Last fall, I moved my rear light from my seatpost to my left seatstay (I won't go into details why). Thinking back, I've gotten buzzed less since doing that.

For the past few weeks, I changed the sole light from blinking to solid, and added a blinky to the seatpost. Last night I got "buzzed" for the first time, and calling that a "buzz" is a stretch (two feet - the law in my state is four feet - but I noticed it because that's the closest anyone has come to me recently). Drivers seem to be giving me a lot of room now that I have two lights.

I'm probably telling some of you something you already know. Or maybe this is just short-term coincidence. Anyway, it seems to be working, so I'm going to stick with it.

I'm planning to add at least a second taillight, separated as much as possible. Makes sense that a second light with some separation will give approaching drivers a better sense of perspective, distance and relative speed. My rear rack supports have as much separation as the chainstays so I'll probably mount the taillights on the rear rack. But I can see why the chainstay would be a reasonable mounting spot for riders who don't use rear racks, fenders, etc.

I don't mount lights on the seat post because it's always cluttered up with stuff: cable and lock, spare tube, blocked by a trunk bag, etc.

And I may use steady red for both bike-mounted taillights. One of those wide strip LEDs would probably do as well. But I'll probably continue using the red blinkie on my helmet.

I run a solid, and blinking light combination because through observation of others, it seems to be more noticeable and provide a better sense of distance, but I've never noticed any difference in the behavior of other road users, and there's no way to quantify if it has ever actually made a difference.

IMO, it would be unwise to place much value on its effectiveness.

Oh, they notice. This evening a wiseacre in a pickup truck approaching me set his headlights to flashing when he saw my flashers (an aftermarket modification, I'm guessing). It was early enough, just before sunset, I seriously doubt my little 300 lumen flasher was blinding or annoying. And he was facing into the setting sun.

So I'm persuaded those flashers do make us more visible in almost all conditions.

If your light is really on the CHAINSTAY and not the seatstay then be very careful. Rear lights mounted low often cause following drivers to VASTLY UNDERESTIMATE the distance to the bicyclist. The drive often thinks the light is a car a LONG ways ahead of them.

A steady on light with a bliky just sbove it are good as the steady on light gives a better sense of distance whilst the blinky attracts attention IF THE LIGHTS ARE NOT LOST IN THE SEA OD CAR RED LIGHTS.

Cheers

I agree to the extent I use a flashing tail light.

That said, we don't know if, and when they're being effective, or not, so it's best to treat them an nothing more than a compliment to solid roadcraft, and expect no positive results from their use. "Feeling" safer should be a red flag.

I've noticed cyclist lane positioning to be much more likely to reduce/increase the likeliness of buzzing incidents than any minor changes in tail lighting.

I am inclined to agree with you.

That's true, but also something one shouldn't become complacent about with the expectations of desirable results. Careless, or lazy choices in lane positioning can simply trade indifferent and thoughtless passes for hostile and aggressive passes.

Lights, and lane position aren't the silver bullets some want, or need them to be. The key to staying safe is being aware, and proactive.

....as from my personal experience as well.