This is something that should really be solved by regulating bicycle lights sold, or a very broad public awareness campaign. These cheap Chinese LED lights for

This is something that should really be solved by regulating bicycle lights sold, or a very broad public awareness campaign. These cheap Chinese LED lights for the bicycle all come with a blink-setting, and like the <blink>-tag of yore, it serves no practical purpose. People tend to think blinking means you are easier to spot in the dark, which is true in the sense that it grabs attention, but as you mention, you can't really extrapolate where someone is going with a blinking light. The use of the blinking setting is usually born from naivety. People use the setting, because it is included with the light — why else would it be there, if not to use it? Now imagine if every cyclist on a busy cycleway used the blink-setting. At that point this behaviour is downright selfish. It's not too hard to regulate really. After all, you are already legally limited in what you can use (white/yellow front, red back, no blinking).