The fall back of daylight started around 2 a.m. this morning, now we can expect the days to get darker earlier. But this can be dangerous for pedestrians on the streets.
RTC officials say 77% of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities on roadways happen between dusk and dawn. Due to this change, everyone including drivers need to use extra caution.
Lauren Ball, the Public Information Officer for RTC explains "You're much less likely to kill somebody on a roadway if you're going at a lower speed, so just take a few extra minutes." She also mentions, the best thing you can do as a pedestrian is to be predictable "Drivers are going to expect you to be on sidewalks and cross walks, places where pedestrians would normally be so if you stray from that it's a dangerous situation for everybody." Paige Boehlert, a Student at the University of Nevada Reno explains how she stays safe as a pedestrian walking to and rfom campus "Definitely wait for the button to go off and walk in a pack and look both ways before I go."
Now that the days are turning darker earlier, being extra cautious might just save your life…Scott Sweeten, another Student at the University of Nevada Reno shares his story of a close call he encountered "I don’t try and cross the street if there are cars coming, I always wait until they come to a full stop. A few weeks ago, I almost got hit... I was behind a kid who got hit by a car." He says when the collision happened, it was dark outside and they didn’t see the car coming "I only stopped because I heard it, so maybe making sure that you have one ear open at all times don't have both ears plugged just pay attention to your surroundings."
If you’re a pedestrian walking at night, there are a few things you can do to prevent getting hit by oncoming traffic, Ball says "Walk in well-lit areas, walk with friends walk in a group." Sweeten adds "You can wear lighter colored clothes; I know people have shiny vests...and I know that kind of looks weird but if you're trying to stay safe it's an option."
As for drivers coming down the roadways "Slow down, you don't need to go as fast as you're going." Ball tells us. Sweeten also adds "Pay attention, keep an eye on where you're going and don't use your phone."
