1) I head west down 2nd Ave. on my way home. It takes some jogs to go around a supermarket while simultaneously morphing from a WOL to a NOL. Overtaking traffic and traffic coming in from my right at the first jog both get a partial side view. Given that the road narrows, they need to merge left instead of staying in my lane.

2) when I'm stopped in an intersection waiting for an opportunity to turn left, it's good to be visible from the side. With reflective sidewalls, I can also prop my front wheel sideways so oncoming traffic can see it. My reflective vest and jacket also contribute. In this situation, my eGear Guardians on my fork blades also provide a little active side visibility.

3) when I turn onto Highway 195, a 4-lane divided highway, side visibility helps me show up to oncoming traffic from both sides. Since I often have to stop in the median before crossing the second half of the highway, I'm a sitting duck when people coming down the second half of the highway dive into the turn lane to turn across the median. Side reflectivity and active lighting are both possible defenses (turn bars and helmet light towards the traffic).

4) when I turn off of Highway 195 onto Hatch Road, side visibility helps me show to the oncoming traffic coming down 195, some of which will also turn onto Hatch Road. Given that the first 1/2 mile of Hatch has bottlenecks, it's helpful for them to know in advance that there's a cyclist just ahead of them somewhere. Those reflective sidewalls, rim tape and fenders that went swooping across their path are hard to mistake for anything else. Also, the people trying to turn left from Hatch onto 195 are about 70 feet to my left when they launch, far enough for side reflectivity to help them see me before they broadside me.


As a side note, a red rear reflector visible for 600 feet in low-beam headlights is a legal requirement in my state. My taillights might be far superior in many situations to my reflectors, but if someone hits me, I want to have everything I was legally required to have, in case it ends in court. I don't want to be paying hospital bills AND repairs to the front end of someone's BMW.

Anyway, my commuting bikes fit the "all of the above, and more" category. I could get by with less, but hey

2) and 3) What's the benefit of being seen from the side at an intersection or in a median? The traffic that might hit you from the side shouldn't be pointed towards you, so you wouldn't be a hazard anyway. When you cross, too, the cross traffic should be stopped or has enough of a gap where you can get through safely and not surprise them.

4) If you have decent lighting, drivers will see you before you swoop across their field of view. By the time you get into their headlights, they'll already know you're there.

I think my point is that reflectors are only good where headlights are pointed, and that's really pretty limited. Plenty of accidents happen where at least one party is nowhere near being lit up by headlights, and reflectors won't help there -- but lights do.