I believe the City of Kelowna should take certain measures to improve road safety in our city, especially in respect to bicyclists.
The issue is the bike safety lights, and the strobe or flash option that usually comes with them. I do not know if you are aware, but this option presents a danger to people with epilepsy, particularly those who have photosensitive epileptic seizures.
Epilepsy affects 1 in 26 adults, which means there are ~4100 people in Kelowna who have epilepsy. A person with epilepsy should be able to participate in daily life, such as walking down a street, without facing the risk of a cyclist using a strobe light. I am sure I do not have to explain the danger of people having seizures near roads or on cement.
The measures taken could be something like promotional or informative material requesting people to not use the strobe light functionality. The city can also ask local bicycle businesses to participate in this information campaign to improve public safety.
Beyond the seizure risk, flashing lights do not actually increase the safety of cyclists. A flashing light is much harder to track the location, speed, and direction than a steady constant light. I feel confident the benefits of this would be obvious. All of Kelowna accrues a benefit when bikers make this switch. Easier to track translates to fewer accidents, which means less time out of work, and less costs to the local hospital and clinics.
Tyler Laing