I too am of the ‘you can illuminate all you like, but cars are still going to pull out on you’, so just buy something like the nice ones Aldi will do next week.

(Saturday, bright sunshine, turquoise and lumi top, empty street and still old dear looks at me, looks away studiously and pulls out across me from junction….)

two Hope Vision 1 lights on constant, and a C&B Seen City Slicker on the ‘pulse’ – medium beam with a ‘high’ pulse brightness. Driver ‘didn’t see me

I think you’ve said it, without meaning it

Nah, you’re overthinking it. They either look, or they don’t. Anyone sees a light, no matter how bright, will take the correct action. I’ve been hit in similar circumstances to above – the woman was looking for a parking place, not what was coming down the road towards her. Some people are just idiots.

What about one of these? lol

I bought a PX helmet in reflective silver for my 20 mile commute, half of which is a fast A road. It’s really nice, more comfy than my synth, and hopefully should add a decent amount of extra visibility and position awareness for the approaching driver.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HECANOTUS/carnac-notus-road-helmet

Also Exposure link on helmet, tracR on seatpost, Moon lx360 with remote switch (winter) snd knog thing (summer).

Use Exposures in all weather sunny or otherwise.

I think that the seesense lights are great for this and thats what I have, with a flare  also on the back.

I take the legally dubious route of having a bright light on full whack and angling it up slightly when riding around the anti-bike haven full of cataract-infested Honda-driving pensioners that’s Harrogate.

If they’re having to shield their eyes at a junction I’m reasonably confident that they won’t pull out in front of me.

Used this set for years. Combination of Constant and flash.

https://exposurelights.com/products/bike/light-sets/trace-tracer

I really cant fault them at all. Plus brilliant customer service from Exposure when I had a slight issue.

Steady lights F+R, suplemented on the rear with a flashing one, and ideally another red light (Steady or flashing) on the back of your lid.

A Flasher on the front is more likely to dazzle drivers IME and TBH just because a driver can’t see propoerly, there’s no guaruntee that they won’t still attempt to pull out all a flashing light does is mess with their estimation of distance and speed…

A forward facing white helmet light in traffic of any sort is a definate No No IMO. I like to be able to look about with a white beam of light following your head movements there’s a pretty good liklihood of you blinding oncoming drivers, those puling out of junctions, even catching the mirrors of the car in front, it’s the opposite of being “Safe”…

The other thing often overlooked is retro-reflective stuff, anything Red/White/Amber stuck on the bike, body or lid that can bounce  headlights back and highlight your presence to a driver is a bonus, there’s no batteries to run out so it always works (*assuming their lights do). adhesive backed reflective tapes can be bought by the meter on fleabay/amazon for relatively little…

I do far more driving than cycling on the road and reflectors are a major help in seeing cyclists (and pedestrians – a nightmare with the fashion for dark clothing). Those jackets that are all reflective surface are the best, but also pedal and spoke reflectors, and bits on shoes. Powerful headlights are more likely to blind me. Ideally the rider would be floodlit, but I can’t work out how to avoid dazzling the rider. Or some sort of glowing flourescent jacket. Small points of light aren’t so good, even when they are bright.

I think Mol’s point is better applied to front lights, where a quick look from a junction may be all they take and so the light needs to be visible or better still flashing within that window

That’s a good point of which I had not thought.  However, flickering lights on the front present a different problem for the rider though – I can’t stand all the flashing road signs even if there’s street lighting.

http://www.seesense.cc – great kit and great service 👍