Originally Posted by
AlmostTrick
Another thing I believe helps me to remain safer at night (besides being more visible to motorists than I am in day light) is being able to "see" them in situations I never could in the the day. Around blind corners, curves, hills and such, being able to see their headlamp beams long before I see the vehicle helps me plan and take actions and positions to avoid risk.
To add to your observations, by day there are 360* of distractions for motorists. By night, their view is more focused on what their headlights are illuminating. This means there is more of a chance they will be looking through the windscreen at the road ahead. And if you are well lit, your contrast to the surroundings is much higher than by day. In fact, it would be almost impossible for a motorist to miss seeing you. Also, cars backing out of their driveways do not back out in front of me because my light looks like a motorcycle that they can see "around a corner" as you stated.
The human brain has to process a lot more information when peripheral vision is picking up every object that appears to be moving due to the motion of the car. The whole world looks in motion by day. But by night, unless you have cars all around you, the world outside of your headlight beams are dark and don't exist to your brain. It only has to process what is directly up front - a much easier job.