Originally Posted by
noisebeam
Yes, at least one rear light should be steady when dark. As an approaching driver it can be hard to track a flashing light especially in the mix of other vehicle lights, it can appear to jump horizontally making it hard to tell if tracking on sidewalk, shoulder/bike lane or shared roadway. So I use a bright steady on post and flasher on helmet when dark.
Yeah this is why I have a steady bright "central light" which is my NiteRider light, a PB super flash as a low "outside" flasher and a small "blinkie" on the back of my helmet. That pattern of three lights is somewhat unique, indicates something sort of narrow and tall... IE, cyclist. But with the steady light, I am easier to see (as you point out) and the PB super flash really draws attention.
Of course none of this will attract the attention of a driver who just isn't looking... who has their head buried in some "important" text message...
But when it does work, I get wide passes, which is fine with me.
Forward looking, I have the NiteRider old 12v halogen system (which has served me quite well all these decades) and a small flashing LED. The flasher forward is little more than a "hey, look at me, I am NOT a motorcycle" light.
Now I no longer bike commute, but this set up served me quite well on busy, distracting, badly back lit San Diego streets, where I would be surrounded by distracting store lights at some stretches, or under a dark highway bridge in other stretches, or crossing poorly lit freeway on-ramps in 50MPH traffic in yet a different stretch... all of the same route. Needing to see, be seen, and
stand out against other distracting lighting, was how I came to my lighting choices.
Decades ago I would ride ninja style, with no lighting, in the quieter residential streets... as I could see well enough, hear well enough and notice car headlights long before they knew I was around; but that worked, for that situation. My point is, a different cyclists' lighting needs may be different, and they should plan accordingly for what works for them. There is no "perfect solution."
BTW, that NiteRider system had a "control panel" at the handle bars that allowed me to set the lights to real dim, if I were on a bike path where I did not want to "blind" on-coming cyclists. They don't sell it any more, but I suspect that newer LED systems offer similar options.
Even further back in time, back when bike lights were these flimsy leg strap things or 6w generator things I used 3 Belt Beacons mounted in a triangle pattern, all on flash mode as my rear lights... I even tried an MOB strobe for one area of my commute, where traffic speeds were 50MPH+. Those were indeed the "dark ages" of bicycle lighting.