Dressed to Be Seen After Dark

Pedestrians

Few people leave their homes without paying some attention to how they are dressed. When we choose our clothing to suit our personality, are we thinking about how we will appear to other road users when we are pedestrians after dark? The right choice of clothing for your next walk at night could be critical!

Pedestrian Collision Statistics and Night Dangers

About two thirds of pedestrian fatalities occur at night. This is probably because research indicates that pedestrians can be very difficult for drivers to see after dark. A pedestrian in dark clothing at night will not be seen in time to stop if the driver is using low beam headlights and travelling faster than 60 km/h.

According to ICBC, 57 pedestrians are killed and 2,600 are injured each year in collisions, with 78% of incidents happening at intersections. Looking at the broader data, there is a 5 year average (June 2024) of 54 pedestrians killed and 2,266 pedestrians injured in crashes on BC roads each year. ICBC does not include time of day data for these crashes on their website.

One would think that the most likely pedestrian to be struck on our highways would be a child. They are impulsive, may not follow the rules because they don't know them, and have not yet had the experience to fear the outcome of a bad decision.

If you do think that this is the case, you would be wrong. The most likely age group to be involved in a pedestrian collision is the 26 to 35 year olds, followed by the 36 to 45 year olds and then the 46 to 55 year olds. These three age groups account for 3 of the 7 pedestrians struck on B.C. highways every day, and pedestrians account for 14% of Canadian traffic fatalities. Old enough to know better? One would certainly hope so!

Why Pedestrians Overestimate Night Visibility

We tend to underestimate that we are difficult to see in the dark. Our ability to recognize something decreases rapidly with falling light levels, and drivers need it to find and identify pedestrians. Pedestrian safety depends on the ability to be seen, but this can be a challenge as most pedestrians think that they are much more visible than they really are.

Visual guidance abilities such as walking through a darkened room remain effective, lulling us into thinking that we are more visible to drivers than we really are. Critically, we may overestimate our conspicuity by as much as triple the safe distance. Being over confident can lead to taking risks where you cannot win.

Being Seen and Identified as a Pedestrian

How do you increase your chances of being seen and be identified as a pedestrian? One cannot depend on light coloured clothing for protection during periods of low light. A reflective vest is better than dark clothing, but reflective material positioned at the major joints of the body (ankles, knees, hips/waist, shoulders, elbows and wrists) is even better.

Studies have shown that pedestrians dressed in black with small reflectors at these major joints are recognizable, and avoidable, well before a pedestrian dressed completely in white with no reflectors. This phenomenon is known as biological motion. It will show a moving pattern that allows the driver's brain to decide "human" far more quickly than trying to identify a stationary object.

An interesting consideration is that low beam headlights are aimed to the right to keep out of the eyes of approaching drivers. You will not be as well lit while walking from left to right across the front of a vehicle.

Sharing the Road and Defensive Habits

Yes, the laws say that vehicles and pedestrians each "own" their allotted portions of the highways and must look out for each other. This doesn't always happen, so drivers and pedestrians alike need to take more care during the twilight and hours of darkness to stay out of each others way. While the courts have decided that a pedestrian might choose to dress in black without being negligent, they must factor the ability to be seen by others into their decisions when they are on the roadway.

Perhaps the best defensive attitude for a pedestrian is to always assume that drivers cannot see you. When the paths of drivers and pedestrians must cross, be sure that you are well aware of each other and communicate your intentions to avoid a collision.

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Comments

Stupidity

I would like to comment on how absolutely stupid some people are. They think because they are pedestrians they have every right to walk behind you as you are backing out a parking spot in a mall.

Last December at a busy local mall, it was already dark at 5:00pm and I was in the first line next to the storefronts. That meant the bright lights illuminated the sidewalk and shone brightly into the parking area and my eyes.

As I started to back up my motion sensor started to beep loudly. I immediately hit my brake and lo and behold there was a woman wearing total black sauntering behind my vehicle totally oblivious to the fact I was backing out before she decided to walk right behind me. Are people insane? This is very common today in both darkness and daylight.

I am from the old school where common sense was taught and thought. Makes me an old Dinosaur I guess. I see someone backing out, I stop, wait for them to leave then continue on to my vehicle. Maybe that’s why I made it 84 1/2 years old… so far.

Pedestrians are Always a Concern

Pedestrians at any time are a concern for drivers. At night it is difficult to see people in dark clothing on the roadway. Especially when the pedestrians are not aware of their surroundings impaired by drugs. This we have witnessed in Courtenay several times.

What to do with people who do not take responsibility for themselves?

Parksville / Qualicum Beach Area

In Oceanside there are far too many pedestrians not wearing reflective clothing and insisting on wearing black clothing. They do not give a driver a chance to see them. I wish they would be held responsible and have to wear a reflective vest. This is specially in our area with no sidewalks on most of our roads. We also feel the same about cyclists so many without reflectors or reflective clothing.

"A" Pillars

Here's something that drivers and pedestrians alike would be wise to consider, and I think it's related.

The structure of modern vehicles is designed to maintain the integrity of the passenger compartment - which requires thicker A pillars (and B pillars - when's the last time you saw a 'hardtop'?) and C pillars. Plus which, they've gone from an airbag in the steering wheel and an airbag in the dashboard to modern designs with a dozen or more airbags designed, to cushion and protect vehicle occupants during the milliseconds of physical violence when a crash occurs.

Meanwhile, for reasons of fuel economy and styling, the rake of the windshield is also much more pronounced in modern cars.

The downside of this, is that many vehicles have quite massive A-pillars, and these can make it particularly hard to see pedestrians, particularly if they're near the diagonally opposite corner of an intersection. So, just because you have seen the vehicle, doesn't mean that you have been seen. And of course, at night, it's much more of a challenge for a pedestrian to make eye contact with a driver anyway.

According to ICBC, 57 pedestrians are killed and 2,600 are injured each year in collisions, with 78% of incidents happening at intersections.

Well, I've said it before here and I'll say it again. This whole idea that we apply here in Canada and the US, which is that pedestrians have some sort of 'right-of-way' at intersections was probably a nice idea when they thought it up, but actually an aware pedestrian will deliberately choose to cross mid-block in many cases, because it's safer, actually. It just puts the onus on the pedestrian to avoid conflict, rather than the driver.

But I wonder how many parents - or school teachers - ever teach their kids how to cross the road safely?

Best Wishes

I walk daily and it is time for my high vis rain jacket.

I have a 2019 Nissan Rogue. I'm impressed with the warning system that senses pedestrians, cyclists and cars nearby. I understand it will apply the brakes if I'm not attentive to something stopped in front of me.

Of course there are still pedestrians and cyclists who claim their part of the road way. I wish them well in a contest with a distracted driver

Be Careful

There's an asterisk after all of the safety feature descriptions on Nissan's web site. In this case it says:

Intelligent Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection cannot prevent accidents due to carelessness or dangerous driving techniques. It may not provide warning or braking in certain conditions. Speed limitations apply.

The trouble is, the site doesn't tell you what those conditions are. I sure hope that they are explained clearly in the owner's manual and that people actually take the time to read it.

A bit of digging finds a bit more information on how the system works, but it still doesn't explain how it could fail.

According to the AAA, these systems are not that great at doing what they are supposed to.

Here's an overview of just how difficult it is for ADAS to detect pedestrians and react correctly from the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

It will help, but ultimately the driver still has to pay attention and be ready to act and react accordingly.

Reflectors

I am a frequent pedestrian, age 75. Thanks, I think I will look into the reflector idea.

There is one other tactic I use. Whenever there is a possibility of a vehicle and myself trying to occupy the same space at the same time I confirm my safety with eye contact before proceeding.

The biggest problem I observe as a pedestrian is that virtually no drivers stop at a red light before making a right turn and many do not even slow down.

Vehicles making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic without first checking for pedestrians is another major issue that I see.

Eye Contact

We walk every day and we never cross without eye contact and an "invitation" to cross. Works well. Drivers are more inclined to allow you the right of way when you make eye contact.

See too many pedestrians crossing the road clearly on the assumption that they have the right of way and without looking left or right.

Never assume that a driver has seen you and is going to stop.

A thank you wave always has a positive response!

Hi Vis Clothing

At one time I had a negative view of hivis clothing. My thought at the time was the last thing I wanted was to make myself more visible to those idiots as now they knew where to steer. Fortunately age has changed that and I pack a couple of hivis vests in my vehicles and my jackets have strips on them.

I do wonder though why we don't see the signage from the 60's on the roads. "Walk on left facing traffic". I'm sure this would reduce accidents involving people walking on the shoulder of the road where there are no sidewalks.