CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff

Strobe on cycle paths

(37 posts)

12

  1. Rosie
    Member

    Had a message about this & said I would spread it.

    I imagine strobe would be pretty unpleasant for epileptics.

    I can't see the necessity for it myself.

    Message:-

    "“I've noticed a commuter the nights getting shorter the mornings darker you get the picture but what I've also noticed is more people using their lights, makes sense but please please please tell me why people feel the need to have a strobe light on when riding down the cycle paths, which are lit and have no cars? I suffer from seizures and this actually making me want to ride the road, can you post something up on your page about this and spread the word as this is a huge issue for some especially pedestrians too, have your light on by all means but turn the flash off its unneeded! I find myself shouting at people most mornings! Please help”"

    Posted 7 years ago #

  2. dessert rat
    Member

    possibly because people are going from cycle path to road and back again frequently - I know my commute is like that - very piecemeal.

    That said, I have taken mental note to turn off the flashing light.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  3. SRD
    Moderator

    by strobe, do they just mean 'flashing'?

    I suspect many of us use flash mode because it makes the batteries/charge last longer.

    does normal flash bother epileptics? I always assumed 'strobe' meant something beyond 'flash'.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  4. Rosie
    Member

    I think he means "flash" but have asked him to comment.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  5. Edinburgh Cycle Training
    Member

    it is mildly irritating but nothing more to me.

    Because of that I do try to remember to switch to "on" from "blink" when I hit a path.

    Sometimes I forget (tired on the homeward leg) or on cold days my gloves don't really make hitting the button easy. Sometimes I've persevered, changed mode, but adjusted the light and been accused of searing someones retinas. Sometimes you just cant win!

    Posted 7 years ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    @ Rosie

    Ask if problem is just front lights.

    Rears keep getting brighter too.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  7. Ed1
    Member

    http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/strobe

    verb
    (of a light) to flash quickly on and off

    I put my front light on flashing when the battery is low, I always have my rear lights flashing.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  8. snowcycle
    Member

    Hi,

    Epilepsy Uk say "In the UK, the flash rate of strobe lights is restricted to a maximum of four flashes a second by the Health and Safety Executive. This rate is considered to be safe for most people. However, some people with photosensitive epilepsy may still find strobe lights could trigger a seizure."

    My knog lights are on flash on the Roseburn Path so I can pick out cyclists heading towards me and to get noticed by pedestrians. However, I know my light flashes at 2Hz. :-) Also, the street lights have just been switched off, and it is difficult to see cyclists and pedestrians without lights.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  9. snowcycle
    Member

    Oh, this would only affect people who suffer from photosensitive epilepsy. Not all people who have epilepsy are affected. This can be determined by an EEG test using flashing light that vary in intensity and frequency. The frequency varies with each sufferer.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  10. Blueth
    Member

    Epilepsy aside, I find it bloody annoying. These lights are meant to be disturbing to motorists in order to attract attention.

    Wny does anyone want to bamboozle their own vision by using them in the complete darkness, particularly where there is no motor traffic? Let alone in broad daylight on a cycle path as I often see.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  11. gembo
    Member

    @blueth

    A. They like a disco
    B. They like to save battery power=/

    I have strong front light which is constant with a blink on top. I have back up front ligh on flash.

    None of this is bothersome but soon I will be banging on about dipping front headlights. The new cheap lights are so bright they blind oncoming cyclists, but people do not know about dipping down to the left. I always start being nice BUTwill soon be told to feck off for asking people to dip their lights.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    We use strobe in a desperate bid to stay alive amidst the tonnes of inattentive steel. Most lights I've had aren't really designed to be controlled while you ride. You pick a mode and off you go, though I toggle between flash and photon cannon when I use the canal.

    If this person is harmed by the flashing then I think they need to get in touch with whoever sets the standard for bicycle lights, though even that may be futile in the Ebay age.

    Little point in trying to reach out to all cyclists. In the meantime perhaps they could help us campaign for segregated infrastructure. There will be a surge in strobe light sales if the proposed steel maelstrom is built on Picardy Place.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  13. Blueth
    Member

    It looks like the standard setters got it right, if the info above from Epilepsy UK is correct, but lots of lights don't comply with the rules.

    I have never seen tonnes of inattentive steel on a cyclepath (which is what this thread is about).

    Posted 7 years ago #

  14. fimm
    Member

    Yes, Blueth, but as IWRATS says, anyone who rides on cyclepaths also rides on the road and equips themselves with lights etc accordingly.

    I run one flashing and one steady light front and back. There's no way I'm stopping to adjust my back light. I will switch my front light to continuous if I remember; but I don't always notice if I'm on a path like the NEPN which has streetlights.

    Someone on FaceBook commented that they don't like flashing lights on bikes as a driver because they are "distracting" and it "makes it hard to judge distance". I was tempted to turn my sarcasm mode up and comment "so if I have a flashing light on my bike you are likely to look at me more and spend extra time waiting to see where I am and what I am going to do? Sounds like a good reason for flashing lights to me...."

    Posted 7 years ago #

  15. paddyirish
    Member

    @fimm

    +1

    Posted 7 years ago #

  16. 14Westfield
    Member

    The guys (and invariably it is guys) who blast the NEPN and other off road paths with high power strobe lights are assholes.

    Unfortunately assholes are a group particularly resistant to changing their own behavior when routinely inconveniencing other people..

    Posted 7 years ago #

  17. steveo
    Member

    I was disucssing this is Roibeard yesterday.

    Personally I'm tempted to start running with my off road only photon cannon on flash on an armband so I can direct it to these half wits. Yes I know its hard to adjust the light mode when riding but you know what lots of stuff is hard.

    Or I could use one of my big camera strobes and really light things up.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  18. rider73
    Member

    @fimm +1 from me.

    personally i use a small flashing front light, as its not designed to be used for me to see ahead just to be noticed, and a flashing rear for the same reason also - i , like others am under the impression flashing lights are proven to be more noticable than steady....

    some cycling lights though seem just too bright for intended use - especially as its seems some are pointing perfectly horizontal rather than down and ahead.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  19. LivM
    Member

    @rider73 agree, I use one that is bright enough to be visible against the background of car headlights but isn't one of the "light up the hillside" things that one might use on a country lane or mountain bike track.

    If I am travelling at 15mph, I travel 22 feet in a second (http://www.kylesconverter.com/speed-or-velocity/miles-per-hour-to-feet-per-second) so a normal-ish flashing light that is maybe off for 1/2 a second means that I would be losing 11 feet of visibility, so what's the point? A decent "light the path" for a view of what I'm riding on plus a slightly annoying but not dazzling flickering one for alerting dozy drivers is my preferred combination.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  20. threefromleith
    Member

    I'm using a 'photon canon' as a secondary front light at the moment on the NEPN as there are long stretches where the lights are off at 6am and it's pitch-dark*. Whilst my Ay-Ups are good, they really need help where there's no light at all. If there's someone coming the other way, I can quickly and easily point the light directly downward (it's attached by rubber o-rings that don't hold very tightly), then flip it back up when they've passed.

    Once I get back onto well-lit sections of path, I switch it to low-power and point it so that it's only lighting the path a few feet from my front wheel - it helps make any glass sparkle so I can see it coming.

    I used to switch it to a low-powered flash last year on well-lit sections, but I reckon it flashes a little too quickly so I now avoid that mode unless I'm on the road in traffic.

    * (edit - I've reported some of these, and am still waiting for them to be fixed over a week later. The longest unlit stretch starts before Boswall Drive and ends at the bridge over Crewe Road North)

    Posted 7 years ago #

  21. Trixie
    Member

    Slight drift but I'm in need of lights. I only cycle on residential type roads and cycle paths currently and don't forsee that changing in the immediate future - would the Aldi Moon copies be overkill for such use? They're on sale again tomorrow. I'm concerned about dazzling, given the front light seems to fit to the handlebars. They'd be for an upright foldy bike so my handlebars are quite high. Indeed does anyone have these lights and do they work well over time?

    Posted 7 years ago #

  22. paddyirish
    Member

    @trixie

    I've actually had better results from my Aldi lower spec lights, both in terms of usb charge life and light life. The moon rip offs were very bright, but in practical terms, think they were not worth the extra.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  23. CycleCommute.CC
    Member

    I had 3 of the moon copies, none of them lasted beyond 3 months :(

    Posted 7 years ago #

  24. dougal
    Member

    After enough seizures you don't hang around to test the waters if you're worried/uncomfortable.

    Things that affect discomfort levels:

    - brightness compared to ambient conditions
    - frequency
    - field of vision taken up by light
    - how much I can escape if things get hairy

    Posted 7 years ago #

  25. Ed1
    Member

    My fake moon has lasted 2 years. The battery life is not as good as the other 2 small lights I got from aldi but the moon is way brighter about 100 lumen. I have the rear moon light.

    The low charge light on my fake moon light on my fake moon has never worked only fault have had.

    The small light set from aldi is still quite a bright rear light and lasts for a long time

    My volt 300 although not the best headlight has a great stobe as get full 300 lumen on stobe some lights are reduced on strobe mode I think. If I put strobe on creates a flashing half a mile down the road on sign posts

    Posted 7 years ago #

  26. acsimpson
    Member

    I find there are so many variables it's hard to know where to draw the line. If a light is bright enough to see in the dark then I don't think it should ever be flashing. Lights that bright can blind oncoming traffic be it drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. I don't personally want to have a driver anywhere near me who has just had their only active sense disabled by sudden changes of brightnesss. There is a place for flashing lights but there is also a maximum sensible intensity for such things.

    threefromleiths approach seems best. Be prepared to adjust your lights for the situation you are riding in. Yes you may have to cycle through 7 different intensities if you bought the cheap lights but that is no excuse. Would you accept a driver telling you they didn't give you more space because it was hard?

    The other nasty thing about these flashing blinders is that they render the path behind you invisible. I used to try reasoning with people passing me in the dark but last winter after almost colliding with a rider following a flashing blinder I decided to play them at their own game. If an approaching bike (or car) has lights so bright (or flashy) I can't see what's behind them then I switch my light to full power. It's still only 800 lumens but at least I then have a chance of being able to see what's coming.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  27. Trixie
    Member

    Thanks all, I might just go for the cheaper set then.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  28. Blueth
    Member

    The argument for flashing lights on the road is essentially the same one for not using them on a cyclepath.

    I have to agree with acsimpson on his points.

    It is also disappointing to note that the general view on why a light is not adjusted is "Can't be bothered", which shows a poor attitude towards fellow cyclists.

    And I still can't understand why someone using a light to see their way in darkness would choose to use solely a flashing light rather than have a steady beam to see by, perhaps in addition to a weaker flasher if it really is felt necessary

    Posted 7 years ago #

  29. Ed1
    Member

    I only use my flashing light if low battery or know journey will last more than 2 hours at night.

    The only time flasher is useful other than low battery is if want to cross a road at night can turn on the flasher it looks like an police flasher so cars slow to cross road

    Posted 7 years ago #

  30. Bigjack
    Member

    One of the main issues with very bright front lights whether flashing or not is the angle at which they're thrown onto the handlebars,frequently pointing up at oncoming eyes and road signs rather than lighting the road just ahead. My dynamo front light is bright but mounted just above the brake and not pointing upwards!

    Posted 7 years ago #

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