Is it a front strobe convention? No, it's "Bike to Work Day!"

Today is "bike to work day" in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought
that there was a front strobe convention! I've never seen so many riders
with front strobes as I saw today. Kaiser Permanente was giving away
small front flashers at their "energizer station" in Santa Clara, though
they were of limited use because they're not all that bright.

I've started counting the number of times a front strobe has clearly
prevented a vehicle from exiting a side street or parking lot from
cutting me off. Yesterday I counted seven times. You can tell when a
vehicle is about to go in front of you then sees the strobe and aborts
their action (versus vehicles that you can tell were going to yield to
you anyway).

The "energizer station" I usually stop at is the one at Apple. It was
packed. They always have a lot of food. Today they had bananas, apples,
a wide assortment of bagels, and coffee. No free iPads though. This is
actually the only day of the year that you see Apple engaging with the
local community. They have cyclist employees working the tables and
serving food.

On Sat, 11 May 2013 00:47:38 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote:

sms considered Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:42
-0700 the perfect time to write:

Today is "bike to work day" in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought
that there was a front strobe convention! I've never seen so many riders
with front strobes as I saw today. Kaiser Permanente was giving away
small front flashers at their "energizer station" in Santa Clara, though
they were of limited use because they're not all that bright.

Well, clearly not, or they wouldn't be giving away strobes.
Is this some grand plan to get cyclists to use them then?

I've started counting the number of times a front strobe has clearly
prevented a vehicle from exiting a side street or parking lot from
cutting me off. Yesterday I counted seven times. You can tell when a
vehicle is about to go in front of you then sees the strobe and aborts
their action (versus vehicles that you can tell were going to yield to
you anyway).

And of course, you can tell which ones saw the strobe and which just
saw you.
Pray tell, how do you do that.

Recently I've noticed that a lot of cyclists in Bangkok are using both
front and rear strobes and (probably proving the existence of the "run
with the herd" instinct") have added lights to my "city bike".

But like you I wondered about the effect so have been asking other
cyclists that I see, that are particularly noticeable, what they are
using. So far the brightest front strobes have been the larger Chinese
made LED flashlights and the brightest tail light was an unknown "came
from Taiwan" bought it at a Bike show", that is (I think) one of those
that include laser stripes on the road, at least the girl rider talked
about lasers that you could turn on.
--
Cheers,

John B.

On 5/11/2013 2:00 AM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:
sms :

Today is "bike to work day" in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought
that there was a front strobe convention!

Thanks for the warning. I avoid gatherings like these like the
proverbial plague, and for a reason.

Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe on civil
vehicles, and rightly so.

Too bad. Flashers make bicycles much more visible. In the U.S. they are
also popular on motorcycles.

sms wrote:
Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe
on civil vehicles, and rightly so.

Too bad.

No, really not, believe me. It makes a difference how many vehicles
you have on the streets, so you probably can't compare the US to
crowded Germany.


Flashers make bicycles much more visible.

They don't if everything drowns in signal noice, see above.


In the U.S. they are also popular on motorcycles.

The US is a rather specific case, from a European traffic point of
view.

--
Best regards
helmut springer panta rhei

On 5/10/2013 6:47 PM, Phil W Lee wrote:
sms considered Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:42
-0700 the perfect time to write:

I've started counting the number of times a front strobe has clearly
prevented a vehicle from exiting a side street or parking lot from
cutting me off. Yesterday I counted seven times. You can tell when a
vehicle is about to go in front of you then sees the strobe and aborts
their action (versus vehicles that you can tell were going to yield to
you anyway).

And of course, you can tell which ones saw the strobe and which just
saw you.
Pray tell, how do you do that.

Scharf knows because he is The World's Greatest Expertâ„¢.

--
T0m $herm@n

On 5/11/2013 5:17 AM, sms wrote:
On 5/11/2013 2:00 AM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:
sms :

Today is "bike to work day" in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought
that there was a front strobe convention!

Thanks for the warning. I avoid gatherings like these like the
proverbial plague, and for a reason.

Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe on civil
vehicles, and rightly so.

Too bad. Flashers make bicycles much more visible. In the U.S. they are
also popular on motorcycles.

I have seen exactly one (1) non-police motorcycle using a flashing
headlight in my lifetime - much of which has been spent in states where
modulated headlights are legal on motorcycles.

The only flashing lights that come stock on motorcycles are the turn
signals.

--
T0m $herm@n

"T0m $herman" writes:

On 5/11/2013 5:17 AM, sms wrote:
On 5/11/2013 2:00 AM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:
sms :

Today is "bike to work day" in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought
that there was a front strobe convention!

Thanks for the warning. I avoid gatherings like these like the
proverbial plague, and for a reason.

Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe on civil
vehicles, and rightly so.

Too bad. Flashers make bicycles much more visible. In the U.S. they are
also popular on motorcycles.

I have seen exactly one (1) non-police motorcycle using a flashing
headlight in my lifetime - much of which has been spent in states
where modulated headlights are legal on motorcycles.

That's one more than I've ever seen.

--
Joe Riel

On 5/11/2013 3:50 AM, Helmut Springer wrote:
sms wrote:
Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe
on civil vehicles, and rightly so.

Too bad.

No, really not, believe me. It makes a difference how many vehicles
you have on the streets, so you probably can't compare the US to
crowded Germany.

Perhaps, but the place they are most useful is in urban areas where
drivers tend to do all sorts of stupid things because they tune out the
presence of bicycles. Fixing the drivers' mindset isn't going to happen.
The front strobes essentially force the driver to acknowledge the
presence of a bicycle.

Of course there are many studies that prove that a flashing light is
much more visible than a steady light, especially in an area with a lot
of other light pollution. It's why so many motorcycles have modulated
front headlights (though motorcycles are also now adding LED strobes on
the fork blades).

On Saturday, May 11, 2013 6:17:14 AM UTC-4, sms wrote:
On 5/11/2013 2:00 AM, Wolfgang Strobl wrote:

sms :



Today is "bike to work day" in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought

that there was a front strobe convention!



Thanks for the warning. I avoid gatherings like these like the

proverbial plague, and for a reason.



Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe on civil

vehicles, and rightly so.



Too bad. Flashers make bicycles much more visible. In the U.S. they are

also popular on motorcycles.

There is quite a difference between a flashing blinky light and a light on strobe mode.

Cheers

Helmut Springer wrote:
sms wrote:
[ Wolfgang Strobl:]
Strobes are illegal here in Germany and AFAIK in most of Europe
on civil vehicles, and rightly so.

Trying to convince the smsexpert? Also talk to fishes and bricks a lot?

[...] believe me. It makes a difference how many vehicles
you have on the streets, so you probably can't compare the US to
crowded Germany.

Oh, that's lame, I've heard it before;-)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Hans_Grimm_-_Volk_ohne_Raum.jpg/80px-Hans_Grimm_-_Volk_ohne_Raum.jpg

Flashers make bicycles much more visible.

They don't if everything drowns in signal noice, see above.

Looks like some strobe-promoting dimwit snipped Wolfgang's point. Oh
well, who cares?! Signal noise? Screw it, brighter strobes for bikes
then, more is better, everybody knows that!

The US is a rather specific case, from a European traffic point of
view.

May the European Council figure out what "a European traffic point of
view" is supposed to mean.