Flashing lights

[Deleted member 35268]

So you think blinding someone driving 1.5 tons of car towards you is safe? Yes there are loads of idiot drivers out there, that will never change.

I can look into my flashing light, it is not blinding at all - I would not want it to be. Also, by using the flashing setting, the battery lasts longer and ensures a safe ride.

My constant light is very bright though, but it is aimed at the road ahead and not straight on. The incident when I was beeped was as I was going up a steep hill, with a car coming down the other way - obviously caught that blinding eyeline spot - but would be the same with a car, 4x4 or lorry.

So, no - I don't think blinding car drivers is a good idea at all and I'm fairly sure I don't do that.

 

[Andywinds]

I can look into my flashing light, it is not blinding at all - I would not want it to be. Also, by using the flashing setting, the battery lasts longer and ensures a safe ride.

My constant light is very bright though, but it is aimed at the road ahead and not straight on. The incident when I was beeped was as I was going up a steep hill, with a car coming down the other way - obviously caught that blinding eyeline spot - but would be the same with a car, 4x4 or lorry.

So, no - I don't think blinding car drivers is a good idea at all and I'm fairly sure I don't do that.

By the sounds of it you just came across a driver that does not think highly of cyclists.

 

[steve50]

What do we all think of powerful rear lights?
I have a Lunar 2 smart rear light, the blog about the light claims it can be seen up to a mile away (on a straight road), I can confirm the light it emits is bright to the point where you cannot look directly at it. I have this light on pulse day or night, my view is, as a cyclist i am more likely to be rear ended so that is where I NEED to be seen. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smart-Lun...hash=item25b2a35cba:m:mnDGET-KObtVXIMKNTSpTXA

 

[Andywinds]

What do we all think of powerful rear lights?
I have a Lunar 2 smart rear light, the blog about the light claims it can be seen up to a mile away (on a straight road), I can confirm the light it emits is bright to the point where you cannot look directly at it. I have this light on pulse day or night, my view is, as a cyclist i am more likely to be rear ended so that is where I NEED to be seen. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smart-Lun...hash=item25b2a35cba:m:mnDGET-KObtVXIMKNTSpTXA

Not sure it needs to be that bright. Its not as if cars don't have lights, they will also see the rider at some point. In truth I am not sure?

 

[Racing roadkill]

Is this mode legal - with the green outline?

And on a second note - is your other rear light not upside down? It seems to be pointing far too low.

Personally - I have a constant and a flasher on both the front and the back, it gives me a backup and it covers both bases. The flashers are set to the lowest possible power.

The green outline is a trick of the sunlight, it's not actually green, it just appears that way in the second photo. The other light was not in use, so it matters not where it was pointing. That light is designed to point slightly downwards when it is in use.

 

[Inertia]

Im still debating the pros and cons, I always used to have my main beam on steady and the smaller light flashing for attention. When its completly dark on back roads I have had situations where because they can see I am on a bike, they will pull out right in front of me. When I have had the flasher turned off and they cant be sure if I am a motorbike or a bicycle, they are more cautious about pulling in front of me. Maybe it is as some people have said, of more value in urban situations.

 

[MontyVeda]

Im still debating the pros and cons, I always used to have my main beam on steady and the smaller light flashing for attention. When its completly dark on back roads I have had situations where because they can see I am on a bike, they will pull out right in front of me. When I have had the flasher turned off and they cant be sure if I am a motorbike or a bicycle, they are more cautious about pulling in front of me. Maybe it is as some people have said, of more value in urban situations.

This is why i prefer my front light to be steady... I want to be seen, but as a road user and not necessarily a cyclist.

When cycling in traffic after dark I always expect my front light to be lost in all the other lights. Even if it's not lost in the other lights I always expect driver to not look properly and I always expect to be pulled out on whenever there's a car waiting to pull out of a junction. A flashing front light might give me a false sense of security, so i keep it steady.

 

[summerdays]

And unless you are running out of batteries you shouldn't be using a flashing front light on a cycle path in the dark.... there aren't any cars and you are in very close proximity to the cyclists going the opposite way!

 

[carcharodon]

Tricky one this. You want to be seen....but...
I have strobe or 'superflash' on 2 Smarts : 700 USB and an old 2 watt blaze. I don't use either on strobe on the cyclepath, however, on the road I will use the 2 watt on strobe and the 700 on steady (low/medium) as I think I get noticed by car drivers a lot more...the strobe on the 700 could set off anyone with an underlying medical condition.
I might stop....as I agree with some others here, strobes oncoming on paths (or roads) can be really annoying and dangerous. (At night) During the day 'superflash' is ok.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

I've stopped using the flash. I do listen you know.

 

[summerdays]

I've stopped using the flash. I do listen you know.

Sometimes it just needs someone to put forward a view we haven't considered.... and then contemplating whether you might change things.... a number of threads on here have changed the way I do things.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Because it marks you out as a cyclist to motons

This can be as much a curse as a blessing. I've had fewer pull-outs from side roads since I switched to steady only. I believe it was more likely when they could more easily determine I was a cyclist.

I also use a 400 lumens light on the front in the winter. I had a lovely Audi driver beep his horn at me a few months back, obviously he was blinded. Frankly, I'd rather be seen and beeped than dead.

It might get you seen but what about, say, the pedestrian crossing the road behind you? He's now at risk because your light has dazzled the Audi driver, compromising his vision.

Steady or flashing, if your lights are dazzling others you're helping no-one and you're breaking the law.

GC

 

[Deleted member 35268]

breakin the law, breakin the law...

 

[Deleted member 35268]

My 400 lumens light is broked