The risk of injury as such has little to do with how strongly lit the path is; people break their legs at daytime hikes alright. Does it help recovery/discover

The risk of injury as such has little to do with how strongly lit the path is; people break their legs at daytime hikes alright. Does it help recovery/discovery ? Maybe, but again that more depends how busy the road is; your "lonely forest path" may or may not have other hikers. In Roman times, with a population density far below today's, just as likely noone may pass you by, daylight or no. And today, your mobile phone's emergency call is more likely to get you help than those passing you on the road at speed ... Anyway, yes there is a safety, and more so, a comfort effect in lighting. We are, though, physically capable of night time vision as well; moonlight levels serve us once we're dark-adapted. Any "need" to light the night up to full color vision is "emotional" only. I merely try to express that the "cheapening" of lighting and its overly pervasive use has both taken the awe and the celebration out of it. More conscious (non-)use is worth a thought, occasionally.