The sociability factor for high-intensity blinking lights when on the road with others is low, regardless of whether target fixation is a problem with bike blinkies.
I personally dislike blinking LED lights when driving, regardless of what kind of vehicle I'm operating. It is harder to judge distance to them, and the really bright ones are distracting without providing additional useful information compared to a steady light, especially in dark, rural environments with few other visual cues. Maybe they've got a place in urban settings? The worst is in group riding environments. Invariably the new person shows up with a seatpost-mounted light set to "seizure". It takes a ride (or an outspoken rider--I mention it at ride starts when I'm giving the pep talk) or two to get that reset to something calmer, like "summer monsoon waves" or even "steady". The only thing lots worse (wrt lighting on a group ride, anyway) is the high-lumen MTB helmet-mount lights a select special few bring along in lieu of a decent bicycle-mounted light. Headlamp etiquette in the climbing world is hard-won (and that's a similar high-trust environment). It apparently never dawns on those riders that they're blinding their fellow riders, on whose ability to accurately navigate their steer-balanced machine they depend, whenever they look them in the eye. Best, Will William M. deRosset Fort Collins, CO On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 4:44:20 PM UTC-6, doc wrote: > > I believe the study actually relates to strobe lights on emergency > vehicles - both causing seizures and "drawing in" impaired drivers. I'm > not aware of anything specific to bike blinkies. The biggest fear there is > getting yelled at by the poor guy riding behind you. > > On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 5:56:33 PM UTC-4, Eric Norris wrote: >> >> I’ve heard those stories going all the way back to 1983, when a product >> called “Belt Beacon” came on the market. I think this is an urban myth. >> >> Here’s the Belt Beacon: >> http://bicycletimesmag.com/way-back-day-machine-visits-belt-beacon/ >> >> Mine gave good service for a few years before I updated to a Xenon >> strobe-based unit and then a long succession of LED flashers. >> >> --Eric Norris >> campyo...@me.com >> www.campyonly.com >> campyonlyguy.blogspot.com >> >> On Jun 22, 2015, at 2:33 PM, 'Jack' via RBW Owners Bunch < >> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote: >> >> I've heard the stories about blinkies mesmerizing drunk drivers but I'm >> not aware of any studies to back that up. >> >> While I don't have a problem with a blinking rear light, I have dynamo >> taillights on a few of my bikes. They are made in Germany or for the German >> market and don't blink but I feel safe with them. The B&M Toplight >> Line Plus is an excellent light, but for the money the Herrmans H-Track is >> hard to beat. It is big and bright and the standlight lasts a long time >> after the bike stops moving. (Pudge - I got mine from Intelligent Design >> Cycles: http://www.intelligentdesigncycles.com/shop/herrmans-h-track.html >> ) >> >> Most of the dynamo taillights also have a large reflector built in. >> That another plus, because makes them highly visible to cars approaching >> from the rear. >> >> On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 4:09:32 PM UTC-4, Reid wrote: >> >>> Thanks for the feedback everyone. >>> >>> If blinkies really do mesmerize drunk drivers, then a few million >>> cyclists out there are sure taking their chances. Most people don't want to >>> question mass acceptance of anything, so blinkies reign, right or wrong. >>> Interesting. >>> >>> Reid >>> >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
