Tail Lamps and Stop Lamps. Each motorcycle shall be equipped with at least one red tail
light and at least one red stop lamp. The motorcycle tail lamp and stop lamp shall be mounted on
the rear of the motorcycle on the vertical centerline, except that if two are used, they shall be
symmetrically distant from the vertical centerline and of equal height. The height of the tail lamps
and stop lamps measured from the road surface to the center of the lamp shall be not less than 15
inches nor more than 72 inches. Stop lamps shall be activated with the application of front or rear
brakes. Tail lamps shall be activated when the headlamps are activated. Tail lamps and stop lamps
shall be visible under normal night time conditions at a distance of 500 feet and stop lamps shall be
visible in normal sunlight at a distance of 200 feet.
(d) Plate Light. Each motorcycle shall be equipped with a white light so arranged as to
illuminate the rear number plate so that it is plainly visible at a distance of 60 feet. Such light shall
not emit a tailing glare.

Those laws seem reasonable to me, and will help to keep the rider and other vehicles from crashing into each other as long as folks are paying attention.  Having a tail lamp visible from 500 feet at night and 200 feet in normal sunlight is a good idea....maybe a bit tough to measure objectively at a traffic stop.  I do know I have seen some bikes around here that have tiny LED tail lights that are useless in sunlight.  (One night a couple years ago I came across a young woman on a sport bike stuck at the concrete median at a left turn lane...it was night, she was wearing black, and her tail light was a pathetic LED that was just a small glow....traffic was very heavy and she seemed very vulnerable.  I turned around and pulled up behind her and turned on my emergency flashers on my Savage.  Her shift lever had come loose and she could not shift into a lower gear to pull away from the intersection.  We got her shift lever stuck back on and were able to get her back on the road without incident.  It is one example of why you really need good tail, brake and turn signal lights).

I see cars around here that have license plate covers/shields that make it impossible to read the license plate, and I often wonder why they aren't stopped and issued a ticket.

In these days of distracted drivers you need brake lights and turn signals that are bold and bright.  Don't put 1" x 3/4" turn signals that cost $ 14 for a set of 4 and expect to be able to get folks attention.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x6-LED-Mini-Motorcycle-Turn-Signal-Light-Indicator-Y...

We are already riding in an unsafe environment, are badly outnumbered by the cars and SUV's and busses and trucks, and not very well protected.

I really believe you need to do everything we can to improve our odds of survival....even something as minor has having bright signal lights.