Is Night Cycling Safer ?

Zorba

Reason i'm asking is cos i've been cycling a few yrs and everytime i go out during daylight hours i get at least 1 car overtaking me either too close or with oncoming traffic or both, at this stage i've come to accept it as part of the joys of cycling.

But i've also been doing some cycling at night and i've yet to have a car come too close to me or overtake me with oncoming traffic so i'm thinking maybe contrary to logic it's actually safer cycling at night time providing u have good lights and hi viz gear that is. I'd actually go so far as to say cars give u more room at night, even oncoming cars dip their lights in plenty of time so i'm not blinded only the odd one briefly puts their full lights back on i think so figure out is it a bike or motorbike coming towards them ! And yes my front light is adjusted properly

Anyone else share this view or am i just deluding myself here ?

Darkglasses

No, i think you're completely right. I go into work most days at 5 pm and go home around 1 am, and i feel a hundred times safer on the way home. I think cars definitely give more room too. No question about it for me! Any dangerous incidents have happened during the day for me.

Zorba

Ok just out of curiosity i've set up a poll on this thread, it's set so usernames won't be shown so don't worry it's kinda anonymous ish

SomeFool

Generally find it safer at night, certainly much less traffic about. Savage fog in Cork tonight though which made me a little uneasy in the rural part of my commute despite having 3 rear lights

rich.d.berry

Zorba wrote: »

Ok just out of curiosity i've set up a poll on this thread, it's set so usernames won't be shown so don't worry it's kinda anonymous ish

Surely the instead of:

Is cycling safer during daylight
Is cycling safer at night

the options should be:

Cycling is safer during daylight
Cycling is safer at night

And what about those, like myself, who would desire a third "not sure" type option?

Cee-Jay-Cee

It really depends on where you live. I live on the country on a busy main road. Cycling during the day (Monday to Friday) is not really an option as traffic is very heavy but on the other hand I wouldn't risk cycling the same road at night either as it's unlit and I wouldn't want to rely on bike lights and a hi viz to keep me safe. So I vote no its not safe.

smacl

Cycling around the 'burbs where I live is safe pretty much all the time. Out on a spin to the potholed hills, daylight is definitely safer, and I imagine descending on small unlit roads at night could be potentially treacherous. Could be fun too though, must try it some summers night.

Idleater

smacl wrote: »

Cycling around the 'burbs where I live is safe pretty much all the time. Out on a spin to the potholed hills, daylight is definitely safer, and I imagine descending on small unlit roads at night could be potentially treacherous. Could be fun too though, must try it some summers night.

Ask Captain Havoc about the descent of Col du Porte in the dark :-P

Doable yes, safe that depends :-)

Cyclepath

Yeah, I agree with the points above. I think cycling at nighttime is safer if:

• It's an urban area
• You are well lit up

And it's safer simply because motorists tend to give anything with lights a wide berth. It's not necessarily better from the point of view of road visibility though.

I've had two pretty serious road accidents over the years and both were during daylight.

piston

I feel safer at night, in fact I enjoy night cycling. It's nice in the moonlight on an unlit road with nothing but wildlife for company (at least until a kamikaze badger puts you over the bars!)

For clarification, I cycle in a rural area with not much traffic on the roads I cycle on and I figure that my bike lights really stand out against an unlit background which makes drivers sit up and pay attention.

piston

smacl wrote: »

Cycling around the 'burbs where I live is safe pretty much all the time. Out on a spin to the potholed hills, daylight is definitely safer, and I imagine descending on small unlit roads at night could be potentially treacherous. Could be fun too though, must try it some summers night.

Definitely try it. It's great fun if you have a reasonable light. Best to mount the light on the forks somewhere as it casts a longer shadow along the road at speed.

Undercover Elephant

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Road-Safety/Our-Research/Ireland-Road-Collisions/

Very small sample, of course. The point being that cycling is safe at any time of day, as long as you stay away from the inside of left-turning trucks.

GT_TDI_150

What about the likely hood of some drunk drvers or boy racers tearing up the roads ...

They tend to do their worst at night, there for making daylight safer imo, the fear of who'd be on the roads being my main reason for thinking this way.

Qualitymark

Hard to say. People busier and rushing around more during the day, more impatient, more likely to swoosh past cyclists. People drunker at night.

Captain Havoc

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

What about the likely hood of some drunk drvers or boy racers tearing up the roads ...

Low to none

Mycroft H

Captain Havoc wrote: »

Low to none

Again totally dependent on where you live. Certain few cars treat the road as a racetrack after hours where I live. Good thing you can hear them coming for a mile or so :pac:

Zorba

rich.d.berry wrote: »

Surely the instead of:

Is cycling safer during daylight
Is cycling safer at night

the options should be:

Cycling is safer during daylight
Cycling is safer at night

And what about those, like myself, who would desire a third "not sure" type option?

Sorry about the options and lack of a third option for the don't knows, could always vote yes and no ? Only excuse is the few cans of guinness i had !

piston wrote: »

I feel safer at night, in fact I enjoy night cycling. It's nice in the moonlight on an unlit road with nothing but wildlife for company (at least until a kamikaze badger puts you over the bars!)

For clarification, I cycle in a rural area with not much traffic on the roads I cycle on and I figure that my bike lights really stand out against an unlit background which makes drivers sit up and pay attention.

I'd agree with this myself, something really good about cycling along on a quiet moonlight country round with only the nocturnal wildlife for company, it's like been at one with nature or something.

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

What about the likely hood of some drunk drvers or boy racers tearing up the roads ...

They tend to do their worst at night, there for making daylight safer imo, the fear of who'd be on the roads being my main reason for thinking this way.

Can meet drunk drivers anytime of day or night and i'll actually stand up for boy racers around my area anyway in that most of them always give plenty of room and would be more considerate towards cyclist, just my personal experience.