Be careful not to aim your light or strobe someone right in the eyes when you are trying to warn them of some danger like a traffic accident, it's kind of hard to avoid something when all you can see is spots. A better option might be to aim it at what you are trying to warn them of, like that patch of black ice or the back of your disabled vehicle, this allows them to actually see what you want them to avoid and the less intense reflection of your strobe will get their attention.
Under normal circumstances that would be the case. However as I stated in the earlier thread I had used the light on low, had swept the roadway in front of me, had swept the light at the height of the oncoming cars grills, etc. and
nothing worked. Only by shining the strobe directly at the drivers could I get them to slow down. In the meantime several cars had spun and/or grazed the outside concrete walls of the expressway. Some narrowly missed hitting the few people I allowed to be at the roadside instead of inside of their cars. One vehicle spun around and missed hitting one of the stopped vehicles by about 10 feet. Only one of those vehicles stopped by the way.
One vehicle tried to cut off a semi that was passing the scene and the truck passed within a yard or so of me. If I had felt it necessary and had them available, I would have thrown bricks at the cars to get them to slow down or stop. The roadway was on a blind curve, and on a merging ramp on an expressway where people were driving well over the posted speed limits while the surface was coated in black ice.
Please understand that I have a lot of experience and am not an idiot. Simply put and with no offence meant I was there, you folks were not. If I had any other option I would have used it but the average, moronic driver in the road tends to ignore anything except their cell phone, cup of coffee, and the sound system when they should be driving and not looking at anything that isn't more than a yard or two beyond their front bumper.
I won't say that I saved lives but I certainly prevented a lot of further damage and probably some injuries by doing what I did.
I should also note the the arriving deputies were quite literally wide eyed in fear when they got out of their cars. I had to calm them down.
As I've said before if I had any other options I would have used them but what I did worked, worked well, and it seems was the only option. Most people would not have stopped and indeed there was another incident a few miles away that was just like the one I was at except that the other incident resulted in multiple vehicles being involved and there were injuries there as well. No one was hurt at my scene and very few cars were damaged (well, except for the two or three idiots who spun, hit the concrete wall, but did not stop).
On another note, the effects of a strobe are pretty much dependant on the amount of light that's being put out. Using a strobe with 25 lumens won't do much but might attract attention. Using a strobe with 250 lumens will get things done. Using a strobe with 500 lumens or more will bring things to a halt fairly quickly.
Consider the difference between telling someone to do something in a whisper, a normal voice, and using a stack or two of 100 watt Marshalls on your PA system. One will be ignored, another will get a bit of attention, and the latter will bring things to a halt quickly but still won't kill anyone. It all depends on the situation, folks.
As for using a strobe to attract attention (let's say you're hiking and you get lost), unless someone is looking for it because they already know you are lost it probably won't work unless it is extremely bright. Want proof? When was the last time you saw a blinking light in the distance and went to see what was going on?