Why are there so many accidents at twilight?
Autumn is a comfortable time to ride a motorcycle, whether for touring or commuting to work or school. However, during this season, many people have probably experienced difficulty seeing their surroundings, even when it is not yet late at night, on the way home from a tour.
If you ever feel this way, you should be especially careful when driving, because that time is likely to be twilight, when many traffic accidents occur.
Accidents are more likely to occur during twilight when it is difficult to see your surroundings.
Twilight refers to the hour before and after sunset. It is a period of time when it is dim and difficult to see the surroundings, and is known to be the time when many fatal traffic accidents occur each year.
The reason for the high number of accidents during twilight is that the days are shorter in autumn and the sun tends to set earlier. More specifically, the sun sets between 5pm and 7pm, when many people and cars are heading home, which can be said to increase the number of accidents.
To support this, the National Police Agency has published analytical data on “fatal accidents occurring during twilight hours.” The two tables below show the number of fatal accidents by time of day and month from 2019 to 2023.
Source: National Police Agency Official Website “Preventing Traffic Accidents During Twilight Hours”
Looking at the number of fatal accidents by time of day in the graph on the left, we can see that the most fatal accidents occur between 5pm, followed by 6pm and 7pm, meaning that there are more fatal accidents in the evening. The graph on the right shows the number of fatal accidents by month during twilight, with October, November and December being particularly high. In other words, fatal accidents during twilight tend to be relatively concentrated in the autumn.
These data clearly show that autumn is a season when accidents are more likely to occur.
How to avoid accidents during twilight
So, what can you do to avoid accidents during these twilight hours in autumn?
The easiest thing to do is to get home while it’s still light out. If you arrive home before the sun sets, you can avoid the risk of getting caught in the twilight hours. For this reason, it’s important to plan your schedule with as much leeway as possible when touring.
To avoid accidents during the twilight hours of autumn, it is a good idea to return home during daylight hours.
However, in the autumn, when the days are short, it can be difficult to get home before sunset. It may get darker than you expected, and your return home may coincide with twilight.
So what should you do in such a situation? First of all, of course, you should slow down as much as possible. Especially when driving in urban areas, it is quite possible that pedestrians or cyclists may cross the road, or that other vehicles may suddenly appear in front of you at an intersection.
When driving during twilight, it is important to slow down as much as possible.
In such cases, if it is twilight and it is difficult to see your surroundings, you will be late in noticing the problem, which means you will be late in taking evasive action, which can easily lead to an accident. For this reason, it is important to slow down and pay attention to your surroundings when driving.
Also, if possible, you can kill time by taking a rest somewhere and avoiding twilight. Another way to deal with this is to go home later, when it is well into the night and there are fewer cars and pedestrians on the road.
Of course, it’s important to drive carefully on dark roads at night. Wearing reflective clothing can also be a good way to protect yourself, so that you’re more likely to be seen by other vehicles and pedestrians, not just at night but also in twilight.
In addition, autumn can unexpectedly lead to accidents due to sudden changes in the environment, such as fog caused by the large temperature difference between morning and evening and daytime. Please be sure to pay close attention to twilight as well as weather changes that could cause accidents, and always strive to drive safely and securely.
In autumn, in addition to twilight, you should also be aware of sudden changes in the environment, such as the occurrence of fog.
