Originally Posted by
chaadster
I understand what you're saying, and certainly don't think "lighting up" is going to hurt anyone's chances of being seen. I'll even concede that indulging a paranoid fear is fine if it helps assuage that fear.
However, I simply don't see any plausible argument for the position that red blinkies aren't immediately recognizable as bikes. As mechBgon pointed out above, nothing else uses that kind of light. You say drivers may not be able to determine if you're on the road or the sidewalk with just a blinkie, or that you're not a mailbox or sign, but honestly, I just can't believe that. I ride night urban almost exclusively (vs. rural), and have done so virtually non-stop since '88. It has never occurred to me that drivers can't tell I'm on the road--as opposed to the sidewalk--with my blinkie; I've never been given cause to consider it. I've never heard a driver say it, I've never experienced it while driving...and I drive fast, with the license points to prove it.
So what it gets down to, for me, is that if a driver can't tell by your blinkie you are on the road, I see no reason to believe that a reflective vest is necessarily going to make any difference. And if a reflective strip or two look less like mailboxes and roadsigns than a bright blinking light...well, I'm just a monkey's uncle, I guess.
Speaking of monkeys, I did recently start running Monkeylectric Monkey Lights on the rear wheel of my commuter, and do get an extra sense of security from the very bright, attention getting lights. Nonetheless, I wouldn't claim they're essential to safe night riding, and as such, are indeed overkill.
That's a lot more experience than I have, so you might be right. I've never had someone hit me from the back while I just had one blinky, and it's hard to decipher an "I can't see you and almost hit you" honk from an "I'm impatient and don't think cyclists should be on the road" honk. Even so, I don't feel all that safe with just one blinky, so I'll choose to look like some type of UFO just for a calm sense of mind. There's not much worse than riding your bike home and continuously thinking a car is going to run you over any second.
Post Script:
I hope you didn't misunderstand my tone. I wasn't getting mad at you; I was just making sure Buzzman didn't feel like an idiot for wanting more than one rear light. Having one rear blinky (especially if it's a dinotte or something equally as bright) can be enough, but in order to feel totally confident I'll keep at least two rear blinkies and some reflectors.
Buzzman, if you decide to do this set up, try to take a picture that shows how well it works. Like I said, I think it's an interesting idea as long as the light illuminates your entire body - not just a 4 inch circle on your back.