According to data gathered by MoneyGeek in November 2024 from the United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, America’s roads are nine times more deadly at night for drivers. Nearly half of all fatal accidents take place at night, even though only 9% of driving occurs between sunset and sunrise.
California has the highest risk of nighttime driver deaths across the nation. Yet, the late-hour danger to pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users is even higher. In California there were a reported 11,500 pedestrian injuries and deaths in 2023. These incidents aren’t only happening on the most dangerous and deadliest roads either.
Dangerous Driver Behaviors
Many California drivers and vulnerable road users take more risks at night. They abuse alcohol and drugs and break speed limits while experiencing decreased attention, focus and reaction time, heavy fatigue, and poor hand-eye coordination. They’re more likely to drive while irritable or sleepy, especially commercial truck drivers attempting to meet deadlines.
As noted by the New York Times, an increase in pedestrian deaths nationwide since 2009 aligns with an uptick in recreational cannabis and illegal opioid usage as well. California approved recreational marijuana in 2016. Although few studies exist, scientists have repeatedly found proof of a correlation between other forms of recreational substance abuse and increased road user injuries and deaths at night. These events typically happen because of alcohol and drug consumption at bars and clubs, other nighttime entertainment venues, and private parties. Intoxicated pedestrians are less likely to consider dangers in their surroundings or obey traffic laws.
Low Visibility and Insufficient Safety
Drivers and others often have difficulty seeing roads and traffic clearly at dawn and dusk. They either experience extreme glare from the sun or a washed-out lighting effect. At night, darkness and blinding high beams make seeing potential dangers harder. Drivers have more problems seeing animals that dart into roads, unfolding emergency events, and vulnerable road users wearing dark instead of bright or reflective clothing.
Infrastructure and safety issues compound these problems. Areas near roads often don’t have enough installed overhead or ground-level artificial lights. Although modern motion-detection pole and walkway lights, and even glowing sidewalks, improve visibility, these tools usually only exist in frequently used or high-cost-of-living areas. Plenty of other areas with walking and non-motorized traffic, especially low-income and high-homeless locations, have no crosswalks or sidewalks, higher speed limits, and few pedestrian warning signs.
Hidden and Obvious Technology Problems
Lastly, modern technologies have increased nighttime risks for pedestrians, bicyclists and others. Drivers invest more these days in SUVs and trucks that have wide blind spots and large frames that often hit pedestrians on the heads and upper bodies, which increases the risk of death. Larger vehicles are also heavier and less capable of stopping quickly enough to prevent an injurious or fatal impact.
Robotaxis and autonomous vehicles in California are another source of danger. AVs often fail to notice pedestrians on streets, let alone in places that don’t have crosswalks or other warning markers like parking lots. Glitches and remote backup driver failures also increase risk.
Distracted driving occurs more in the evenings and at night because of the increased use of distracting technologies after school or work ends and while running errands. Beyond managing heavy congestion during rush-hour traffic, many drivers multitask while behind the wheel. They attempt to catch up on social media or listen to voicemails. Some drivers even check emails, coordinate dinner and other plans, or perform work on their phones, tablets or dashboard panels.
Congested roads are also filled with drivers focused primarily on making money as quickly as possible by offering rapid delivery of groceries, restaurant meals, prescriptions and other items in highly competitive and stressful conditions. These independent contractors must repeatedly check their phones and tablets to acquire orders and find destinations.
Pedestrians, cyclists and others reduce their ability to detect danger in these conditions more frequently than in years past. They play loud music or give all of their attention to their phones or social groups instead of their surroundings and potential threats.
