Originally Posted by
Iride01
Color of flashing lights has specific meaning though in many states. Amber was reserved for utility vehicles, tow-trucks and such. Red for emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks and blue for law enforcement. White was typically everyone else not already covered. There does seem to be a green flasher showing up for road repair crews now.
Side note: I like that here, law enforcement only uses blue. However surrounding states seem to have overthunk it and decided that law enforcement also respond to emergencies and therefore run both red and blue lights as well as white. I personally don't like that as it makes it difficult to plan whats ahead of you when you see every color light and it winds up only being a single cop car.
It's my understanding that strobing lights on the highway are forbidden except for police, fire, and service vehicles (tow trucks, maintenance, etc.) That's the primary reason.
Studies show that flashing lights capture motorists attention, but make it difficult to judge distances at night. Here's your solution: use flashing lights during the day to call attention to your position when shade on the road might mask your presence. They don't have to be high powered because you'll use road position to stay visible to traffic in most situations. At night, use the always on setting or a slow blink at the rear, always on at the front and
aim your headlight at the pavement 5-12 yards in front of your front wheel. Many of you are old enough to remember sealed beam headlamps you needed to aim on your cars, the concept is the same. Blinding other users will make it more difficult for them to execute their duty to operate safely, and you can't see the hazards in front of you.
Link to study in comments
here.