I think side markers are a good idea to be honest, but the trouble is, it could cause confusion, as we have things called side repeaters (have we discussed this before?) which are turnsignals on both front wings just back from the wheel. These flash in time with the normal turn signals, and make it easier to see from the side.....if we did adopt side markers as standard they would have to be a different colour to orange id imagine.

as for seeing a car at night, the general feeling i get is that the design of euro lights compared to the US version is much more effective in lighting the road ahead, therefore seeing a car side on in the dark isnt too much of a problem.

Just a guess?