TA30 on STROBE prevents accidents on hiway

last night i stopped to help an elderly woman whose car had broken down (flat tire) on the freeway. I did NOT want to get hit by the passing traffic, which was less than 2 feet from the side of the car where i was changing the tire.

Then it hit me (an idea, not a car) .....i grabbed my TA30 from my jump bag and set it on strobe, and put it on the road behind the car, propped up slightly. It pretty much was just at eye level of the drivers. I used my TK11 to provide light while i pulled off the tire.

EVERYONE driving in the slow lane merged into the fast lane WELL before they were near the broken down vehicle. :twothumbs

HWY patrol stopped by for a minute, he was'nt stopping to see if we were ok, he wanted to know what new flare that was........ when i was finished changing out the spare i showed him the light, he was impressed and said well done for marking the scene while i was working on the car. :twothumbs

:thumbsup:

Another thread not long ago had some similar situation and a some people were saying this was a bad idea. That was not my opinion however and I'm glad to see your situation not only worked out well but got positive feedback from a highway patrolman. All the people in the other thread that were against using the strobe in this situation :nana: Honestly I don't know - maybe there might be some situations where it could cause a problem but I think what you did was the SMART thing to do in that situation. Good on you for helping out the old lady too.

matrixshaman said:

:thumbsup:

Another thread not long ago had some similar situation and a some people were saying this was a bad idea. That was not my opinion however and I'm glad to see your situation not only worked out well but got positive feedback from a highway patrolman. All the people in the other thread that were against using the strobe in this situation :nana: Honestly I don't know - maybe there might be some situations where it could cause a problem but I think what you did was the SMART thing to do in that situation. Good on you for helping out the old lady too.

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Most important thing is that it worked...but the yesterday I tried the strobe on my TK40 it made me dizzy and nauseous and I only looked at the reflection off of the wall. I may be unusually sensitive to it.

matrixshaman said:

:thumbsup:

Another thread not long ago had some similar situation and a some people were saying this was a bad idea. That was not my opinion however and I'm glad to see your situation not only worked out well but got positive feedback from a highway patrolman. All the people in the other thread that were against using the strobe in this situation :nana: Honestly I don't know - maybe there might be some situations where it could cause a problem but I think what you did was the SMART thing to do in that situation. Good on you for helping out the old lady too.

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+100

HOOAH! For the good samaritan :twothumbs .

"Another thread not long ago had some similar situation and some people were saying this was a bad idea."

As a cop, I can say the new LED strobes on cruisers are blindingly bright - a flashlight on strobe certainly isn't going to distract drivers as much as they do...

Great job helping her out!!:twothumbs

That is exactly why I've programed my Clicky to the strobe setting on High! Of all the lights I own with the strobe feature the Ra rules!!

Kudos man. Great job.

gilly said:

"Another thread not long ago had some similar situation and some people were saying this was a bad idea."

As a cop, I can say the new LED strobes on cruisers are blindingly bright - a flashlight on strobe certainly isn't going to distract drivers as much as they do...

Great job helping her out!!:twothumbs

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That settles it. If a police officer says it's a good idea it's good enough for me. The stopping and helping is the key in my book. Real class act.

stay tuned, in the next few nights i hope to get a video of the light on the ground, in strobe mode, on a road. (logging road) I want to walk about a KM or more from the light and video the result. :naughty::twothumbs

lrp said:

That is exactly why I've programed my Clicky to the strobe setting on High! Of all the lights I own with the strobe feature the Ra rules!!

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Agreed. Best strobe of any light I own. Got mine set on level 3, triple click.

Nice story bushman.

Hopefully, in a safety situation it's OK with the local cops to use a small light. I agree with gilly, the strobes on cruisers are super bright. People don't wreck when they see them, they slow down. Sounds like a good chioce in your situation.

Bushman5 said:

stay tuned, in the next few nights i hope to get a video of the light on the ground, in strobe mode, on a road. (logging road) I want to walk about a KM or more from the light and video the result. :naughty::twothumbs

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Great Job! :thumbsup: The Video sounds like a really good idea.

I just realized that unless I had an emergency bag with me in the car, not very often, none of my car lights would have strobe. My EDC might, or might not, have it that day, and I might or might not know how to activate it if say it waa carrying my LiteFlux, as I generally have it disabled. OK time to rethink the car lights.

I'm not too crazy about strobes on my lights, but in these situations I'd definetly want one. I have lights I like to have strobe on, and those I don't.

I don't know about the strobe on the Clicky, sounds nice, but the what ever it is they tried on the JetBeam RRT-1 I think I would classify it as my worst strobe.

I did the same.

The Ra Clicky is one versatile light.

lrp said:

That is exactly why I've programed my Clicky to the strobe setting on High! Of all the lights I own with the strobe feature the Ra rules!!

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I also like your idea. I am a Police Officer and I would absolutly tell people to use this saftey tactic. These new LED lights are bright and can alert people from a good distance. Fact is, any roadside repair is dangerous, but it is way worse if other drivers don't even know you are there.

Congrats for stopping and helping.....I've always maintained a strobe will catch the attention of drivers.

I recently saw a bicyclist on a freeway (parallel) sideroad approaching from at least a mile away. Didn't blind me, just let me know something I should be paying attention to was coming up.

I've walked quite a few 3rd world roads including in Turkey (which isn't 3rd world) where they insist on driving at night without headlights to save electricity, and having a strobe has saved me on many occasions.

I don't own a light I take out travelling with me, without a strobe (or fast flash) and won't ever unless it's a gift.

wow! driving at night without lights to save elctricity.....


now that makes no sense to me at all. if your car is that crappy then you should not be driving it regardless. if anything you save a tiny little bit in fuel because the engine works a little less because you are not using the alternator as much and there is less strain on the engine. to me it is worth it to be seen and see all that laies in front of you.




back to topic, just bought the ta30 a couple days ago and love it.using the strobe as a safety alert is an awesome idea. i have already determined this will be my new light for going out walking at night. it has a little heft to it, it has a friggin bright light and small enough to not hurt your shoulder while carrying it.



travlin man, just noticed your locale. i am in central alberta. you anywhere nearby? i was just in kelowna for work for three days, thats where i picked up the ta30.

Hey.. great samaritan you are! Congrats.

There is a lot of b!t(h!ng around here about lights which have strobe and or signal modes, but I've got to say I think that having at least one light in your road bag that has this capability is a very good idea. Of course I don't need nor want such modes on all my lights, but I'm really happy to have a few models close at hand which are so equipped, if needed.

Well said - that's exactly why my LD10 is now on glovebox duty.

It was fun to play with the flashy modes for a week or two when the light was new but to be honest, for everyday use the Fenix UI started to bug me after a while. Never really liked reverse clickies and if I'm going to have strobe I'd rather it was tucked away somewhere.

But - those modes make it ideal for an emergecy light for the car. It's there if needed, with a couple of spare L91s and a red traffic wand. Nice to know there's something you can rely on if you have to.