I took a 400 lumen Lezyne Hecto Drive 400XL and got on my bike tonight in a darken garage and put the light on the bar REVERSED, so the light is aiming at my chest. I then put my hand over the top of the lens to shield the light from my eyes directly and turned on the light, just as I thought would happen I got a bunch of stray light that I was not comfortable with having on me all the time. Now you try this same experiment and come back and report your findings. From what I could see of the picture of the light in question is that the shield they are using is nowhere near as shielding as my hand was, so I guarantee you would see a lot more stray light then I did.
A dark garage with a light pointing at you, shielded by your hand, is hardly the same thing as riding streets with various kinds of lighting or no lighting at all. You would need to have, at least, another light pointing forward as does the new light.
In a lit up city, the new light isn't going to do much. If drivers can't see you with all the city lights and their headlights, it's best to not be on a bike. Riding around our county with lights here and there from the occasional business and street lights, it's all stray light and it doesn't bother me at all. My bike light is all I need to see potholes and objects in my path.
I think reflective stripes or patches on clothing is far more effective than a light pointing back at you. Many years ago a man contacted me, wanting to sell me a yellow nylon overjacket with reflective stripes around the arms and across the back and chest. It was for motorcyclists. Because I did a lot of night riding on a motorcycle in those days, I bought it. It was one of the best motorcycling accessories I had ever bought. I saw another rider with one, as I followed him in the dark. It was like he had white fluorescent lights all over him. You can't tell how good they are while wearing one, so I hung mine in a dark garage and shone a flashlight. I was 100% impressed. Even in daylight, the yellow nylon stood out. I was on a poker run in a town far from home, and as I stopped at a check point, the guys said, "Man, we saw you coming a mile away!" I was pleased because that was exactly the intent. [Most motorcyclists wear black (as do so many Florida cyclists), and that is hard to see when it's at a distance.]
I wore that safety jacket for over twenty years until the reflective stuff wore off. I wanted another one but I had to go online to get it from England, which is where my first one came from. I didn't want the vest that road workers wear; I wanted the jacket with the reflective sleeves. I got it, but soon gave up motorcycling because of Florida's rate of motorcycle crashes. So I began to wear the jacket on my bicycle. One day, while on a run, I stopped in at the LBS and the owner said, "Darn! It'd be hard to miss you, with that jacket on!"
So what I'm saying is, there is a much better way of being seen than having a light pointed at you. A garment with reflective stripes is impossible to miss unless you're blind; it doesn't require batteries to run it, and is far brighter than the light on that guy on the bike in the video. And I think you and I are both arguing for the same thing: The new light is not the way to go.
