Essential gear for night riding?

Studies have shown that blinking lights improve reaction time to bikes on the road. The most common issue is determining the distance to the bike. This effect is more pronounced during night.

That's why I use my bike lights all the time set to blink with a multi-second on phase. It makes me more noticeable and easy to estimate distance.

Also cars do have blinking lights these days. The newer car models like to blink the center brake light for a second before going static. Motorbikes have also long had rear blinking and "breathing" front light.

We aren't riding large vehicles, so we have to put more effort into being more visible.

A combination of a blinking rear light and reflective gear gives us better odds.

You can easily spot a car at night, but not a cyclist.
In Europe blinking bicycle lights are allowed (white front, red rear).

Any blinking lights except indicator lights are often illegal in traffic.

Yeah, blinking lights make it more difficult to assess position and speed relative to cyclist, especially at night without street lights. At least get another one that shines all the time, or one that fades in and out but always shines at least a little, or a really good and big reflective one.