My after-work rides in the winter are in the dark. I think the vest is a great idea.

For night rides, I have two PlanetBike Superflash tail lights on flash mode. In the front, I use a Cateye LED blinky light in order to be seen and two LED flashlights with which to see. I've had good luck with this configuration of lights. No close calls. Vehicles gave me wide berth for the most part.