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WTF? What about pedestrians? Are they walking in full darkness? This seems to be totally oriented to cars. I find American cities incredibly dark by night. Wal
by jaimebuelta 2y ago
WTF? What about pedestrians? Are they walking in full darkness?
This seems to be totally oriented to cars. I find American cities incredibly dark by night. Walking around feels too dark and unpleasant.
- quietbritishjim 2y agoI'm don't see why this is downvoted, I think it's an honest and legitimate question. What are pedestrians supposed to do when there's no car passing them right this moment? Carry their own torch? Rely on ambient light from the moon and reflected from nearby lit streets? Are we assuming there's such a high volume of cars that there's never a gap? I'm genuinely confused.
- tass 2y agoWhere I live, even with streetlights, most people I see walking after dark carry a torch. It’s easier than ever to carry one.
- quietbritishjim 2y agoHonest question: Do you mean that most pedestrians are actually using (not just carrying on their person) a torch while walking along lit streets? I have essentially never seen that where I live, except some joggers have lights attached to their clothing but that's just so others can see them better. I can't imagine street lighting in an urban/suburban area being so bad that that would be necessary. That's a terrible state of affairs which, in itself, is a gross anti-pedestrian move. (Or did you just factiously mean that people have smart phones on them which can function as torches?)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- GJim 2y agoClearly you have lived your entire life in a city under streetlights. Here, if you go the the pub at night as the streetlights are turned off at midnight, so you take a torch (your phone as a backup). Its perfectly commonplace. To suggest this is "anti-pedestrian" is a bit silly. Rather, it's anti-light pollution.
- cowfriend 2y ago> except some joggers have lights attached to their clothing but that's just so others can see them better. Yes, generally the purpose of the light is so others can see you. My god, we spend all of our lives blasting lights into our eyes (some people call these lights "screens"), we've forgotten how to live without it!
- bagels 2y agoI use the flashlight on my phone to flash at drivers to increase the likelihood that I am seen.
- tass 2y agoI mean I quite often see people holding a torch (or maybe a lit up phone) while they're walking. I'm in an urban area, but it's not as well-lit as a downtown environment. There's street lights every 2-3 houses and they're not super bright. I personally prefer this over a downtown-like bright environment since it makes it easier to sleep and the ambience is just better at night.
- cowfriend 2y ago> Carry their own torch You state this like it is a bad idea. If you have a cell phone, you have a torch. If you are walking in a place where there are cars, having a light on you is a great way to reduce your risk of being hit. So yes, you should absolutely be carrying a torch if you are walking near streets after dark. Nordic countries teach this in kindergarden. When I'm crossing a street after dark, I always flash my torch at potentially oncoming cars. Even if I'm at a lit crosswalk. If you are walking in a place without cars, then the place probably doesn't have the infra to provide street lighting. You may want a torch, depends on the phase of the moon and your comfort level with dim lighting.
- quietbritishjim 2y agoYou are starting an unrelated conversation. This comment chain started with someone suggesting that in cities lighting be turned off almost everywhere, and someone replied that pedestrians won't be able to clearly see where they're going without a torch (and I agreed). Where I live, no pedestrian in a city would ever need to use a torch to see where they're going. You've posted a couple of replies saying that pedestrians should carry a torch so that cars can see them. Well, maybe, maybe not. But that's a different matter.
- diggan 2y ago> WTF? What about pedestrians? Are they walking in full darkness? During a normal night, you get used to the darkness surprisingly fast, and if there even a slight sliver of moonlight, your eyes will within seconds adjust and let you see things again without trouble. At least that's my experience growing up in the dark countryside in Sweden and seemingly retaining this as an adult, YMMV.
- nejsjsjsbsb 2y agoYMMV as you get older and lose that superpower.
- diggan 2y agoWhat range/years are you specifically referring to? It seemingly is as good as ever, and I'm 32 now. I'm guessing that would start being around 40s, when the general eye-sight starts to decline?
- meiraleal 2y agoI don't think there is a rule for that? At least not in my case. My eyesight got worse really fast out-of-nowhere when I was like, 15 years old? And since then it didn't change anymore. I got myopia, after a few years of too much computer screen (the old CRTs).
- suddenlybananas 2y agoAlso it's terrifying for safety; way too easy to assault someone in complete darkness.
- GJim 2y agoCompletely the opposite. Numerous studies show crime goes down when streetlights are turned off. Simply put, you don't get scrotes hanging about in groups up to no good without lights, and anybody who is walking around is carrying a torch, making it obvious what they are doing (e.g. if you are breaking into a house, needing a torch instead of using a streetlight makes it obvious to everybody what you are doing). No to mention a lack of streetlights makes if harder for somebody to hide in the shadows. The real question to ask, is why people like yourself are 'terrified' [sic] of the dark. Statistics show the real truth of what you should be worried about.
- Vampiero 2y ago> The real question to ask, is why people like yourself are 'terrified' [sic] of the dark. Statistics show that people don't care about statistics but about confirmation bias and the media is eager to feed it.
- cowfriend 2y agoI suspect your terror comes from lack of familiarity with natural light outdoors, and is a product of always having the lights on plus not being out of a house often. The night is not 'complete darkness', we can generally see fairly well. Also, I suspect your presumption on assault risk and assault rates comes from media, which is designed around building fear. Fear sells. So I agree that you find the natural world terrifying, I just wish you didn't. Because the natural world is what we are fit for.
- Vampiero 2y ago> Because the natural world is what we are fit for. Good thing we live in cities then!
- 2y ago
- olyjohn 2y agoGet a flashlight?