Pedestrian & Bicyclist Safety – Be Safe, Be Bright

With the end of Daylight-Saving Time, it is more important to be seen to be safe.

Too many people are injured and die each year in crashes. When daylight hours decrease, pedestrian deaths and injuries increase.¹

Fatalities by State in 2021 including data for Pedestrians and Bicyclists as counted by NHTSA are available from IIHS.²

With the end of Daylight-Saving Time, it is more important to be seen to be safe.  Note every time you drive at night how pedestrians wearing dark clothing are difficult to see.  Dangerous for them and dangerous for you.  Both the color of pedestrian clothing and the reflectivity of clothing influence their “conspicuity” and safety.

The DOT poster graphic “Be Safe, Be Bright” is no longer available online, but it should be. We make it publicly available again here as a public service.  It shows the effects of color and reflectivity at different distances. 

Car color is also important.  White is 10% safer. A landmark study documents this color/safety relationship.³

Fleet managers tend to buy white vehicles for safety and lower property damage costs as well as for many other reasons.

This potentially life saving information is provided to readers in the hope that it will help prevent tragedies to readers, and their loved ones.  And there are too many tragedies.  IIHS reports:

“Pedestrian crash deaths have risen 80 percent since hitting their low in 2009. Nearly 7,400 walkers — more than 20 people a day — lost their lives in 2021 after being struck by a vehicle.”⁴ 

Editor’s note: A kind reader provided us with a link to safety gear. We at LegalReader cannot endorse products, but you may wish to check them out for yourself.

References (Live Links to Documents):

1. Too Many Pedestrians Die
2. Fatality Facts 2021 – State by State
3. An Investigation into the Relationship Between Vehicle Colour and Crash Risk
4. Vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians