Originally Posted by
cubewheels
I ride in the very dangerous and chaotic streets of Manila Philippines. I already had a couple motorcyclists stopped on the side the of the street, suddenly starts moving and swerve into my path during daytime - they didn't see me.
Motorists also tend to drive really close to each other, in the tight roads of Manila, tailgating is very very common and I also drive a lot here in Manila. It is a bit harder to be behind someone with broken tail lights. Having your lights on front and back makes it easier for motorists to see you.
I only ride during the day, never at night. So I'll be using the lights for daytime riding only, especially when it's raining. The streets of Manila is littered with plenty of stuff that can flat your tires, a lot easier to see them a far and avoid them during the day.
Not certain why my comments were important to your comments. But I don't think anyone here has said don't use lights.
The only thing being tossed about in comments that are outside what the OP ask is whether or not very very bright lights are always a good idea in all situations.
Most lights have a control for both brightness, steady or flashing. And even among the flashing there are several settings for the way they flash. Many lights now can be controlled with your Garmin or other ant+ or Bluetooth device making it easy to change settings while riding. Some might need to think about that when they leave the bright sunny open roads and get on shady trails.
I personally don't mind the strobe or flash settings. They just don't need to be set to max all the time. Some states do prohibit use of flashing lights.