Discussion
The use of LED strobe lights has increased dramatically. Strobe lights can now be found on police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, garbage trucks, utility vehicles, security systems, stop signs, yield signs, speed limit signs, radio towers, bridges, and buildings. Humans, especially sensitive receptors, are not biologically designed to use this type of light. These high intensity, high glare lights cause us to look away or even to look directly at the strobes. Overall, they distract us and violate our civil liberties.
Figure 1 shows the glare from strobing LED lights on a utility vehicle. Watch the video at this link: https://youtu.be/ma0hGwHivO4
Figure 1 – Utility Truck Strobe Lights
Figure 2 shows the glare from police car strobe lights. This glare decreases vision and decision-making ability of the police officers and increases the stress levels of an already stressful situation. Watch the video at this link: https://youtu.be/Eh4OZQ0i_XA
Figure 2 – Police car strobe lights
Figure 3 shows the glare from the strobe lights on a fire truck and ambulance. Someone with epilepsy is likely to have a seizure from the effects of these asynchronous strobe lights. Watch the video at this link: https://youtu.be/RKZWWSwtdac
Figure 3 – Fire Truck and Ambulance Strobe Lights
Radio towers may use high intensity Xenon strobe lights that can be seen more than 5 miles away. Figure 4 shows a tower with 3 strobe lights at once. Watch the video of an up-close Xenon strobing light. https://youtu.be/zSyhE4jOrh4
Figure 4 – Tower with Strobe Lights
Strobe lights have found their way onto traffic signs. Figure 5 shows a stop sign with high intensity strobe lights. Watch the video of stop sign in action here: https://youtu.be/33ukzccm9qc
Figure 5 – Strobe Lights on Stop Sign
Flicker
Poorly engineered LED lights produce a flicker that is noticeable by some people. The video below shows how the flicker is perceived.
Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons
RRFBs are unregulated, experimental and dangerous devices. Read all the evidence and about our potential class action lawsuit. Learn about RRFBs.
Strobing Lights
Strobing LED lights are appearing everywhere. These lights are torture and distracting. They are appearing on radio towers, bridges, stop signs, yield signs, police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, garbage trucks, highway maintenance vehicles, tow trucks and moving trucks. We are rapidly approaching a point where it will be impossible to look in any direction without being assaulted by a strobing light.
LED strobe lights are mental torture because LED lights go on and off in a digital way. There is no time for the brain to keep up with the change in the intensity of the light. The faster the strobe, the more painful it becomes. In some locations, there are multiple strobe lights occurring at the same time, fighting for your attention. This is actually a torture technique called Sensory Overload.
Issues
Sensitive Receptors
Many sensitive receptors will find these intense strobe lights to be sensory overload. They may experience emotions of anger, fear, anxiety, or loss of control. The residual effects may remain long after the viewing event, replaying the terrorizing scene repeatedly inside the mind. The use of strobe lights is a known torture technique.
A person with epilepsy may react so strongly to the strobing lights that the person would have a seizure.
Bombarding the senses with powerful lights (including bright lights, strobe or flashing lights)… are used to inflict extreme physical and mental pain.[1] Stroboscopic light effects during EDM concerts occurring in darkness probably more than triple the risk of epileptic seizures.[2]
Reduced Vision
A strobing light disrupts our ability to use our vision (eyes plus brain). LED Strobe lights can be more intense (higher candela), brighter (higher lumens) and more rapid (faster on/off) in their change than traditional flashing warning lights. In addition, due to the low cost and small size, many LED emitters have replaced a single light. For example, where a fire engine might have had a single flashing light on top of the truck in 1950, a fire truck today may have 15 or more emitters, shooting intense light in an asynchronous pattern. As shown in the examples above, a situation with an emergency response team may several emergency vehicles, with each vehicle rapidly firing strobe lights. This light reduces the decision-making abilities of the emergency responders and endangers the public.
Multiple studies have shown that these bright, intense, asynchronous lights increase discomfort and pain to the driver, and put the emergency response worker at a higher risk of injury.
With the advent of light emitting diodes (LEDs), emergency flashing lights are brighter and produce more highly saturated colors, thereby causing greater discomfort and disability glare. As a result, first response workers are at higher risk for being injured or killed in vehicle crashes because approaching drivers cannot see them.[3] In another study, the time to detect closure was significantly shorter with the steady-burning light bar than with flashing lights.[4]
Loss of Freedom
A strobing light disrupts grabs our attention, whether we like it or not. This is a theft of our civil liberties. Each of us has a right to be able to look where we want and to think what we want. Strobing lights capture our attention and force us into a mental prison. While lights can be used as a warning device, the intensity and flash pattern of LED strobe lights exceeds the ability of the brain to remain aware of the surrounding conditions. This can lead to loss of situational awareness and emotional responses of anger at the authorities that allowed this condition to occur.
Proposed Regulations
We propose that blinking, flashing, or strobing outdoor light be prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, any car, truck, vehicle, bicycle, mobile sign, stop sign, yield sign, speed limit sign, bridge, radio tower, aircraft, and drone with the following exceptions.
- Traffic signals and roadway signals so long as the light is a maximum of 800 lumens in overall brightness, a maximum of 100 candela peak brightness, a maximum flash rate of 0.5 hertz and a linear progression between fully on and fully off (no digital on/off).
Any light used to communicate a warning, such as on a police car or radio tower shall be static, a maximum of 800 lumens overall and a maximum peak brightness of 100 candela.
[1] https://www.cvt.org/sites/default/files/attachments/u160/downloads/2017_hidden_harm_v2_1.pdf
[2] https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/6/e023442
[3] https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2019-01-0847/