mleess

My favorite time to ride is early in the mornings on weekends before all the cars hit the streets. But I want to ride during the week too. Mornings are best so I have time with my kids in the evenings. My dilemma in the morning is either riding before it's light (which seems dangerous to me) or waiting a while and facing a ton more traffic from people going to work. I'm surprised how many cars there are on the road at 6:30 in the morning. So what's more dangerous: lack of light, or an abundance of cars?

DavisClydesdale

I don't think riding at night is particularly dangerous if you are smart about it. Make sure you bike has a good dependable bright headlight. Wear bright clothes. Either one of those florescent green jackets, or something made of illuminite, or something highly reflective. Make yourself visible. Pay extra attention at cross-streets. I would prefer riding in the dark to riding with lots of traffic.

CastIron

Cars. By a long shot.
I commute to work through the city in the afternoon and late at night. On way is always heavily traffficed and light. The other is always dark and lightly trafficed. I can control light and visibility through propper use of lights, light colored clothes, and lots of reflective material. I do this to my advantage--I'm MORE visible at night. Lots more. During the day I'm less visible--to more cars. I rarely have a 'close call' at night (but higher incidences of other shenanigans). During the day, despite day-glo colors and good positioning it's all too common.

Other road users are the hazard.

rainmann

Cars are always more dangerous. You never know when that idiot in the SUV is not going to give you enough room because of his big side mirrors.

If you make sure you wear reflective clothing and have the propper lights and try and ride on double lane roads you should be fine. I am only able to ride early in the mornings on weekdays (4:30 AM) and have never had a problem. I know the roads I am on and am fortunate that there is not much traffic.

I think at night people see the lights and are much more aware of you. During the day people do not pay as much attention and all of my close calls have come during the day.

ovoleg

Cars aren't dangerous so long as you are a smart rider.

I've been riding over two years now and I haven't been hit by a car(I've gotten really close on a number of ocassions)...

Hell, I was close today, this guy pulled infront of me and made a right turn like 10ft ahead. You have to be aware of your surroundings as a rider!

soze

I love going out at 3-4am. The streets are *dead*. It's incredibly peaceful and restorative.

DXchulo

With the right lights, I actually feel more visible in the dark. People tend to give me a lot more space (they don't know what the heck that flashing thing is up there).

If you're curious, check out the commuting forum for more than you'll ever want to know about lights.