I wonder how many of us are using their flashers. Not me, but I'm going to start. This morning (at 5:15) I was checking out my lights before hitting the road. (That's a lot more fun to do since my rear turn signal conversion) Then as I was rolling thru the neighborhood, I wondered if I still remembered how to put the flashers on. So I pulled over and hit both turn signals at the same time, and walla, flashers. Then I wondered why I don't use them, and made a decision to start.

When I'm stopped at a light wondering if the cars behind me will do likewise, I'm going to use them. When I'm going thru an intersection, wondering if someone is going to make a left turn in front of me. When I see a car at the side of the road, and wonder if he's going to pull out in front of me. And any other time I want to be sure I'm noticed, I'm going to use them, and my hope is that you might consider doing it too. (I'm like Gronk, I check out the forum hoping nobody's been hurt........... We're all like Gronk as the post count for Kath attests to.)

I wonder if maybe there's some law against doing that, but if there is, I'll take the ticket. When I tried it this morning, I got big time attention from the car IN FRONT of me at the intersection. Possibly thought that I was a motorcycle cop trying to pull him over. :p . I can live with that too. Anyway, red blinkin' lights are for pulling people over, not yellow.

I wonder what the MSF courses would say about doing this? Anything I'm missing here? I know when lights are FLASHING, they get my attention.

Sounds like a GREAT idea. I am gonna start doing it when I am at the end of a line of vehicles at a stop light.

One of the first things I noticed when I moved to the UK a few years back was that people used their hazard lights when slowing right down on the motorway. It made a really big difference as you knew they were not just slowing a bit. It would be hard working juggling that during a sudden stop on a bike though!

Back here in Oz we have a stretch of road just south of Sydney that gets some pretty heavy fog. You are encouraged to use your hazzards, which I did on a trip through there a few weeks back. I felt a lot better than the time before that on a bike without them. :clap

One thing that I like about European car and trucks is the bright red rear fog light that is standard on all cars. It is used only in fog and really helps lower the accident rate here when visibility is down to a few meters.

But then you get knuckleheads that forget to turn them off and you are 'bout get driving behind them.

The US manufacturers should do this with American cars and trucks.

Great idea, I always try to flash my brake lights at stop lights which can be a pain, this is easier, I went on my 1st group ride in march and we all pulled over when one of our girls had a flat I was in the rear and one of the guys walked up and showed me I had flashers, never knew.

I don't use the flasher/hazard lights, but I do flash the brake light with my hand when I'm sitting at a light. Once there's a car or two behind me - stopped - I'll stop flashing the brake light.

Can anybody recommend a bulb that would be more noticeable or brighter than the 1157 in the front turn signals? Or is the stock bulb as good as it gets?

Thanks

This sounds like a good idea, I do wonder how well it work in Atlanta traffic. The norm in Atlanta is if you see a car with the turn signal on, it means it was on when the owner bought it!

I always use mine when riding in really heavy rain, esp. on freeways, what with the rooster tails and all, cagers can't see a bike at all. Also use them on freeways when I come up on an inexplicable traffic jam, all too common around here. And I use them when pulled over on the shoulder for a sec to check a map or whatnot--hey, it couldn't hurt :)

I've got the "Back Off" brake light flasher and it works great. It was a 10 minute install and makes me a lot more noticable. I've never thought of the flashers before but I'll be using them now too.

When I converted the turnsignals to turn/stop/runnig I left the orange lens on instead of going to the red. Both orange lights and the stop light seem to "dazzle" a little more than the all red. There is also the "novelty" effect a flash of yellow and red is different to the brain -- perhaps breaking through to the inattentive. I also think it helps at night to have the mix of yellow and red again for the novelty effect.

Course like Gamhill said in Atlanta you are surrounded by the brain dead and dying.

I just spent 4 months in Puerto Rico lots of bikes and scooters -- people drive like it is a go-kart track any piece of pavement is a fair game -- lane markers are only suggestions -- same with red lights and stop signs. What I noticed driving around was that traffic moved better and people paid attention because you could be cut off or passed at any moment if you didn't pay attention - you were dead.

Not sure I would use them routinely at stop lights. Target fixation holds true for cage drivers too. And those bright flashing lights can hypnotize some people. Sort of the rubber-necker syndrome. They may end up so focused on your flashers that they bury the front bumper into before they remember why those flashers were on in the first place. Just a thought.

Now, pulled off the road is another matter entirely.