Flashing LEDs...

[ufkacbln]

Can a flashing LED give a driver an epi?

Quickly - No.

The trigger for epileptic fits is due to intensity, as well as frequency. That is why strobes and flashes can trigger an episode.

The trigger frequency varies between three and sixty hertz (flashes per second) and is typically sixteen to twenty-five.

No bike light on the market flashes at these rates, no lights on the UK market flash with this type of rate. Most are more than one hertz.

There have been reports of incidences, but these have been whilst setting up and it is suggested that it was the brightness due to close proximity rather than the flashing that was the cause.

In summary the chances of triggering an epileptic fit does not need to be a factor considered when buying bicycle lights.

 

[ufkacbln]

Can a flashing LED give a driver an epi?

Quickly - No.

The trigger for epileptic fits is due to intensity, as well as frequency. That is why strobes and flashes can trigger an episode.

The trigger frequency varies between three and sixty hertz (flashes per second) and is typically sixteen to twenty-five.

No bike light on the market flashes at these rates, no lights on the UK market flash with this type of rate. Most are more than one hertz.

There have been reports of incidences, but these have been whilst setting up and it is suggested that it was the brightness due to close proximity rather than the flashing that was the cause.

In summary the chances of triggering an epileptic fit does not need to be a factor considered when buying bicycle lights.

 

[Rykard]

I have two 1/2watt flashers on the panniers on the back and a steady led on the rack. Up front a smart 2.4v + 10v steady and a polaris 5led flasher.

 

[Rykard]

I have two 1/2watt flashers on the panniers on the back and a steady led on the rack. Up front a smart 2.4v + 10v steady and a polaris 5led flasher.

 

[HJ]

Thanks for the news that flashing LED's now legal. I still maintain that permanently lit LED's show up better than the flashing ones. At the end of the day there is after all more light energy getting in the drivers eyes, it has to help.
Perhaps my bias is because when driving we see so many useless dim rear flashing LED's on bikes.

I recon that if a car driver thinks I'm a cyclist (because he sees a flashing light), he would be more likely to approach fast and cut me up than if he thinks I might be a motorbike or a car with a rear light out. Hence I use the brightest rear LED's I can lay hands on and choose to use them always solid on.

So you use a DiNotte 140L do you? If not, then you are just deluding your self...

 

[HJ]

Thanks for the news that flashing LED's now legal. I still maintain that permanently lit LED's show up better than the flashing ones. At the end of the day there is after all more light energy getting in the drivers eyes, it has to help.
Perhaps my bias is because when driving we see so many useless dim rear flashing LED's on bikes.

I recon that if a car driver thinks I'm a cyclist (because he sees a flashing light), he would be more likely to approach fast and cut me up than if he thinks I might be a motorbike or a car with a rear light out. Hence I use the brightest rear LED's I can lay hands on and choose to use them always solid on.

So you use a DiNotte 140L do you? If not, then you are just deluding your self...

 

[HJ]

Can a flashing LED give a driver an epi?

If it can then they should not be driving, you can't hold a driving license if your epilepsy is not under control. For some people a faulty street light is enough to trigger an attack, there are strict rules on this, unless you are chauffeuring ex-royals and playboys with daddies who own big shops in London...

 

[HJ]

Can a flashing LED give a driver an epi?

If it can then they should not be driving, you can't hold a driving license if your epilepsy is not under control. For some people a faulty street light is enough to trigger an attack, there are strict rules on this, unless you are chauffeuring ex-royals and playboys with daddies who own big shops in London...

 

[HJ]

IMO, at the same level of brightness, a flashing light is far more attention-attracting than a steady one. Your brain will pick up on the flashing, whereas there are steady lights all around us on the roads at night.

While I've never experienced the distance perception problems others report with flashing lights, I still go with one steady and at least one flashing on the back. I've also got a flashing white light on the front of my helmet.

Yep, a flashing light is far more attention-attracting than a steady one, but harder to keep track of its position, the best solution is to have both...

 

[HJ]

IMO, at the same level of brightness, a flashing light is far more attention-attracting than a steady one. Your brain will pick up on the flashing, whereas there are steady lights all around us on the roads at night.

While I've never experienced the distance perception problems others report with flashing lights, I still go with one steady and at least one flashing on the back. I've also got a flashing white light on the front of my helmet.

Yep, a flashing light is far more attention-attracting than a steady one, but harder to keep track of its position, the best solution is to have both...

 

[Arch]

If it can then they should not be driving, you can't hold a driving license if your epilepsy is not under control.

Right oh then, Hairy, and if you've never had a fit, and then you suddenly develop epilepsy, you're going to know you're suseptible, how exactly? Plenty of people have their first fit in adulthood, and could easily have it behind the wheel of a car, driving perfectly legally...

 

[Arch]

If it can then they should not be driving, you can't hold a driving license if your epilepsy is not under control.

Right oh then, Hairy, and if you've never had a fit, and then you suddenly develop epilepsy, you're going to know you're suseptible, how exactly? Plenty of people have their first fit in adulthood, and could easily have it behind the wheel of a car, driving perfectly legally...

 

[HLaB]

Right oh then, Hairy, and if you've never had a fit, and then you suddenly develop epilepsy, you're going to know you're suseptible, how exactly? Plenty of people have their first fit in adulthood, and could easily have it behind the wheel of a car, driving perfectly legally...

Arch I had a couple of fits when I was younger the first was the day after my higher exams (final exams at high school) technically I could of been driving at the time but I had decided to put off having lessons till after my exams

 

[HLaB]

Right oh then, Hairy, and if you've never had a fit, and then you suddenly develop epilepsy, you're going to know you're suseptible, how exactly? Plenty of people have their first fit in adulthood, and could easily have it behind the wheel of a car, driving perfectly legally...

Arch I had a couple of fits when I was younger the first was the day after my higher exams (final exams at high school) technically I could of been driving at the time but I had decided to put off having lessons till after my exams

 

[yenrod]

As Long as I flash Im frankly NOT bothered !