Originally Posted by
DropBarFan
Decades ago I read about a Swedish-made reflector stick (~2' long) that was attached to left side of bike & supposedly caused motorists to steer wider from bikes. OTOH I'm not sure how helpful it would be to do the milk crate thing, could possibly irritate some motorists. I love my EVT Safe-Zone helmet mirror which makes it effortless to track overtaking motorists.
The milk crate thing is no different from a cargo bike or panniers. And, could be useful for bike shopping. I'd take care to tie them down though. I've seen handlebars that were close to that wide, but not as visually imposing.
There were people that advocated attaching a pool noodle to indicate personal space. Not my thing, but a similar concept to the above, and generally woudn't hurt much if it was bumped. Again, one doesn't necessarily want to look too odd, or irritate motorists too much.
There are also laser taillights that one can buy that draw "path lanes" behind a bicycle. All similar concepts.