I agree, they are a distraction and not necessary if you ask me, but I actually watch where I am going when I drive. I understand the idea, but just find people that have the modulated head light and those that ride with their brights on all the time annoying and even dangerous in my opinion for the distraction and/or blinding affect, especially at night.

Now brake lights that flash patterns I feel differently about as they do not blind oncoming traffic or distract you when you catch a glimpse of a flashing light in your mirrors. Those I think may actually help prevent rear end accidents by catching the attention of drivers stopping behind you. I actually manually flash my brake lights until someone is stopped behind me now (I got rear ended on BayShore once upon a time).