Originally Posted by
pgjackson
Nothing good happens after midnight. Sure there's less traffic, but those cars on the road at that hour are probably coming back from a bar. In my opinion, not worth the risk.
Originally Posted by
Kind of Blued
First part is false, second part is a baseless wild guess, and my opinion is that riding at night is much safer than riding at any other time, assuming you have proper lighting. Objectively and scientifically, your presence is more visually apparent.
As for the first part, there is a whole lot of anecdotal evidence supporting it. As for the second part, you're delusional if you don't believe there are more drunks on the road after midnight than during the day.
Statistically the risk of being in a fatal bicycle crash, by mile ridden, is an order of magnitude higher at night: Half of all cycling fatalities occur at night, yet night riding accounts for a small fraction of miles ridden.
I understand that the aggreagate statistic is influenced by improperly illuminated riders, and drunk cyclists.
Nonetheless, given the overwhelming numbers, I prefer my chances riding in the daylight.