unterhausen

My commute starts out through an area mostly populated by frat-boys who don't seem to have figured out that paying attention at stop signs is a good idea. I have a helmet light that is mostly dedicated to helping them understand that they need to stay at the stop sign until I pass. I tried it on flashing the other night, I'm not sure it really does anything, but it is annoying, that's for sure.

MrCjolsen

Path: No flashing. Light up to see where you are going and for other cyclists to be able to see where you are.
Dark road: No flashing. Light up to see where you are going.
City street at night: Flashing and solid. Flash to get attention, solid so drivers can judge distance.
City Street in daylight: Flash to get attention. Motorists can see you but may not notice.

The main problem with having just a flashing light is that it makes it hard for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists to judge your speed and distance.

billdsd

If it blinds you, then maybe you shouldn't have been staring directly at it.

I use flash on the front during the day. Solid at night. I rarely ride MUP's.

paperback rider

If a headlight is bright enough to comfortably illuminate an unlit road, it's too bright to flash. I run a 150 lumen headlight in solid, and a two-LED white blinky on my helmet.

cyclezealot

I run both a blinky and a solid light in the rear. The solid attached to my rear rack and the blinky attached to the backside of my helmet.

badrad

as a biker, i don't want to make friends by 'accident', so being annoying with the flashing lights lets me know i was seen and not 'hurt'.
that said, i also find flashing lights are not effective for my own navigation in very dark areas, so i will turn it on solid but normally i have two lights - and i will use my BP2WBlaze as the blinker.
for the rear i also have two lights - BP and the Radbot. I keep the BP flashing and i have started leaving the Radbot on solid. Not sure of any difference it makes though whether to leave on or blinking, i just like that combination.

wolfchild

I think that a flashing headlights are much easier to see. Much more likely to catch the attention of a driver. My safety is more important then somebodys opinion. If they think it's rude then... Too bad. I have two lights mounted on my front rack which I set in a flashing mode and I also have a helmet light which I set as a solid light. My experience has been that, when going through intersections at night a lot of drivers don't see a cyclist until the last second... flashing headlights are much more visible.

interested

First off all there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that shows blinking lights are safer. On the contrary, research indicates that blinking lights are actually more unsafe than solid lights. Blinking lights are harder to track especially in fast moving traffic. Old research on rear lights showed that they had to blink around 200 times a minute work as well as solid lights when it came to tracking.

Then there is the classic "moth ball" effect where drunk, tired or elderly people gets fixated on the blinking lights and end up driving right at them. Lots of road construction workers and emergency workers experience, that despite huge, massive, blinking lights and signs, people still hit both workers and signs with alarming rate.

Here is an interesting article about how flashing lights, and using ever more lights, works contrary to belief.
https://policedriving.com/article145.htm

Why traffic accidents happens and how to avoid them is a huge and complicated subject. But human psychology plays a major part. Just getting attention as a cyclist isn't the main thing. It is being "noticed and remembered" in the drivers brain that matters. And peoples brains tend to ignore things that aren't dangerous, or isn't categorized as important traffic.

Dressing up like a Christmas tree with many blinking colorful lights may get the drivers brains attention for a split second, but chances are that the brain will categorize it as unimportant, and therefore ignore it.

Many cyclist have experienced how drivers in cars coming from side roads, sometimes just seem to be blind; even in broad daylight and with their heads turned against you so it is indisputable that they have physically seen you, they can still drive on as if you didn't exist. It really helps to try getting eye contact with such drivers coming from side roads, so their brains both "notice and remember" you long enough.

Again and again in traffic accident cases, you will see the claim "I didn't see him", even though it would be physical impossible not to have seen "him" (the victim that was hit). Some may be lying, but most are telling the truth in a way; they might have physically seen the victim, but their brains didn't "notice and remember" what was seen as traffic. Instead the brain blotted the sight out as something unimportant non-dangerous.

This is why spoke reflectors and pedal reflectors are mandatory almost everywhere in the world, even if the bicycle has huge retina searing lights front and back. These reflectors, by painting round and circular movements, convey a powerful message to a drivers brain that what the brain see is a cyclist, not a motorcycle or a static object that can be ignored.
Flashing lights on a bike doesn't convey such a message; it conveys static non-traffic object. No other vehicle uses flashing front lights for "safety", not even fast moving motorcycles that are as least as vulnerable as bicycles. So it seems that no-one besides some cyclists, think it is a good idea.

All in all, those blinking lights are likely only to give a false sense of security, and may in fact be slightly more dangerous than solid, steady light.


--
Regards

MrCjolsen

Good point. But what about a flashing light and a solid light.

jputnam

Having your headlights properly aligned is far more important for "making friends" than whether they're blinking or steady.

Point your bike at a wall from 20 feet away.

Does any of the high-intensity part of your headlight beam strike the wall at or above your handlebar height?

If so, you're shining your light in people's eyes all the time.

That's more dangerous with a blinking light than it is with a steady light, but either one, if bright, can lead people to shield their eyes or look away from you, which can lead some cyclists or motorists to swerve unpredictably since they aren't able to look where they're going.

lonesomesteve

Thank you for a rational, well reasoned post in the midst of a lot of nonsense.

10 Wheels

What gets your attention:

I have had Two Front approaching vehicles Stop in the road until I passed by them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9fHlI5CcjY

Carley P.

I usually keep my 1 watt PB Blaze headlight on flash just because it means I have to replace the batteries less often. It's not as bright as I'd like it to be so I doubt I blind anyone, but if I pull up behind a car at a red light I usually point it down so it's not shining in their window.

I'd rather be abnoxious than not be seen. On the rear, I have one steady light and one blinking light (along with a reflector). In the front, I have one 1-watt headlight and a reflector. I also have one blinking red light and one steady white light inside my water bottle. They're visible from the side, rear, and front. That means I have a total of 5 lights and two reflectors. My bike looks like some kind of spaceship.

If I could afford it, I'd buy another headlight and a dinotte rear light too.

I wish someone would make a cool disco-ball to mount under your saddle that lit up or something equally as hip. It'd be a nice way to encourage hipsters to mount lights on their bikes.

chipcom 

This could easily have been taken from a redneck car/truck forum.

To see - solid and as much power as you can get...aimed properly (a cut-off is even better)

To be seen in reduced light conditions - a low power strobe or blink.

Don't depend on your lights to be seen though...always assume they don't see you.

tarwheel 

I use a flashing light in the rear but not for my headlight. I consider a flashing headlight annoying if not downright rude. If you want drivers to see you better, mount your headlight on your helmet and look at them if you are concerned about not being seen. That works better than any flashing light but is a lot less annoying.

LeeG

what dynodonn said. I've had too many near misses during the day where cars pull right in front of me. A bright strobe during the day seems to make as much difference as a bright flourescent yellow/green visibility vest. I'll either set the Dinotte or Petzl headlamp on strobe. If it's night time riding and I want a strobe(not all the time) it'll be the headlamp but it's rotated up so it doesn't blind anyone, unless I want it to.

AdamDZ

ROFLMAO There is some overlap, I think Hey, I wouldn't mind lights with proper cutoff, not my fault. I tried to add aluminum hoods to the lights but it makes turning them on/off harder since I have to "pinch" the light.

cycle16v

Let's read the article again. I believe we're using the article out of context. The article describes a police scene with several emergency vehilces sitting around with their lights flashing which is very difficult for approaching drivers to see/navigate through the scene. In our case, we're normally just one cyclist with one front light and one back light (flashing or not) and our hope is to get the attention of motorist to identify us. I hardly think a lone cyclist would have the same effect to motorist.

Then again, you may think it's still nonsense.

Spire

Flashing or not. A poorly positioned light can be just terrible at those approaching from the opposite direction

CptjohnC

+1 -- On the street, esp. just after dark, or where artificial light is plentiful, I run one flashing, because I definitely get more notice from the cars. Sometimes I run both flashing under these conditions, because I think the helmet light gets more notice because it is up higher, and it moves with my head

On the MUP, if there are other cyclists around, no flash, or only a very low powered flash except when coming to street crossings, perhaps.

fmileto55

I agree. The concept of the blinking light is to BE SEEN! I ride with B&M IXON IQ on high and a Dinotte 200 on strobe on the front and a Dinotte 140 on strobe in the rear through rural and small town Alabama for early morning and evening commutes year round through dusk and dark. Before I had the front flasher, I had a crash and several close calls with cagers making left turns from the opposite direction right in front of me. Their response was, "uhh, I didn't see you." my steady headlight just blended with background light. Once, I got the front light on strobe, no more problems. I also ride at night on randanneuring events with groups of riders; during these rides, I, of course, turn the Dinottes on to low steady. If I was riding at night on a MUPS in would, of course, turn off the strobe. I have had numerous cagers compliment my lights for visibility in day and night conditions. I have never had a cager complain about the lights. Cyclists have complained, and I will accomodate if safety is not compromised. Two premises: My life is more important than your irritation. Common sense and common courtesy.

CCrew

+1. No real feelings either way on the road, but on an MUP you're mere feet away oncoming and it can render temporary night blindness.

fmileto55

You must not ride very much at night. You read articles; information is good, but information and "data" must be balanced with experience.
I ride in the conditions and observe behaviour. I go with experiences not "opinions".
I bet I'll be safer. Good luck!

nashcommguy

+1 I've got 2 re-chargable steady beam lights and one flashing that requires 2 AA batteries. The flasher is used during the day and the steady beams are used at night. Sometimes togther sometimes one at a time. They're 10w halogen each.

It terms of being rude or not if one is on a club ride flashing lights can be annoying. But, when commuting one wants to be seen, rude or not. The brighter the better on flash mode. Nobody gets hurt and it may save your life.

If riding/commuting on an MUP it would be best to have something like a Cygo-Lite 12w dual HL. It has 2 lights that're 6w halogen each. That way if you're running on 12 and someone yells at you one of the lights can be switched off and you still have enough light by which to see.

tcs

We had a case here locally where an alcohol-impaired driver successfully navigated some twelve miles of normal, typical two-lane highway before he target-fixated on the rear blinkie of a cyclist riding alone on the shoulder.

The widow of the local cyclist would disagree.