Originally Posted by sweeks

Sarcasm noted and appreciated!
I guess the "struck from behind" can be subdivided into those occurrences where the approaching vehicle is encroaching on or invading the rider's space, and those where the rider makes a sudden lateral move. The "magic of windshields" applies more to the first category, I believe.
It's a bit ironic that the first Ride of Silence was in memory of a rider who was struck by the mirror of a passing school bus. Yet, if you look on the RoS web site, very few mirrors are in evidence, and there is no mention of them. Of course, it is only a hypothesis that a rearview mirror could have prevented the event, but it seems clear to me that there's no other good way to detect such a vehicular appendage approaching from behind.