No, what you wrote was for "a simple ride anywhere." I tried to show the contrast between a simple ride such as that which weekend riders might make and a less simple ride, such as that done by commuters facing fast traffic on crowded roads... or as some have pointed out, a 65 MPH road as in the case of the OP.

Your old commute and your old lighting system basically show that you believe the same thing... that one should be equipped for the conditions... your commute was on a road shoulder, and you used a lighting setup (on a pole, I might add) that could all but guide a landing airplane.

As to "would a blinky have saved this rider." That is an impossible debate as the one variable is "is the driver actually looking..."