acidfast7

I agree and found that StVZO worked quite well when I lived under its regime.

cobrabyte

Those extra bright flashing lights can sure be obnoxious if they're not aimed correctly. Sounds to me like this woman has encountered this more than once and when she saw you, she decided to take out her frustrations. You're probably a scapegoat, OP, so I wouldn't take it too personal.

I can't agree with the way she handled herself, but some cyclists do feel the only way to stay safe out there is to shine a blinding bright flashing light in all directions. I prefer a bright light pointed downwards to illuminate the roadway ahead of me. No need to shine it directly at drivers, or other cyclists heading in the opposite direction for that matter. It comes down to a matter of courtesy on both sides. You can be safe without endangering others (which is exactly what a bright flashing light pointed straight ahead does).

cobrabyte

I might add that a flashing light MAY get a drivers attention, but then what? Having spent many hours as a delivery truck driver I will say that a solid beam is quite effective at getting a drivers attention, and MUCH more effective at providing the driver with an accurate idea as to your distance ahead. A flashing light can make it very difficult to judge how far ahead the approaching object is.

wphamilton

That's kind of grasping at straws if you'll forgive my bluntness. Even if the brightness is irrelevant for seizures (which is dubious), that's at best only a part of why it's illegal. There are only a tiny portion of the population that might be subject to this, and police cars and emergency vehicles are allowed to have flashing headlights. In some places, motorcycles may also but I believe at a much lower frequency.

This tells me that the flashing headlight may not be as effective as you expect it to be.

I didn't want to inject my personal opinion but since you more or less ask here, I am skeptical that setting your light to flash does significantly improve your chances to be seen. I strongly believe that having a brighter flash vs a dimmer one does us no good at all. At most the flashing draws our attention - it doesn't need to be super bright for that.

She's the only one who was disturbed enough to scream at you. When something is an intense irritation to one person, chances are that it's at least a minor irritation to more people. And most drivers probably have more self-control than this one did.

jsjcat

Good Point!!! That really pisses them off! Confrontational people don't want anything to do with love especially the old ladies with whiskers growing out of their faces.

tsl

I was with you right up until that.

Even I find lights that bright incredibly annoying on strobe and have stopped other cyclists to ask them to at least point it down out of my eyes.

I recommend a less powerful light to use as a blinky. I use a 200 lumen DiNotte as a daytime blinky, and at twilight and darker, even that's a bit much.

PennyTheDog

Can't please everybody!

RidingMatthew

do you think that solid light is as noticable as a blinking light. My light has a low, med, high and it blinks on high. this morning i debated it and actually ran it on low for some of the ride.

i have a coworker whose sons has seizures and he is really close to his 3 years being up so he can go get his license.

Null66

My understanding is specific frequencies, but some react to different frequencies then others. Doubtful, that those making blinkie would not take this into account.

I-Like-To-Bike

Yeah!! Confrontational cyclists pissing off strangers IS the point of the super bright/blinding blinking lights drama, ain't it?

fietsbob

it is here .. * have the Schmidt eDelux I , the newer II is even brighter,

and The Brompton got a B&M Eyc T.

* its not Gotham - Metropolis.. or Zombieland..

tarwheel 

I personally find flashing headlights very annoying, both as a cyclist and a driver. However, I occasionally use my headlight in flash mode when riding in congested traffic in dim light (but not dark). I recently encountered another cyclist with his headlight in strobe mode on a multi-use trail and found that extremely annoying. What conceivable reason would a cyclist have for using a very bright flashing light on a MUT? In nearly all cases, I find that simply using a bright LED headlight is enough to alert drivers to your presence, particularly if mounted on your helmet.

mikeybikes

My response would be something stupid like, "I'll turn your **** strobe off!" and then ride away.

Nothing like spouting out a confusing statement to shut someone up for a few moments while the hamster in their head processes it.

DiabloScott

Flashing headlights are not only annoying but dangerous - please don't do it.

scroca

Care to add any evidence to support that claim?

acidfast7

StVZO doesn't allow them. That should be enough for most intelligent people.

cobrabyte

Anecdotal, but via personal experience...

scroca

Does this address my light being dangerous?

You just can't help yourself, can you?

DiabloScott

Personal experience on the MUP - the damn things blind me for a second and just when my vision comes back I get hit with another flash. I usually just stare straight down while slowing to almost a stop until the rude dude passes.

But yeah, StVZO knows what they're doing.

noglider 

There are jerks out there, for sure. Try to let their jerkitude roll off your back. It's the best thing you can do.

scroca

First of all, I wasn't on a MUP.
Second, I aim my lights to see the road ahead. I don't change the direction when I switch from steady to flash. If I was blinding drivers I would have heard about it a long time ago and by a lot of people. This is a first.
Third, I never heard of StVZO and so far nobody in this thread has specified in any way how that StVZO thing makes my light dangerous.

cobrabyte

It's made it dangerous to me, personally, as a driver for both the cyclist and myself. That's enough real world evidence, in my book, to not practice the behavior when I am on a bike.

no motor?

One of my flashing lights helped keep me from getting clobbered from the right Tuesday night on my way home, and it's only 120 lumens. I think the P7 Magicshine with the diffuser lens helped to, but who knows?

acidfast7

You like to pedantic, eh?

I even found an English description for you

Chicargobike: StVZO? German Bicycle Requirements Make Sense

no motor?

I only do this during the day, and find it helps with walkers distracted by their phones or iPods.