Flashing Red Safety Lights for the Rear of the Bike

Blinky lights, in other words flashing red safety lights for the rear of your bicycle, are a must-have item for riding on any route that is shared by motor vehicles. These are basic things that will make you more visible to cars coming up behind and overtaking you. The more the – if a driver is bewildered by the vision of a blinking red spacecraft moving along up ahead, he or she will be more inclined to slow down, and thus hopefully avoid hitting you.

The latest generation of high-powered LED bulbs are a boon to safety lights. Newer models are much brighter and get better battery life than lights of 5 to 10 years ago. Most use commonly-available alkaline batteries; on could also get a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger to be more environmentally-friendly.

Blinky lights are not just for the nighttime – they can be very helpful in making you more visible on those dark and dreary rainy days, too. Even when it's merely cloudy, brightly flashing lights can help you stand out of the road.

How many? We use at least two. Three or four are not too many. It's well known that lights that blink are earlier noticed and therefore more safe.

There are a wide variety of mounting options. Most lights come with at least one plastic mount to clamp to a tube on your bike, for instance the seatpost. The light can typically be easily unclipped from the mount if you are concerned about being stolen while your bicycle is parked.

Many blinky lights also have a clip on the back, and many jackets, bags, and even some helmets have a special lop at the rear on which to clip your blinky. A zip tie around both the light and loop can make sure that the light doesn't get bounced off.

Any blinky light should be mounted so that the brightest part of the light is facing squarely toward the rear of the bike. There can be a significant drop-off in the light's intensity as viewed from side angles, making it less effective if it's askew. You also don't want a driver to mistake your direction if the light gets turned around entirely. Also, the higher the better, to get the maximum visibility.