At 40mph a car moves 880ft in 15 seconds! I was almost ran down by someone in a lizard brain trance on dark winter day. I had flags and even a slow moving vehicle sign on the back of my recumbent trike. They did not see me until I moved to get off the road, then this person swerved around me so hard they almost lost control of the car.

After that I started thinking about how bicycle tail lights are not noticeable at 800 ft in the daylight even if it is foggy. So eventually I got this truck tail light and found a battery pack on Amazon, very cheap. I am thinking about putting an LED light strip on my bike to use at night because this tail light is too bright for night use.

I hooked it up with a LED flasher so they really notice me.

For more info go to my blog: https://commutercycling.blogspot.com/...il-lights.html


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've got one of those, but it's not brighter than several of my other lights. I didn't use it for very long because it's a pain in the rear. The MagicShine, which just runs off the same battery as my headlight, is actually brighter and cost $30. The Knog Blinder 4V is about as bright, though it has the problem of a weird mounting system and the battery only lasts 2 or 3 days.

At night I run the MagicShine on the rack on constant, and a Knog Blinder 4v on the seat post flashing and a Cygolite Hotshot on the helmet in flash mode. In the daylight all of them are flashing.

I'm curious -- since this is a standard vehicle tail light, approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, why is it too bright for night use? Is it not normally bright for day and night use? Or is it too bright for a cyclist in line right behind you?

DiNotte's Daytime 400R tail light is advertised only for daytime use, claiming 240 lumens (or 400+, depending on where you look on their site). (But since they have a steady mode at 10% power, it seems like that mode would be appropriate at night, too.)

I've got a Dinotte 140 LED taillight, and it is like having a red headlight on the back of my bike. The Dinotte 300-400 taillights must be incredibly bright.

The Dinotte can be seen as far away as 1/2 mile. It's brighter than a cars brake lights. You still have to hope the driver doesn't have his head in his or her butt.

I think the issue is that you're riding a recumbent bike. Most of the ones I've seen are really low to the ground. Add to that fact that most people are not used to seeing these on a regular basis. Even with a flag you're not going to be real visible from the rear AND in certain situations ( like heavy traffic ) traffic might not even be able to see you, period.

If it were me and I had to ride a recumbent I would be thinking about mounting a thin metal pole on the rear of the bike strong enough to support some really bright daytime flashing lights and high enough to get them noticed ( about six feet should do it )

Even with the best solutions you can come up with you are still going to get the occasional jerk-wad.

I have 3 bikes and use lights, night or day. So I have a few
that I use; Planetbike Superflash Turbo, Cygolite Hotshot but
the brightest rear light in my collection of bike specific lights is
a Xeccon set. Here it is in actual use in traffic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G746...6zPoymgKaIoDLA

That battery pack looks like it could be useful. Couldn't you use that with any light originally meant for a motor vehicle?

I did not know they existed! I am not sure I trust that video, It looks like the bike was not more than 300 hundred feet from the camera. wish you could compare them to a truck's tail light.

When I say "too bright" I mean more than necessary.

I think the motorcycle head lights may use too much power to get any life out of that battery. Do the math.

This is the rike I had, it is not one of those ground hugger trikes. I sold it becasue I could not carry enough cargo on it.

By “lizard brain“, I refer to the part of our brains inherited from lizards and pigeons. Some people have their vision routed through the back of their brains some times. And some from brain damage, all the time.

I sometimes am looking for something and can’t see it, and then it pops into view like magic. It is a very strange thing and can be very dangerous when car drivers get in this state. Flashing or moving object are much easier to see.