I grew up way out in the country and have never been afraid of the dark. I learned fairly young that if you give your eyes time to adjust you can see fairly well in the dark. Some call this "getting your night vision". We used to have night exercises when I was in the senior scouts. Criminals that skulk around at night use night vision. Anyway, my point is that I personally believe bike lighting is essential to be seen, but not essential for seeing where you are going. My bike light doesn't put much light on the ground at all, but it does help a little when I go through a little patch of forest on winter days when its dark early.