all,

I'm a most-of-the-time driver who commutes by bike when possible. My concern comes from my experience as a driver in Chicago.


I have seen SO MANY CYCLISTS riding in the dark (after 3 or 4 now) with all grey or black clothes, no reflectors, and no blinky lights.


If this is you, please know that you are INVISIBLE. Everyone's windows and mirrors have a glaze of salt spray. Wet streets and surfaces reflect headlights and traffic lights, you are lost in that mirror unless you have the brightest possible BLINKING lights front and back. Blinking in the front so we can see you in our rear and side mirrors and know you are a bike and not to turn, park, or switch lanes into you. Blinking in the back so we know we are approaching a bike and can give you space. Bright enough to see from space!


The cheap little light pinned to a backpack doesn't cut it. Even with spotless windows, it's hard to see you. Especially with the way cars are designed now, all blind spots!


Sorry to be a nag and a lecturer but it is so scary to see bikes out on Ashland, under that tree cover, delivery trucks and parking cars everywhere, at rush hour. The white ghost bikes all over town are heartbreaking. Please help us see you! What else can be done to get the word out?


With respect and admiration for your all-weather moxie,


A concerned neighbor

Agree about all but the blinking lights.

After various configurations of bicycle lights were extensively tested, Germany outlawed blinking bicycle lights, because they were shown to actually increase the likelihood of collisions.

Yes, it's counter-intuitive, but blinking lights were unambiguously shown to distract drivers, requiring constant reassessment of the whereabouts of the bike. (If constantly blinking lights were safer, cars would use them, too, of course.)

Blinking, or pulsing, lights in the day.

Solid lights in the night.

Friday I witnessed an accident - three vans nose-to-nose at a corner gas station. One backed up right into a car stopped at a light at the corner. Airbags went off.

Drivers can't see entire cars stopped at red lights. You have no chance. You can be visible, but that doesn't mean they will see you.

Blinking lights at night if you are low on batteries.

I'm curious if this study looked at the rate and sequence of the blinking. I like the blinking function, it separates me from the sea of other red lights. As for cars having blinking lights....of course they don't, it would be way too much. However, they do have blinking lights for emergency situations, in order to snap people out of their near-hypnotic state. I see my blinking light in the same way.

However, if there were substantially more cyclists on the roadways, then maybe I could see the issue of having blinking lights being an issue, but that discussion is pointless in my area.




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Do you have a link to the study?

The more I think of this, the more I tend to wonder about the number of cyclists riding around with blinking lights that this study focused on. I've seen blinking lights, including at night, as a driver and I don't have any issues with continually assessing their location.

I don't think one study is enough to prove anything. As a cyclist and driver myself I don't have any problem seeing a blinking rear or front light. When I am driving and I see a red blinker in a distance I know right away that there is somebody on the road in front of me. As for vehicles not using blinking lights, it's because vehicles are a lot bigger, have bigger lights and are easier to see. You would be surprised how many drivers I see everyday without their rear lights turned on, they only have daytime running lights in the front. Another thing to consider is emergency vehicles use flashing lights because it's the best way to catch peoples attention.

It happens everywhere, not just in your area. I see it all the time.

Point taken on the lights. I always use them. Hate to see people riding on Ashland at any time, though. That's a near death wish. We also need to get the message out to not ride on Ashland or Western. Stroads, for sure.

JUST finished another early AM - began at 1:22am - ride using front and rear blinky lights with another on my left ankle. In 20+ years of early AM rides I've only been hit by two 300lb. wild hogs. 1st time at 1:25am on April 17, 2020 and again at 3:04AM on July 26, 2022.

Maybe a German study should be done regarding *Animal Encounters of the 3rd Kind* with and without blinky lights.

From a quick search:

"Germany's ban on blinking bicycle lights (after dark) isn't based on one single study but stems from German road safety regulations (StVZO) prioritizing steady beams to avoid distracting drivers, hindering distance judgment, and potential confusion with emergency vehicles, with research supporting steady lights for better depth perception and contrast against varied backgrounds, while studies show flashing lights can improve conspicuity but not always overall safety compared to steady, compliant systems."

While searching, I discovered that the countries in Europe that now ban flashing lights on bicycles (for nighttime riding) include Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and (as of about a year ago) France. FWIW, all of those countries have pretty high rates of bicycle commuting. (The popular cycling equipment researcher and blogger DC Rainmaker noted recently that Garmin has reconfigured the Varia radar units sold in those countries to comply with those regulations.)

My personal preference is to use non-blinking lights and reflective ankle bands. The ankle bands signal unmistakably that I'm on a bike, and, based on nothing more than a hunch, I suspect that drivers who dislike having to share the road with bikes (especially during rush hour) might find steady lights a little less irritating.

Wow, thanks for all the thoughtful responses! I appreciate all of you!

I'm wondering if there's anything I can do as a concerned citizen to get the word out about visibility. Are there bike light giveaways? Bike safety organizations? A sticker campaign where people lock up their bikes? Even if it helps one person. Because me screaming in my car (not out the window, I swear) doesn't do anything.

I don't want to be a the next driver telling cyclists what to do (annoying) but I just feel like there's no way so many people don't know or don't care how hard it is to see them.

Thank you!

I don't know of the late model (>~2005), that doesn't have a (high) center mounted rear brake light that flashes (blinks) upon activation, before settling to a steady state. Motorcycles have had, and require this type of brake light for decades. Motorcycle headlights often have a 'pulsing' function to increase the visibility of what is an already bright light. Speaking of bright *cough* car headlights have been getting so damn bright that if you think a solid red (or white) bike light around an inch in diameter is going to stand out. Well, I disagree. It won't. It can't. But that's not why I flash. There is no argument possible. The runtime of a taillight that blinks is at least 3x that of the same light on steady red. I need that runtime. And I'm not going to be shamed into trying to behave like an automotive vehicle, which I am NOT. I know, I know, that's what the DOT tells you. You believe them? You really think 200lb+ of bike and rider makes you ... a vehicle? I snort in your general direction. You (cyclist) are at best a sort of superpedestrian. You are VERY vulnerable in the roadspace that you are legally required to operate on. A cyclist that understands this doesn't need to be lit to the nines to be safe. There isn't time to go into the details but suffice it to say that there is much more to it than just being brightly lit to keeping from becoming a statistic. The o.p. is well intentioned but the digression into a "to blink, or not to blink, that is the question", soliloquy is not helpful.

You come onto a biking forum and kvetch about ninjas.

I carry a spare set of lights in my bag and offer them to folks when I see them riding ninja.

Which of us do you think is doing more good?

The opposite is also something that one should be careful to watch out for. A few weeks ago, on a bright sunny day, I was about to cross the road at a unprotected crossing. There were very sunny sections of road contrasted with very dark shaded sections that I had to look at. I was about to cross when a black SUV emerged from the nearby shaded section that I hadn't noticed. If I'd continued to cross, they probably would have had enough time to skid to a stop... probably.

So dark colors cut both ways. Not just for the cyclist, but vehicles too. But also no guaranty that bright colors will always be seen either. So be alert for everything.

No you don't! At least that was the thesis.

Incidentally, the 5th was the Day of the Ninja. I heard there was a ninja parade... (not my original joke)

I wonder how they explain the initially-blinking brake lights on BMW's

With an uncalled-for crack like that, you're lucky I'm not a moderator.

That's pretty cool. How do you pull that off when driving? Give me a couple of examples of how you have gotten their attention and passed the lights off to them.

Sooo... better to do and say nothing than to ask the bike forum community for suggestions, for fear of their judgment?

Do cyclists like their ride to be interrupted by crazy car ladies trying to hand them things?

I'm an outsider trying to do good. Imperfectly. I can live with that.

So true. Headlights on all the time for this reason.

I didn't read it like he did it when he was driving. Nor did I read anything so offensive in his post as to warrant a moderators intervention.

Always wear a Hi-Visibility Safety Vest. Bike rear lights may go out of charge, or even fail, and you wouldn't even know what's happening behind your back.

It applies to pedestrians on the trial and dog-walkers too.

This is the reflection on the bike headlight. 👇



https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pOI...usp=drive_link

So, just intuitively, I would have favored blinking lights. Apparently it’s a pretty nuanced question with many variables and conflicting data.https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buy...ng-bike-lights.

straight road vs curved, day vs night, group vs solo.

one constant one flashing may be best at night. Flashing appears best during the day.

Mounted on a shoe and moving also could be the answer. This actually deserves its own thread