Am I wrong to think riding at night is safer?

[Bumblebee]

Actively control the cages around you. If you don't like where they are, intentionally put them somewhere else.

I know allot of motorcyclists who hate driving behind cages; they'd rather be out in front of a pack of cars.
However, I like to use cagers as a 'shield'. Meaning that, I'd rather drive behind a cager (at a safe distance), in some
instances...depends on the situation.

Exactly. Controlling the cages around you is not about being out in front, or being behind, or beside, or nearby or far away. It's about putting them in a position, where ever that position may happen to be, where you can control them in a manner that they can not get you. There is no one simple put them at x and all is good answer. Each environment, each moment, that position of being able to control them changes. Sometimes 5 feet away in their blind spot at 60mph is much safer than a 1000 feet away and four lanes of separation. Sometimes you just have to get off the road and ride on the sidewalk for a while - and don't think for an instant that I haven't done exactly that because I have.

[Hawks_Nest]

Reading your post reminded of me when I began riding motorcycle. I did the same. I was scared of cars around me. So I took my bike after dark when no cars around. But now I don't go out after dark unless I have to after I learned that it is much safer during day light.

After several months, I hope you feel more comfortable with the environment and your bike by now.  Ride safe.  One piece of advice: stick to your current bike at leat 10,000 miles or 2 years before you consider upgrade. I see so many new riders swiching to bigger ones in haste.

[Hondo]

The old rule is to never outride your headlight, and that is hard to do at highway speeds.

Road hazards and wildlife appear almost out of nowhere. Throw in some rain or fog and you better have your a-game on.

I have done a lot of night riding and while enjoyable, I am constantly edged up for that doe that is about to jump out in front of me.

[Hangster]

I like riding at night , don't know why but i do (then again most streets are lit up around here) , night riding i think is more like adventure riding with little to see as a destination until you get there , it's kinda fun 

[intothemystic]

Thanks all for the additional feedback.  Yes, I've come around on the night driving issue.  Had a couple of dicey moments on the freeway driving over holes and uneven planes in the asphalt, and also got a good look while in a car at how hard it is to see motorcyclists at night, especially when merging, even when they have hi-viz gear.  We're not much more than a couple specks of light out there. 

I truly appreciate and take to heart the words of wisdom found on this site.

[cmyers]

Hangster I agree with you, riding at night is more of an adventure. Here in Florida it is much more comfortable and in the city/urban areas most streets are moderatly lit up. I think riding at night requires hightened awareness and constantly riding in the "ready" position. By that I mean having your weight positioned on the pegs in a more dirt bike fashion so that those sudden pot holes or road changes affect your body positioning less.

[leakyfaucet]

My father was the supervisor for the traffic engineering department that he worked in for 30 years or so.  He read the report for every vehicular accident in the city during that time.  He assured me that night riding is much more dangerous than daytime driving, statistically speaking.

[Option13]

Is that because people riding back from the bar are drunk off their ass and plow off the road, or an apples to apples comparison of sober, competent, alert riders at different times of day?

[Poligrafovich]

I'm mostly concerned about deer. And deer. Deer are also a problem.

There are other hazards to nighttime riding, but I forgot what they are.

[Bumblebee]

There are other hazards to nighttime riding, but I forgot what they are.

Elk.

[JB1290]

I prefer daytime riding myself but, I do ride at night. Only, at night, I reduce my normal speed and am usually white knuckling it on the grips. You see...Kenosha has more bars in this county than they have fast food restaurants, pharmacies, grocery stores and daycare centers combined. Having 10 years of LEO experience, the vast majority of the incoming inmates to be processed were drunks. So, you know there are more out on the road that just haven't gotten caught. Plus, the deer population here just outside the city is far larger than most people here realise. Both of these things scare the hell out of me so, although I do ride at night, I don't find it nearly as fun as during the day.

[bajakirch]

Interesting question. I thought I had an easy answer. But as I read the preceding posts and started thinking about it more, I'm not as confident in my answer.

Working the schedule I have, and taking whatever opportunity I can to ride, I end up riding my bike at all hours of the day and night. Here's how it works out for me:

Country or Highway riding -- I prefer daytime riding. Less chance of hitting a deer or other varmint and sharing the road with fewer vehicles.

City riding -- I prefer night; the later the better. Zipping through the heart of the city with virtually no competing traffic can be a joy. Even through the worst of the drunk hours - 1:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings - I feel better than riding through daytime traffic. With so few vehicles on the road, I feel like I can better focus on the ones that could be a threat. That better prepares me to take the appropriate evasive action if needed. During normal daylight there are normally so many vehicles around me that it's impossible to be fully prepared for anything; the threat could come for any direction (and I do mean any -- I once just missed being hit by a bag of groceries that fell from a pedestrian overpass).