February, 2024 – Good Practices and Current Research in Vehicle Lighting for Roadway Incidents – Researcher John Bullough discusses LED flashing lights starting at 14:05 and ending at 37:50.
October 26, 2022 – Team-driven Improvement in the Use of Lights and Sirens – Discussion of the dangers of using lights and sirens.
April 22, 2022 – Can behavioral interventions be too salient? Evidence from traffic safety messages. – Electronic signs are distracting and lead to more crashes.
March 29, 2022 – Flashing Emergency Lights: Influence of Intensity, Flash Rate and Synchronization on Driver Visibility, Comfort and Confidence – Flashing lights can be too bright and flash too quickly.
February 7, 2022 – Visually sensitive seizures: An updated review by the Epilepsy Foundation – The abstract states that visually-induced seizures remain significant public health hazards so they warrant ongoing scientific and regulatory efforts and public education and that images with flashes brighter than 20 candelas/m2 at 3-60 (particularly 15-20) Hz occupying at least 10 to 25% of the visual field are a risk. This confirms that LED flashing lights will trigger epileptic seizures.
January 27, 2022 – Video of Dodge Charger Driver Dead – Police vehicles with high-intensity LED flashing lights.
December, 2021 – Effects of Emergency Vehicle Lighting Characteristics on Driver Perception and Behavior – This study concludes that high intensity flashing lights put lives at risk.
August, 2021 – Risk of Fire Alarm Strobe Lights – An article by a risk management expert on LED strobe lights used in buildings.
January 28, 2021 – How Do Flashing Lights Trigger Epileptic Seizures? – This overview article mentions that contrast is a trigger, as is flash rate.
January 9, 2021– California Highway Patrol – Video of CHP vehicle on roadway with high luminance LED strobe lights.
June 11, 2019 – Stroboscopic light effects during electronic dance music festivals and photosensitive epilepsy: a cohort study and case report The connection between strobe lights and seizures.
April 2, 2019 – Impacts of Flashing Emergency Lights This study concludes that strobing LED lights are dangerous.
February 9, 2019 – Massachusetts State Police – Compilation video showing high luminance strobe lights on MSP vehicles.
January 12, 2019 – Is Use of Warning Lights and Sirens Associated With Increased Risk of Ambulance Crashes? A Contemporary Analysis Using National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) Data – Ambulance use of lights and sirens is associated with increased risk of ambulance crashes.
January, 2018 – Police Warning Signals – This article in Police Chief Magazine discusses the dangers of overly intense strobing lights.
May 2, 2017 – Flashing Lights Induce Prolonged Distortions in Visual Cortical Responses and Visual Perception – A flashing light induces an anomalously delayed response in the primary visual cortex of mice, rats, and humans.
June 5, 2016 – Why Running Lights and Sirens is Dangerous – Flashing Lights and Sirens may save a few minutes, but does not change the outcome of the event. There is no value to using them, but there is harm.
June 1, 2016 – National Institutes of Health – Psychological Factors in Exceptional, Extreme and Torturous Environments This scientific research shows that strobing LED lights are instruments of torture.
April 18, 2014 – Hazardous Effects of Light Stimulation in the Central Nervous System – High–temporal–frequency visual stimuli can yield hazardous responses in the central nervous system.
October, 2010 – Ambulance Lights – Article on ambulance lights. “Fewer lights, flashing slower & less brightly are more effective.”
2005 – Photic- and Pattern-induced Seizures: Expert Consensus of the Epilepsy Foundation of America Working Group – A pre-LED study of how flashing lights cause seizures.
August 5, 2001 – Rear Lighting Configurations for Winter Maintenance Vehicles Strobing lights are less effective than static lights for safety.
March 22, 1971 – Failure of Visual Estimation of Motion Under Strobe – The author shows how difficult it is to catch a bean bag tossed under strobing lights.
December 27, 1955 – Siren, Light Removal Makes Police Unhappy – “Removal of the sirens and red lights has materially reduced accidents involving police cars rushing to other smashups or speeding to the scene of a crime.”