I *strongly* disagree with you there. A few years ago on a dark and rainy night as I was driving my car a girl on bike crossed the street I was riding on. She had no light on. The *only* thing I saw of her was the 2 reflecting strips around her wheels as she entered my car lights and then disappeared again. It was a close call, by the time I saw her it was too late to react and then she had disappeared into the darkness again.

Needless to say I felt a slight adrenaline rush for a while.

Over here rim reflectors (printed on the tyre, following the circumference of the wheel) have been obligatory since '85 or so. At the time I strongly opposed that law (ALL bikes had to be retrofitted with such reflectors) but I've changed my mind over the years.

Not to take this thread any more off-topic (apologies to the original poster), but I think these two pictures show the difference very clearly:




First picture shows the bike as I got it (hadn't been used for years, non-reflector tyres had rotted away).
2nd picture shows it with new tyres. The difference is striking and makes using reflector-tyres a no-brainer, IMHO, even if you have to look around for them (over here the bike shops don't stock the non-reflector tyres)

I'll be the first to admit that reflectors are not a panacea and definitely not a substitute for a headlight and taillight, but they certainly help to increase visibility when viewed from the side.