1-click strobe? for pedestrian crosswalk safety

…me too,for safety reasons.

Yep, seconded on the TF84 with the dual tailswitch.

My Tiny Monstor has a dual tailswitch that can be configged to turbo or strobe. I have mine set so that the regular switch is last-mode and the mode-switch is turbo, but you can set that to strobe instead (and still keep regular functionality). Gotta do something weird like unscrew, press the button, screw back, keep holding the button 10sec, something like that.

I think the ED20-T does similarly, but it’s discontinued. Well worth getting one if you can find one, though.

My 80 year old neighbor who uses a walker to get around the neighborhood has four or five lights on it, some steady and some flashing. Plus an illuminated hat and generally a handheld flashlight as well.

In my experience the strobe definitely makes visibility better, and I wave the strobing light around if the driver isn’t noticing it, that’s usually enough to get his/her attention.

Notice whether or not you become more quickly aware of bicyclists when you’re driving and why — around here, mostly bicycle riders use flashing lights both front and rear.

Your mileage, of course, may differ.

Nobody around here expects drivers to notice them in crosswalks — they don’t look up from their damned phones often enough. I’ve been thinking of getting an airhorn to carry.

But anyhow, I asked the question starting this topic to find a light that goes to strobe on the first click. I appreciate the suggestions — more welcome.

PS — these European-spec reflectors are also a good safety tool in my experience, they’re much better than the cheap ones:

I agree with this! But my perspective is when drivers are not paying attention to pedestrians and think that the road is all for them, even in crosswalks and non-marked streets.

That’s the reason why I always carry any of the flashlights I mentioned above.

Some weeks ago I avoided that 2 cars crossed in a narrow-street-where-it-only-fits-one-car by signaling with strobe to one side of the road, preventing in car from entering it before the other went out.

BTW, since the beams of the flashlights are “directional” (to the ground or, in the worst case, to the eyes of someone) sometimes I use a diffuser to make the light and my position more “visible” without pointing it to the eyes.

I also recently “found” that I could use one of my RovyVon keychain lights (A5R, A8U, A8X) as “rear” light, since they have the blinking red leds. A co-worker that rides a bike forgot her rear light and asked me if I had a “bike light”. My answer was no, but then I remembered of the RovyVon and lend it to her for the way. She hanged it on the backpack and worked perfectly.

Blinking is different than strobe. Don’t assume everyone can see as well as you can. There are plenty of cars out there with scratched, pitted, dirty windshields with bad wipers. A strobe is not going to make your exact location easier to determine. So they may pass where they think they are giving you plenty of room but the strobe makes things harder to judge. I think lighting the ground immediately around you is a better way to go about it if you’re on foot. When a driver can see where the object is in relation to the edge of the road they can better judge how far away they should be. A bicycle is a different issue. Again all situations are going to be different depending on how much additional light is around you, how narrow things are, what kind of speeds are involved, weather, age of driver, how much of a hurry they are in, etc.

Wear reflective jacket. Much better.

Mike

The Convoy 12 mode groups driver will memorize all the blinkies, if you turn memory on. I don’t know about the current ones, but it works on ones i have.

TrustFire T11R does memorize strobe besides being a great outdoor light with fully regulated driver and ATR.

Even though you’re telling us that you’re convinced that the strobe is better than steady light you think that they are not seeing it. Where are you generally pointing this strobe in normal use? There’s no way that you can tell if a driver is seeing that strobe light. So at some point when you perceive that they don’t see it, you start waving it around and shining it at them???

Personally, I would not walk in downtown Berkeley at night since traffic is crazy. Anyway, I carry my D4Svn W2 with a diffuser and when a car approaches I shine it on the appropriate side of my leg and the ground. If they steer clear of me, I reduce the brightness. But the important thing is that everyone does what is best to keep themselves safe. Happy holidays!

and

and

I agree with all three of those comments, and appreciate all the comments so far — I hadn’t imagined this much response.

As to pointing, waving, aiming —- that’s why I prefer a flashlight to a bicycle taillight for this use, so I can change where it’s pointing.

Sometimes I’m hobbling along with a cane for back trouble and can’t pick up my feet and dart to the edge of the road.

another vote for a one-function bicycle strobe.
since they are relatively cheap, get several.

however, as posted above, a strobe does not adequately determine distance for the viewer.
a steady light which moves its illumination pattern will give enough visual information.

finally, also posted above, the most dangerous light is a phone distraction screen.

This sounds like a similar use case to light painting - instant access required to (constant frequency) strobe mode. Sadly, the number of flashlights offering this is in decline. My flashlight buying guide for light painters covers off a lot of flashlights with instant access to strobe - https://www.stephenknightphotography.com/post/best-flashlights-for-light-painting-photography-2021

Thank you Stephen!

I”ve been experimenting in crosswalks and my conclusion is, day or night, most drivers do not see me when I point a light down at my feet, only once I raise the light to direct it at the oncoming windshield. Then there’s an obvious double take and application of the brakes.

Or, sometimes, a veer and acceleration to zoom past me in the crosswalk. So far, nobody closer than a couple of feet.

What about a diffuser like on that 14500 Wuben? E03, E05, whatever…

You mean like the illuminated wands they use to park airplanes?
Dunno. Worth experimenting with, I guess.

Go for it…

Reminds me of my old KLARUS with separate lever for strobe.

Great answer
Nitecore P10iX would be my suggestion