[jrockway]

I don't really understand that. If the bike is moving, it will look like a pair of moving circles because the bike is moving through space, not sitting on a repair stand.

Anyway, wouldn't you take the same action for a stopped object in your path as for a moving object in your path?

[dkarl]

I might not be in their path yet :-) I don't want to get hit by someone rolling through a right on red because they thought the shiny circles were a reflection from a sign across the street or what-not. Depth perception in the dark is greatly aided by knowing what you're looking at, and lights are especially tricky to identify and locate when there's water on the road, lots of illuminated signage around, etc.

I still worry that a driver is going to see my obviously spinning wheels and not understand what they're looking at. I want my reflection in the dark to immediately suggest a cyclist, not a set of mysterious floating lights, since depth perception is aided by knowing what you're looking at. A car can travel a long distance in the time it takes to go from "WTF is that spinny thing in my field of vision?" to "Oh, a cyclist in the right lane." (It doesn't help that I'm in Texas, where cyclists are still an oddity to many drivers.) I'm considering putting some reflective tape on my helmet -- I wonder if that would help.