Don't tailgate.
Seriously though, I watch where I'm going. I can't remember the last time I had to make a panic stop where 0.3 seconds would make any difference.

 

This is NYC. People tailgate, that's not going to stop overnight here.

If I can give the livery cab on my *** an extra 30 feet of reaction cushion, I'm ok with that.

Anything that augments the reaction of following traffic to your deceleration is worth the coin.

I'm on a bus at the moment, but I'll post a pic of an incident that caused a lot of cars to have to dynamite the brakes in dense traffic, where an extra 0.3s would have made a difference.

 

I'm sure NYC has nothing on Atlanta tailgaters. And I've seen the results first hand plenty of times here. Spending money to save other drivers from being idiots is a personal choice.
I guess 3/10's of a second quicker lighting could be a practical reason if you often have to make panic stops where people tailgate and so have to make panic stops.

I'm more bothered by the idiots who drive with their 4-way flashers on when it's raining.

 

Incandescent taillights and melting snow on the disco...

Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum - DiscoWest's Album: 2002 Disco Westminster - Picture

 

When you are driving for a long time, or even a short time in a snow storm, your lights become covered.
You cannot safely stop and clean them because you are now a road hazard being stopped on the shoulder.
It is not feasible to stop every 20ft to clear them off.

 

And how long were you driving in the snow?
Did you have your lights on?

 

45 minutes or so, at night with lights and rear fogs on, about 25 degrees. The rears don't produce enough heat to melt snow, I've seen this many times. The headlights and Hellas do though, at least at temps I've been driving in.

 

Why should it only apply if I stop short often? It only takes getting rear ended once to do some serious damage to your health.

Case in point, this happened on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway one night headed home from work. Tons of minor rear end collisions in both directions because suddenly everyone had to stop short. In many of those cases an extra fraction of a second could have made a difference.

 

The more often you stop short the higher your odds. For instance, like I said, I can't remember the last time I had to panic stop, however I have been rear ended once. While sitting at a red light with my foot on the brake.

Anyway, like I said, the extra 0.2 seconds (according to Grote) isn't meaningful enough for me, but if it makes you, or anyone else, feel safer, by all means install them.

 

The last time I had a panic stop was...I dont remember when because it was so long ago.
Drive smart, dont tailgate, anticipate your stops and it wont be a issue.