Running in all black at night

6 watchers

larkim Nov 2019 3:21pm, 28 Nov 2019 9,615 posts	0 larkim Spotted this in the polls, and I have something of a contrary view that wasn't allowed for in the poll. If I'm running, and it's nighttime, and I don't have a headtorch, and I'm dressed all in black, but I'm running without headphones on, and on a pavement, and paying appropriate attention to traffic when crossing roads etc, should I be considered to be bearing any responsibility at all if a car hits me, even if I am dressed all in black? Walking pedestrians don't get accused of trying to be the "cleverest thing in the morgue" etc, and often wear grey / dark clothing, no lighting etc when walking out at night. Of course, if you're not on a lit pathway - you should carry your own illumination. If you're running on the road - you should make yourself highly visible and not wear black. But on lit pavements? If an unlit runner on a footpath gets hit by a car, there should be no consideration at all that the runner has any share of blame at all, irrespective of whether they are wearing black or high viz?
Cerrertonia Nov 2019 3:25pm, 28 Nov 2019 11,535 posts	0 Cerrertonia It's not so much cars as other users of the footpath, I would have thought. They're not necessarily expecting a ninja to appear out of nowhere travelling at a considerably higher speed than them.
larkim Nov 2019 3:26pm, 28 Nov 2019 9,617 posts	0 larkim That's fair, I'd not considered that. But the poll seemed to indicate risk of death, so I was presuming they were considering runner / car interaction.
McGoohan Nov 2019 3:29pm, 28 Nov 2019 42,316 posts	0 McGoohan A lot of running gear is black - including the London Marathon loser bonus tops often enough - though with reflecting bits. I assumed the poll was more to do with running in the road as cars shouldn't be driving along the pavement at any point. The fact that a person on the pavement was in black at whatever speed wouldn't be enough to justify it.
Diogenes Nov 2019 3:35pm, 28 Nov 2019 42,856 posts	0 Diogenes I think most pedestrians are blissfully unaware of how invisible they are when dressed entirely in dark clothing. It can be quite a shock when one mysteriously appears trying to nip across the road in front of you.
Cerrertonia Nov 2019 3:40pm, 28 Nov 2019 11,538 posts	0 Cerrertonia Yes, try crossing the road (or indeed walk along the pavement) in some parts of Cambridge as a pedestrian at half past five. Most cyclists don't have lights or any kind of reflective clothing and are effectively invisible. I saw bike/pedestrian collisions almost daily at this time of year when I was working in the city.
larkim Nov 2019 4:03pm, 28 Nov 2019 9,618 posts	0 larkim Agree Dio. I do get the point that when you're out, what have you got to lose by being as visible as possible, so even if I was on the paths on a lit pavement I'd still wear something which wasn't all in black - common sense I think. But just as cyclists get blamed by car drivers for not wearing helmets, and then a proportion of cyclists also tell their fellow cyclists they are idiots, it feels a bit odd for runners to be criticising runners when it is the drivers who are at fault. It gives the drivers a get out clause that I don't think they deserve - even if someone is dressed all in black, they still shouldn't get hit by a car with it's headlights on!
TomahawkMike Nov 2019 4:15pm, 28 Nov 2019 2,446 posts	0 TomahawkMike My primary reason for wearing bright colours at night is so that i dont scare walkers who may be skittish (for natural or historical reasons). Secondary reason is safety from cyclists or, less likely, from cars (i mainly run on paths away from roads).
Love Lettuce Nov 2019 5:30pm, 28 Nov 2019 1,037 posts	0 Love Lettuce When I lived in the UK I was much less conscious about what I wore to run at night because I ran on well lit pavements in big cities. As other posters have suggested, road crossing was always the most dangerous moment - especially if there were cyclists on the road were jumping traffic lights or didn't have any/adequate lights. I had a few near misses with bikes. I'd always try to have something lighter/high viz on the traffic side of my person (usually a 'snappable' reflective arm band so that I could swap it over if I changed the direction I was running in relative to oncoming traffic). But beyond that I didn't give it much thought. Where I live now, most roads don't have pavements or street lighting, and the ones that do have pavements are narrow enough that cars often mount them if another car is coming in the opposite direction. My experience as both a runner and a driver here has made me much more conscious of what I wear to run at night - high viz everything and a head torch at all times.
Fragile Do Not Bend Nov 2019 6:41pm, 28 Nov 2019 5,126 posts	0 Fragile Do Not Bend Definitely agree with Dio. I drive my husband to the local, rural train station on occasion. A lot of people park their cars at the side of the road and walk down the road to the station - the road is unlit and has no pavement. The number of them that are in dark clothing and have no torch, staggers me. They are so hard to see, especially when another car is coming the other way. I’ve even seen people cycling from the station without lights and with no hi-viz (I was that close to hitting one once).