Hi all.
My DH pointed out an email that a guy posted on the LBS listserv. I've pasted it below (it's fairly long), so it may contain their typos.
Basically - it's about why you should NOT use your taillight on "blinking mode" but rather - steady. They refer to it as the "moth effect" that it causes drivers - especially drunk ones - to fixate on it and potentially steer right towards it and hit you. I seem to recall that somewhere (across the pond...England? Somewhere "over there") it is illegal to use blinking lights on a bike. Perhaps this is the reason why?
Anywho...I wanted to get your thoughts on this. I routinely set my light to blink, as I generally figured it was more visible that way. Maybe it's visible to my detriment?
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Hey, came across this information about tail lights on bikes, thought it might be useful, see below (the I is not me), Frank
In early November I met a young lady here in the OBX who was cycling from Maine to Florida . She related this story to me. When she was pedaling through Virginia a state trooper stopped her while riding at night. She was using a good headlight and a blinking red tail light. The trooper said to her that a blinking red tail light attracts drunk drivers (he explained a drunkard doesn't seem to understand the significance of the blinking red light and drives towards the cyclist out of curiosity with sometimes tragic consequences). The trooper strongly recommended that she and all cyclists use a solid red beam on the tail light as opposed to the blinking mode.
This morning I sent an email to a company that, according to the New York Times, makes the best bike tail light in the world ( Andrew Martinez sent the NYT article to me about the company and light and I was following up with the company). In an email to them I mentioned the trooper's comments above. In their response, the company stated:
QUOTE: YES-- this is called the Moth Effect and has been written about and documented by the International Chief of Police (IACP) Association. UNQUOTE
I looked for additional information on the web re "moth effect" and found it not only impacts cyclists vis-à-vis drunk drivers, but also impacts any vehicle with blinking lights and sober drivers.
Here's a quote from one source:
QUOTE What Causes The Moth-Effect?
The moth effect seems to have two enabling conditions. The first is minimal optic flow information, as when a driver is on a dark road at night or perhaps traveling in bad weather. The second is an intense attentional fixation on a roadside target. The lack of optic flow likely removes the normal source of heading information, forcing the driver to rely on a sense of egocentric direction relative to a landmark – the fixated object. When people look in the direction of travel, the egocentric straight-ahead direction and eye direction are the same. When people fixate away from the direction of travel, then they must then use knowledge of eye position to calculate maintain a proper sense of egocentric direction. If the calculation is correct, then the person has maintained directional constancy. Studies (e. g., Hill, 1972; (Morgan, 1978) show that people are unable to maintain their sense of egocentric direction when fixating eccentrically. Instead, the sense of straight-ahead moves in the direction of fixation. In other words, the driver looking right while attempting to travel down the road straight will steer to the right of roadway in an attempt to steer straight.
The intense attentional focus can play several roles. Attention is a zero-sum game, so the more attention focused on one task, the less available to others. Concentrating attention on a target might reduce attention available to maintaining directional constancy. It might also prevent the driver from noticing cues for steering correction. The perceptual narrowing might prevent the driver from monitoring road delineations in peripheral vision. The driver would not be aware they he last lost lane positioning. Similarly, the driver may fail to notice to tactile cues that occur when a driver leaves the paved roadway. Research (Summala, 1998) shows that steering becomes generally erratic when drivers fixate eccentrically.
Lastly, drivers who start with less attentional resource should suffer a greater chance of suffering the moth-effect. Drivers who are fatigued, bored, affected by drugs or alcohol, or older should be more prone to steer off the road. However, it is not these conditions that directly cause the result. It is the way they affect distribution of attention. UNQUOTE