As one of the token US members here: the safety pizzas are partially just-for-fun, partially for safety, and (arguably) partially for compliance with certain laws related to bicycles and reflectors.
The thing with all-road/gravel bikes here is that it's really impossible to overstate how car-centric the US is in infrastructure design and attitude. Some seriously ridiculous "safety" measures begin to seem more logical when you think of them less as actually effecting safety, and more in terms of a strategy for undercutting embarrassingly clumsy and stupid arguments from dangerous drivers in an inevitable courtroom. Those clumsy arguments will nevertheless often hold power without these measures, i.e. "were they wearing a helmet?" is asked every time a cyclist is hit by a DUI driver, and many people here truly believe it's relevant info to who's at fault.
As one of the token US members here: the safety pizzas are partially just-for-fun, partially for safety, and (arguably) partially for compliance with certain laws related to bicycles and reflectors.
The thing with all-road/gravel bikes here is that it's really impossible to overstate how car-centric the US is in infrastructure design and attitude. Some seriously ridiculous "safety" measures begin to seem more logical when you think of them less as actually effecting safety, and more in terms of a strategy for undercutting embarrassingly clumsy and stupid arguments from dangerous drivers in an inevitable courtroom. Those clumsy arguments will nevertheless often hold power without these measures, i.e. "were they wearing a helmet?" is asked every time a cyclist is hit by a DUI driver, and many people here truly believe it's relevant info to who's at fault.