I’m going to go against the groupthink here.

If I’m driving at night I sometimes come across people wearing specifically dark clothing walking in the street or crossing in poorly illuminated areas, seemly unaware of the cars.

I too, wish we lived in a less car centric society, and I know if I hit them it’s my fault. But wearing all black and walking in poorly illuminated streets unaware of traffic is profoundly stupid.

Im not saying they have to don hi-vis, but the all back is certainly a choice.

"Why should pedestrians have to make themselves visible, it's cars' fault" is basically the same argument as "I had the right-of-way, that car shouldn't have hit me".

Technically true? Sure! But useless in practice. Stop wearing all black at night, and don't fucking chase a car that almost hit you.

I mean, you live in a world with cars and you know how color and light works. If you wanna be practically invisible while crossing a street, that seems pretty fucking stupid to me, but you do you I guess. 🤷‍♂️

I don't typically wear a hard ~~hard~~ hat, either, but if I am crossing through a construction zone I might wanna put one on.

Isn't there some rule about driving slower when the visibility is poor (such as at night)?

There’s two sides to this really. A failing on two fronts.

First off, the idiot driving should be paying more attention. You have lights, and I doubt the pedestrian is wearing a vantage black jumpsuit with the hoodie pulled up.

Secondly, pedestrians should be paying attention in general. It’s not a carbrain response to say “you should be paying attention to your surroundings” it’s just common sense. Would you cross train tracks without making sure a train isn’t crossing? Would you hope a bus is going to stop on a dime for you?

Both need to smarten the fuck up.

Every time I visit reddit now, regardless of subreddit, I interact with the cream of the crop. I remember 15y ago it was this rather niche website where you could easily have insightful conversations. It's now a nazi kindergarten

This is a terrible take. Sure, you can walk in all black. You can be hit by a car that does’t see you. You can be right and still dead or maimed. Win?

Cars exist. You bear some responsibility for your own safety as a pedestrian. Heck, I was driving home one night and a person did this exact thing, all dark clothes and long dark hair facing away from me stepping off the curb with opposite direction traffic putting headlights in my face. Saw them literally last second as they finally decided to look in the direction of the traffic flow they were stepping into. Awful decision making. Luckily I got stopped just as they simultaneously realized it was a shitty idea step in front of a car. Yeah, cars suck and are dangerous. Act like it and save yourself some grief.

If only cars had some sort of illumination device, one that would bounce off pedestrian crossings and signs and such...

As if it actually matters what colour a pedestrian is wearing. My winter coat is white and I carry two lights - one on my coat and one either on my head or in my hand if it's too irritating to wear. The other evening I was walking home from the grocery store and this guy kept pulling out of parking lot that crossed my sidewalk, even though I was waving my light right at him but he didn't even look in my direction until he was already pulling into traffic. He was never looking for pedestrians, only vehicles.

As I bicyclist I never feel like I have trouble spotting pedestrians at night, no matter what they're wearing, even though I have significantly less lights on my bike than a car has. Maybe because I try to stay aware, and slow down if I feel like my speed starts to endanger other people. On the other hand, in the past two years I have almost been driven straight into four times, in the middle of the day:

1. I was riding in the bike lane, when a car exiting from a side road forgot to check whether it was clear, and instead continued straight ahead. Car had a yield line.
2. I was riding inside a roundabout, when a car tried to enter, almost hitting me.
3. I was riding in the same roundabout, when a bus forgot to check for traffic, swinging left (going against the direction of traffic) as if it was a regular intersection, and almost hitting me. This is a tiny roundabout, so this is technically the way a bus is supposed to navigate it, but obviously only once it is empty.
4. I was riding down the road (no bike lane) when a huge lorry suddenly turned from the other lane, going straight towards me while yelling. I still have no idea what was going on there.

If someone is distracted or otherwise driving unsafely, it doesn't matter what you wear. Unfortunately, a lot of people are using their phones while driving, going above the speed limit, not slowing down when conditions are bad or simply not treating driving with the needed respect.

As a girl, a defining moment for me, was when I heard about an exhibition showcasing what rape victims were wearing when they were raped. Some were wearing children's-sized nightdresses and ugly waterproof clothing. I think a similar exhibition showing what pedestrians and cyclists were wearing, as they were run down, would be an eye-opener for many people. I try to be reasonably careful, both as a woman and as a vulnerable road user, but I have long ago decided not to treat my fellow citizens as potential rapists or murderers.

What personal safety precautions you take when you're in a vulnerable position, is a personal matter. When your actions endanger other people, it becomes a public matter.

If everyone still drove old Timey cars with sealed beam headlights I would be more charitable

The fact that every manufacturer is strapping spotlights to the front of these death traps erases any sympathy and that’s even before all the godawful aftermarket bumper lights and junk

As someone from Sweden. Where the dark night is very long in the winter. Do wear a reflective strap or something so cars can see you...

Wearing all black in the middle of the night and crossing the road is not a fantastic idea. I would not expect a car to see me until it's too late. Don't be an idiot. Make sure you can be seen.

Sincerely. Someone that bikes more than they drive a car

https://youtu.be/etGy3UVmmD0

Wear Something reflective when it’s dark if you value your life

This is ingrained into kids since they are 3 years old in Norway

There are quite a few posts here that echo my thoughts on this but I think that many of them also miss the mark. I think that we need to take a step back. There isn't one thing to blame or a single thing that is at fault.

Most of us live in places designed for motorised traffic. That's an unfortunate fact. And because of that we have certain responsibilities, like being mindful of cars and traffic in general. I think that we can all agree crossing a high-speed road with your eyes closed is a terrible idea, no matter what you're wearing.

However, I also think that divers have certain responsibilities manoeuvring a tonne or so of steel at high speeds in the direct vicinity of people and property. And speaking from experience, most people aren't aware of the inherent dangers of that, or simply don't care about them. Going over the speed limit and running stop signs are considered normal and I've been called out before for not driving aggressively enough.

Road design also plays an important role in general road safety. Most places I've been to have frankly terrible road design that favours motorised traffic above all. Pedestrians being the most vulnerable road users should be protected and kept safe, just like people cycling and other road users. However, with road design being as it is, that burden is shifted onto the drivers themselves.

Yet people seem to forget that one shouldn't be booking it around corners if one can't see what's on the other side. For all they know there could be a literal brick wall waiting for them. The same goes for narrow urban streets. Drivers should lower their speed and be just as mindful of other traffic, like pedestrians have to be. And yes, I know that that doesn't work in the real world, as people are selfish. That's why we need to tackle these issues together, as a civilised society.

One last thing: I don't like that we're hating on particular groups of people. People will act like they do, no matter if they're driving a car, riding a bike or if they're just walking down the road. In the end we're just people and we shouldn't see a pedestrian as a lesser person just because they're choosing to walk; or the other way around for that matter. At the end of the day we all just want to get home.

With all of that said: stay safe out there!

Deer, raccoons, and the billion animals killed every year should also do more to be visible.

To be fair i live in a rural area that has few sidewalks or street lights. If someone is walking along the side of the street in dark clothing it is extremely difficult to see them. I am not justifying not paying attention just clarifying my stance.

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t take care when walking, especially crossing roads, I think that goes without saying. My issue is that that just by wearing black the blame seems to fully shift to the pedestrian when it’s also on drivers to take more care when driving at night. Again, don’t take this as me saying it’s fully on the driver, you still don’t want to just set out and expect them to stop, basic safety applies daytime and night.

I had an incident where I was almost hit by a car and was wearing light coloured jeans, white shoes, and a cream coloured jacket. Pretty light clothes, but the driver still said she didn’t see me. Now I could wear full hi vis, reflectors, hell even a helmet, but to me that seems overkill for a simple night out in town.

Dumb take. Reflectors and safety is good, car or no car.

Happened to me couple of weeks ago. It was late, I was wearing dark clothes but I was in a pedestrian area and the crossing was well illuminated. I start crossing and I see a car heading my way on the second lane. He slams though the speed bump without touching brakes, I stop knowing that he doesn't see me or doesn't care, he notices me and breaks suddenly. Then he rolls down the window and says "I didn't see you". Fucking idiot.

In my opinion, if you're driving though a crossing in a pedestrian area it's up to you to make sure it's free. It's like driving though a sidewalk. If your going too fast to see if someone is walking you have to slow down. It's "I only go when I'm sure I can", not "I go unless I notice I can't". I'm not going to wear a reflective west everyone I go because some guy likes to drive fast and has poor night vision.