Originally Posted by mstraus

I was nervous about riding in the dark at first, but have been refining my strategy to be visible and have good visibility and am now fairly comfortable with it. I have spent a lot of time observing other bikers at night to see what works and what doesn't and from that and my own experience have noticed a few things
1) a good headlight on your bike is a must. How bright depends on a lot of factors. Ideally something with multiple brightness settings. There are times when I prefer to have mine on low or medium instead of high.
2) have backup lights. You don't want to be out there and having something die on you. I have multiple tail lights and now have a spare headlight as well. Might be piece of mind more then anything.
3) More then one tail light and make sure at least one is very bright - I have noticed the most visible riders have multiple tail lights in different positions. You can have some steady and some blink (steady is supposedly easier to judge distance), this is up to you and there are many opinions. I like making sure I have a light higher up (on my backpack or jacket) as well as lower on the bike as this is easier for a car close to me to see.
4) Riders with a helmet light (head and tail light) as well as lights on the bike seem the most visible. This doesn't need to be as bright as your main headlight. I have noticed a ton of people with the Light and Motion 360 lights on their helmet around me, and they are always easier to see then bikers without a helmet light. You can also use the helmet light to get someones attention, signal where you plan to go etc.
5) Reflective material is important and makes you very visible when headlight hits you. Reflective ankle band, reflective strips on clothing, reflective tape on your bike, etc. is all very helpful. I think this is more important then color of you clothing. I can't really see a yellow jacket at night that much better then a black jacket, its the reflective material I notice first.
6) Something reflective or glowing on your wheels stands out and makes clear you are a moving bike.