how far away can one effectively see the lights?

i see alot of vids, where its a close up and seems super bright. i've found a couple of vids on youtube where its form a distance and its bearly visable from, say, 20feet away, and probably won't be idifentable untill 10-15feet away. i really do wonder if thats enough time for a car to make an emergency stop, take evasive action, or change lanes.

its seems more like, as you get close, within 15feet, a drive can say "oh yes that is a bcyclist." rather than a 1/2 mile away, "wtf omg BBQ, is that bright flashing s*it infront of me, am i gonna hit it!?" imo cheap decent side visablity is lacking on the market. yellow amber lights are costly and not very bright, high vis vest don't show well the side and even ansi 2 jackets have little reflective bits the side, all of the relfective tape in the world isn't gonna make you be seen without a head light/street light. this product seems to be an upgrade from xmas lights, but without the battery life.

i want a kind of spoke light and reflective side walls tires, but not for over 100bucks to really be seen. dunno maybe i'll try this for 10-15bucks for two, one on each tyer, although that seems ineffective on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXS02bSuXQ