Some people have a lot of fun with it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU_O-OKuaeI&feature=relat...
Anyway, wouldn't you take the same action for a stopped object in your path as for a moving object in your path?
I still worry that a driver is going to see my obviously spinning wheels and not understand what they're looking at. I want my reflection in the dark to immediately suggest a cyclist, not a set of mysterious floating lights, since depth perception is aided by knowing what you're looking at. A car can travel a long distance in the time it takes to go from "WTF is that spinny thing in my field of vision?" to "Oh, a cyclist in the right lane." (It doesn't help that I'm in Texas, where cyclists are still an oddity to many drivers.) I'm considering putting some reflective tape on my helmet -- I wonder if that would help.
Most bicycle lights also intentionally spit out a little bit of light to the side to also make you more visible. I'd recommend investing in a good front light and good rear light (with built-in reflector) before bothering with wheel lights. Wheel lights are cool if you're willing to maintain twice as many lights as you need (batteries, remembering to turn them on, etc.), but I prefer ease of use and so will not be getting these. (My rear light automatically turns on when there is both darkness and vibration, and it's a reflector, so there are few cases when I ever need to think about it. I keep my front light with me at all times and just need to press one button to turn it on. And I carry spare batteries, just in case.)