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@Velocio
Yeah, I know... but I was reacting to your bolding of the quoted text of Emyr's which said that blinky only lights were annoying and you essentially said you didn't care.
My point was simply that we should care. Because Emyr simply phrased it badly, annoying is really a synonym for "difficult to make a quick safe decision" in this context.
Blinky lights require many data points (a lot of blinks) to make up the same information that a constant light does. And for a driver who is moving at 30mph, they could be with you in a matter of seconds and in that time also have to assess risks from peds, other cars and vehicles, etc.
What I'm saying is that cyclists don't help themselves.
As cyclists our position, speed and direction will be assessed in only 50 milliseconds.
If we do anything at all that makes that take longer. If we don't put ourselves in the hypothetical position of a driver when we consider our visibility... then we increase risk.
It's all fine and dandy being visible. But visibility alone is not the problem, it's visible in a way that helps a driver to quickly and accurately determine our position, speed and direction... ideally also our intent (signalling if needed).
We should seek, in terms of visibility, to annoy drivers less. As in, we should actively seek to help drivers. If we don't listen to, care for the opinions of, or act on what we hear from drivers... then it's us that is the problem.
That's what I was responding to, this bit:
As this is foremost a cycling forum, my personal sympathies lie with fellow cyclists, and I really am less bothered by the predicament of those riding cosily around in 2 tons of steel. [/QUOTE]
All we have to do to get it right is think of the driver... think of what we need to do to help them make fast decisions that keep us safe.
Hence that list, it's not a magic bullet solution (buy this light and you're done), you have to provide a constant stream of information to all other road users so that they make the best decisions to help keep you safe.
Don't take my reply as an attack on you, realise that I'm saying it's important for us to empathise with frustrated drivers who cannot make good decisions if we aren't giving them good, easy to work with data.