However, the law does often distinguish between modulating/pulsating lights and flashing ones. In the US, federal code 49 CFR Part 571.108 S7.9.4.1 explicitly allows modulating headlights on motorcycles[1]. From time to time I do see motorcycles whose headlights pulse. I hate it - it makes them easier to see but harder to gauge distance, and harder to focus on all the other traffic and pedestrians on and around the road.
As a "normal" driver, the pulsating lights absolutely are annoying... and don't even get me started on those loud ass pipes!
Now, as a motorcyclist who has been hit head-on more than once by drivers who swore "I didn't even see him!" -- with the last crash leaving me with multiple broken bones and an inability to walk for several months -- you better believe I now have both a pulsating headlamp and a nice set of loud ass pipes (they're even called "Street Cannons")! on my bike.
I've also lost a non-zero number of friends due to folks who swore they didn't see them.
It's now been eight years since I've gotten hit... so I really am sorry if my headlight or pipes bother you as I pass by but, well, I have loved ones I'd like to see again so I hope you'll forgive me.
TIL Loud ass pipes for safety. I never understood how someone can rationalize themselves out of waking up a whole neighborhood at night for the sake of their own transportation.
I have pipes that are pretty loud above ~4000 RPM, but pretty quiet underneath that. When I'm in a residential neighborhood I keep the revs low and shift early (it's less aggressive anyway, which is what you want if a kid or a dog could dart out in front of you). On the freeway and when nobody is around me I also keep it under 4000 RPM. But when I start feeling boxed in or I'm lane splitting I'll drop it down a gear to bump the volume of the pipes. You can see people recognize you're there, and that's the goal.
But yeah, those guys who blare their exhaust on bikes or cars are a-holes.
I ride. 9 years on a second hand GSXR1000 with pipes already swapped - loud. Now 5 years on an MT-09 with standard pipes - normal. City daily commuting the whole time. I won't bother with loud pipes again.
My pet theory: Unlike motorcycle riders, car drivers don't get the benefits of stereo positioning unless you are real close.
By the time people hear it, decide to look for it, place the location, react as required - you are usually on your way anyway.
Mind you, my home park is beside the driveway between two apartment blocks. I don't want to piss off 50 people I live close to, each time I come and go.
I can pinpoint everyone in my 90s Nissan, I cannot do the same in modern cars. Sound deadening has ruined that type of spatial awareness. That is just from tire noise as most cars are pretty quiet too.
I do often hear loud bikes lane splitting in time to give them room though, food for thought!
Does that mean we’re stuck with white, yellow/amber, and red for the next 1000 years of human civilization? Laws are made for the needs of the society, not the other way around. As others have noted, there are already exceptions for motorcycles.
I guess I don't understand your comment, or why the current codes matter, if new data shows something like a trivial color change could save lives.
The purpose of pointing out the exception for motorcycles was that the laws have already been changed/ammended/whatever once. Surely it's possible that it happens again, say, with color.
