Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
One statistic suggests about a third of cycling fatalities occur at night. Nowhere near that fraction of cycling occurs at night. Do the math.
This is because only a tiny percentage of people who ride at night have any sense. Despite the fact that decent lighting systems are now affordable, the vast majority of people use toy lights if they use any at all. They don't ride with appropriate reflective gear.
I don't know what happened in the accident in the article. Maybe there was an error in judgement on the part of the driver, the cyclists or both. And sometimes there are weird circumstances that lead to accidents.
But as someone who rode 5K miles in all weather conditions and in the dark for many years on two lane highways where a number of other cyclists were killed, there is nothing particularly unsafe about it. If you have proper lighting and attire, you are easily visible at much greater distances than you are in the daylight.
I would go so far as to say that I think riding in the dark is considerably safer than riding in bright sun (a serious safety problem that few people think about) if done properly.