vincentpaul

Didn't you say earlier that anecdotal evidence really means "urban legend?" : )

Personally, having spent a considerable period of time working with drivers involved in fatal and serious accidents, I lean to the constant light because I'm more worried about impaired/negligent actors than alert/rational actors. In the last five years I can think of only one collision case that I reviewed that did not involve negligence and/or malfeasance on the part of a participant in the collision. It still seems to me that the flashing light may slightly improve the behavior of drivers who are already attentive; statistically, however, they're not the ones that are likely to kill me. Nevertheless, its an open question in my mind whether you're right that a flashing light might better avert risks. I'd much rather base my decision on a controlled study than anecdotal evidence. I've been spending some thought on who could sponsor such a study. In Oregon 1% of all transport dollars is required to go to bicycles. I'm thinking perhaps we cyclists could get the Department of Transportation (ODOT) Bicycle program to fund a study of commuter safety. I'm going to speak to some contacts I have at ODOT about it.

iltb-2

I find anecdotal evidence combined with personal experience certainly better than "evidence" that consists of I think I read something about it, that someone wrote, somewhere on the Internet.

If you really believe flashing lights increase risk you will be doing the right thing to encourage a serious study by serious people. Good Luck.

iltb-2

I didn't always use a light tower. I rode day and night throughout Philadephia from 1971-1976, including daily commuting and night time trips downtown for socializing, and didn't use any lights until I bought a Raleigh Superbe with a Dyno Hub front light in spring 1976. That dinky front and rear light setup was all I used to ride on rural roads in Illinois and on the shoulder of I-80 North (now I-84) in Oregon for commuting in the late 70's. Those were easy darkness commutes compared to my current route, hence my being enlightened to add more lights.

iltb-2

Bumper sticker = good.

Robo calls = bad.

Based on the prelude to the Iowa caucus where we received at least 10 calls a day for about two months from the Democratic contenders.

SSP

Ours weren't robo calls - we had a dozen or so folks making calls to local registered Democrats and independents.

The Human Car

An interesting observation on my ride home tonight; I noticed several motorists overcompensating returning back to the lane and drifting into the curb lane. Which reminds me of a police show once where they highlighted this problem and I seem to remember that it was never the lead car that got smacked but something downstream is what got hit.

iltb-2

On lots of 'em Robots dial the number, live bodies pick up if anybody answers. Just as unpleasant.
Human or robots, either way 10 dang calls a day for 2 months, half at dinner time is too dang much and doesn't win much support in my opinion

Nachoman

Of course. Absent negligence (or malfeasance) an accident will not occur. Ordinary negligent drivers are, in my opinion, not distracted by a blinking light. And I would disagree with any proposition that a drunk driver is "attracted" to a blinking strobe.

dobovedo

I use a blinking light, but I guess my answer is based on where I ride. My commute is in and between two small towns with fairly light and sometimes almost no traffic. So there's no 'sea of other red lights' to worry about.

However, the number of comments regarding using one blinking to get attention and one to judge distance has convinced me... I'm adding a 2nd steady taillight. THANKS!

I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I run three headlights:

1. LED flashing handlebar - to 'be seen'
2. 15w HID handlebar - to 'see the road'
3. 15w HID helmet mount - to 'see AND be seen' wherever light is needed

fthomas

There is a phenomenon known as autokinetic effect. Staring at a stationary light with a dark background (night time) for 6 to 12 seconds the object begins to appear to move. Thus I conclude that staring at a blinking light on a moving object will result in hysteria directly attributable to the UFO Syndrome.

There is a very good reason that aircraft lights both flash and are stationary. The flashing aspect - strobes used today along with White - Tail; Red - Port Side and Green Starboard Side allows pilots to pick each other up in congested airspace over bright cities and readily identify what direction the aircraft is moving. Trust me, it can be tough to pick out a plane or an airport in the sea of lights below, which is why they have approach lights that move towards the end of the runway along with fixed / non-blinking lights outlining the runway and taxi ways.

I have to believe that a flashing light on a bicycle - white or colored - along with a steady light provides a better opportunity to be seen and the distance and closure rate calculated on the bicycle by a motor vehicle driver.

The Smokester

An automobile driver must be able to do three things when encountering a bicycle at night: 1) Detect its presence, 2) Recognize it as a bicycle in motion, and 3) Respond appropriately to its presence.

The bicyclist can aid the driver by: 1) Use a bright, blinking light to attract attention and thus aid detection, 2) Deploy a combination of bright, steady lights and reflectors placed to aid the driver's perception that this is a person on a bicycle at a given distance, traveling in a certain direction, and 3) Ride defensively and hope that the driver doesn't hit him/her.

robertlinthicum

You are a model citizen as regards visibility. I think the death tally would go way down if there were more like you and yes, your flare-like presence does deny the careless motorist the the catch-all excuse.

robertlinthicum

Very perceptive comment. It takes *much* more to rise above the din here, as the standard is uniformly "me first". Comparing cycling conditions in the U.S. to almost anywhere else is a folly.

roadiejorge 

The times I've driven at night I've had no issue with the blinking lights and as a matter of fact are better because they are more noticable and immediately identify the light as a cyclist where a steady light can throw you off since you have to determine if it's a stationary object. When I ride at night I keep my lights on the blinking mode and haven't had any issues.

HiYoSilver

Interesting thread. It seems like many issues have been covered:

1. no scientific data or scientic study of night riding safety

2. we're all guessing whether the greatest risk is from
front [head on],
right driveways/roads [left hook],
left driveways/roads [right hook], or
rear [running down].

3. steady lights make it easier to judge distances

4. blinking light MAY get attention of drivers

5. blinking lights may freeze drivers on target


Why is there no discussion of the other modes? slow rolling lights and rapid rolling lights.

I have noticed police cars have switched to multiple colors from the rear and rolling lights. They no longer have fixed steady blinking lights.


My option is that slow rolling is sufficiently unique to increase odds of capturing drivers attention without generating a moth locking in on target response.


I used to think slow roll was also good for the side lights, BUT have changed preference after riding past a large glass window. The slow roll made it very difficult to judge right angle speed. The next night I switched to fast blick and that works great on side lights as it is easy to connect the dots and see the relative speed.

acroy

It can't be better said than that.

Let's close this boring thread & be done with it!

BarracksSi

Just one point about front lighting & risks --

I was driving, and passed a cyclist with a rear light in mid-evening. It was just late enough that everybody's headlights were on, and I had flipped my rearview mirror to night mode.

Anyway, after I passed the cyclist, I checked my mirror to see how far back he was and whether I had gotten far enough ahead to safely move back over.

He might as well have vanished completely -- he had no front light. I could only tell he was back there when he crossed in front of the headlight of the car behind me. I imagined that it would've been easy to right hook him.

It was yet another situation where a front light would help prevent an accident. I was worried about his location for another five blocks.

LittleBigMan

I agree flashing lights are irritating to motorists. That's why I prefer them.

HiYoSilver

Point taken. Missed one compass direction.

Too many cyclists think I can see them therefore they can see me. It's amazing more aren't hit at night.

Last week this assumption was driving home to me again. It was snowing a bit and I had a hard time even finding the subdivision entrance and had to guess where things were. Two minutes later was walking the dogs and had no problem at all seeing clearly to the corners. It's amazing how much visibility gets lost to drivers when they have to contend with window particles, inside fog, and dealing with reflection bouncing back from snow.

Just one of the reasons, I pass on days like today when a couple inches of snow is forecast.