On Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 10:41:18 AM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/13/2017 10:49 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, March 13, 2017 at 5:36:49 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:

Oh, come on, Stephen. People getting hit because their standlights are
too dim? We don't even have anecdotes about that!

As close as I can get to an anecdote is the guy I saw a night or two ago here in SLC who was mostly invisible until his dyno light lit up. It didn't have any stand light. He was turning across traffic, and I didn't hit him -- but a little more warning would have been nice.

Thinking about traffic situations, the main ones that might harm a
stationary cyclist with no standlights may be these:

Cyclist waiting to turn left in a normal traffic lane, where the danger
is being hit from behind. (The danger's about nil in a left-turn-only
lane.)

And a cyclist (say, facing north) waiting first in line at a red light
or stop sign, when a motorist coming from the east extremely cuts the
corner to turn south.

But AFAIK, detailed crash studies (for example, the Cross-Fisher study
or the Tan study) don't identify those situations as causing crashes.
Such crashes must be very rare.

It's likely that simple reflectors are sufficient protection in those
cases. In fact, in another (um, more serious?) forum, when some
well-known bike advocates were ridiculing the CPSC requirements for side
reflectors, I pointed out that the second situation above was one
justification for side reflectors.

Reflectors can be as bright as most lights, provided they're clean and
properly oriented. I've mentioned this before, but one time a friend
drove past me at night, then stopped his car to ask me "What's that
super bright light down low on the back of your bike?"

t was actually a red reflector mounted at about axle height.

And reflectors weigh less than lights! ;-)

--
- Frank Krygowski

Cycle Sense: Why Reflectors Don't Work

There are optical reasons for all those crashes and deaths

by John Schubert

http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html