Correct. Chase lights are used so the guy coming up on you from behind, can see you. The guy in front of you has no interest who's behind him
But the guy coming up on your rear real fast. He NEEDS to be able to see you, especially through a dust storm.
Forward facing lighting is only good so you can see what is coming up behind you. If you don't run chase lights on a trail at night, you SHOULD NOT be running. Chase lights are also recommended during the day for events where vehicles are not staged far enough apart OR you have a fast guy coming up on a slow guy. But those types of events (that most of us go to) have people who REALIZE there are non-pros on the course, so they WILL look for you.
But if you are doing REAL baja style racing... YEAH you MUST have chase lights because it's an all out brawl. Hell i've seen videos where if you're running slow and DON'T move you're getting bumped
So with that said, that forward light is going to be useful for night runs so you can see. Trust me. At night, off-road you want as much lighting as you can. It's a whole different animal on the trails at night.
Check out this video of my truck running at night. It's a lower angle but i lit it up like it was day time and it made the night run really fun. I had no issues seeing around me (4x LP9, 6x Squadron Pro, 2x XL80 though so a LOT of light)