Nighttime Commuting and Travel Safety

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active police officer I've been one for
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almost 18 years and I currently serve as
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a patrol Commander for my department
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safety is something that we could all be
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more mindful about we all get stressed
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we all get busy and we get into our
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routines but those of us Professionals
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in the public safety industry recognize
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that a little can go a long way with
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just some awareness some curiosity and
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some intention about planning so let's
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start by just being aware and curious
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right so be aware of your surroundings
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when it comes to just general
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interaction in public are we actually
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looking around are we aware of what's
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around us what's more than three feet in
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front of us right so so many of us are
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glued to our phones I see it all the
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time with people just on their devices
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they're looking down they have
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headphones or uh the over the ear in the
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ear whatever on and who knows how loud
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they're listening to it maybe their
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Hood's on maybe they have a hat that's
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down and then what do they actually
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seeing when their posture is down and
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their heads down so are we aware and
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that could be everything from someone
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that would be a wbe Mugger or literally
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a curbing that you're going to trip on
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so comes to safety awareness is key so
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nighttime considerations it is that much
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more dramatic because your visibility is
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drastically hindered Beyond just normal
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day-to-day functions right you literally
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have less light to operate in um your
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visibility will get better as your eyes
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adjust but if you're going in from light
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to dark to light to dark in and out of
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buildings especially with bright
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fluorescence recognize that your eyes
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will take a beat to adjust so in the
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effort of safety if it's appropriate to
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do so maybe after you leave the
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convenience store or maybe you after you
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leave your office you hover there for a
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moment so your eyes can start adjusting
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to lower light so we talked about
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personal visibility what you can
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actually see and perceive but what about
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how you're being perceived right so
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there's a lot of awareness around people
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often times going after potential
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victims because of anonymity right so in
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hours of Darkness people can hide more
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uh they can Target specific people and
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they can actually see when that person
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is alone when they're not going to be
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perceived by a the victim or B other
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Witnesses or bystanders right so be
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aware try to move towards areas that are
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well lit so whether you are on foot on a
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b bicycle ebike scooter whatever car
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recognize that there are decisions that
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you can make that may affect your safety
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in positive and negative ways so if I'm
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on foot and I'm on a major highway that
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might not be that safe because
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regardless of alcohol impairment some
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people get tired they have drowsy
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driving right they start veering to the
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right however if I'm off the roadway
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maybe there's a wellit path a foot path
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that I can take of course there is going
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to be the Dilemma whether other people
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are using that path right so we talked
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about the potential victimization there
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so just be informed right you might
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share your route with people that you
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know so they can actually track you if
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you feel a little bit uncomfortable all
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right so there are different
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opportunities there there's also ride
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share that may be worth spending some
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extra bucks just to get home
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quicker so as far as commuting traveling
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around whether you are on foot whether
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you're on a bike or in a vehicle there
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are a lot of things you can think about
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so first off how traveled is this
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thoroughfare right whether it's a foot
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path or whether it's a roadway how many
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people are coming and going from this
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that may be able to see me if
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something's going wrong or if I need
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help right if I get a flat tire is this
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well lit so I can actually change it or
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I can flag someone down that might help
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me or that triaa is going to find me
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whatever the thing is if you are the
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motorist I want to talk about some
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things so one are you actually being
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aware you might be on cruise control in
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a literal or figurative sense when
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you're driving and commuting however you
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have to realize that you can't account
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for everything right too many drivers as
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we say in Police Academy look just
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beyond their bumper when they're driving
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they don't look farther out right so
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when appropriate if there's no other
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motorist use those high beams they're
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there for a reason for visibility
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especially if it's not well lit if it's
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some country road and it's super dark
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the last thing you want to do is see
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something way too late right even if
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you're trying to be a responsible driver
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and you're not distracted the other
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thing is at night you may have you may
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have a bicycle you may have a motorist
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with no headlights on you may have
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somebody walking or riding a bike Etc
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that is under the influence themselves
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and they are in the middle of the road
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or they're off to the side of the road
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where they should not be if you are
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alert if you're driving mindfully if
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you're actually trying to perceive
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farther out as you're driving you're
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going to be more likely to avoid that
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situation what about yourself being the
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nighttime driver whether you're driving
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for your work for your shift or whether
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you are driving home after a long one I
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want to encourage you to take a beat
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right there are little strategies that a
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lot of nighttime shift workers may use
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that may include blaring the music that
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may include rolling the windows down uh
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these things may work if you're a little
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fatigued personally I've experienced
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both and still gotten extremely tired
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and continue to be drowsy right so if
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you have somebody I would call a buddy
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when you have to talk to somebody and
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actually engage and listen it can wake
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your brain up a little bit more so
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that's a little trick if you have a
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fellow night shifter someone else that
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got off work you're commuting back at
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the same time why not call your buddy
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say hey I'm tired just talk to me we're
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going to get through this the other
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thing I would recommend is actually
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pulling over there's a couple things you
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can do there right if you pull over in a
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well lit safe area right maybe a maybe a
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gas station that's populated by the
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clerk and everybody else consider just
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getting out of your car right getting
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some water walking around can just move
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your body it moves your blood around
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you're you're breathing more you're
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getting that fresh air that nighttime
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air and that might be what you need to
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just kind of shake that out and get back
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on your road home uh if not if you're
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super
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fatigued just find a place to take a nap
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and that I know that that can be
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precarious when I'm talking about where
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to stop and all this other stuff but if
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you can just pull over again somewhere
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that's safe and populated lock the doors
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and get some shy a quick power knap can
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go a long way we know there's data that
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a sleepy driver can be worse than a
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legally intoxicated driver right so be
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aware for your own personal safety and
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everyone else on the road I'm going to
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hit on public transit real quick often
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times we can find ourselves in really
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uncomfortable situations on public
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transit do what you can to be close to
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the employee whether that's the
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conductor or the driver those are folks
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that have been through a lot they see
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this kind of thing often times relaying
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something that you don't feel
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comfortable about or something that
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you've seen cannot hurt right try to be
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amongst the other General commuters if
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you see somebody in crisis or somebody's
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acting strange or targeting you picking
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on you making comments or remarks to you
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right try to get around the other people
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so you have witnesses and also you
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remove that anonymity right now the
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strength and numbers you can also
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consider calling the authority saying
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hey there's a guy he's making threats to
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me and somebody else we're still on this
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bus we're still moving let the driver
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know at the same time as somebody is on
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the line with 911 right Safety First
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something doesn't have to happen for you
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to call 911 if you are seeing signs if
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you're feeling these things that are
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making you extremely uncomfortable
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there's generally a reason for that
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right you can articulate that you can
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think through it and you can also do a
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lot of work thinking through it before
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the thing happens and how you would
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perceive these things and how you would
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describe them if you had to call and
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report it to
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somebody all right I'm going to talk
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about preparedness so like actual items
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actual things that you can have with you
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that are going to be helpful so whether
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we are on foot or whether we're in a
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vehicle of some sort do we have what we
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need in case things are going not so
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great and what do I mean by that so
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let's start with onf foot okay so
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visible uh reflective clothing also you
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have your phone your phone's kind of
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your Lifeline now our phone is not just
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a phone it's the Internet it's GPS it's
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a flashlight what if your phone like so
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many of us after a long day that battery
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is super low consider keeping a battery
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pack right that can be something that
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goes a long way a lot of people used to
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have a flashlight on their keychain
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right the little LED light and I feel
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like those have all disappeared but it
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would not be a bad idea to have some
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sorts of light especially in hours of
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Darkness if that's part of your normal
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routine right you don't want to be
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burning out all your phone battery just
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to use the light on that thing if you
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have another light source flashlight
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absolutely translates to Vehicles
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whether it's a bicycle a headlamp or
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electronic battery operated reflectors
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and red white blinking lights for
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bicyclists as well also you're going to
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want the same opportunities in your car
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most people are going to keep a charger
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in their car but it's just something
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that we can remind ourselves hey if we
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don't have one Now's the Time to get one
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all right what else do we need to get on
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the road if we are stalled from being on
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the road so as far as a bicycle do you
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have basic equipment like really small
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minimal things to change a tire do you
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have an extra tube or Tire to get you
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back on the road to limp your bicycle
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home so you can get home and then fix it
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up later for a vehicle can you change
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your tire maybe maybe not but you have
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the opportunity before it's stressful
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before it's freezing out do you have the
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mechanisms do you have the right tools
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do you have the right lighting okay have
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you done it a dry run as it were in your
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driveway at home where it's flat and
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warm and well lit that's the time to
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practice and then when you have to do it
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when it's more stressful and raining you
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can do it do you have gloves do you have
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all these other things that are just
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going to make that kind of thing easier
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right so an extra light source the
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proper tools some people might opt for
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slightly better tools than what your car
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comes with and a lot of cars might not
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come with that thing so make sure you
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know what you have and get what you need
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also are we dressed for the office and
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then back at home assuming that we
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weren't going to have any hiccups are we
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actually dressed dressed and prepared
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for the weather so if I do have a car
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breakdown if I'm whether or not I'm able
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to change the tire or not do I have the
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adequate clothing to keep myself safe uh
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warm comfortable from the elements right
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the last thing I want to do is have to
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hike a couple miles as it's pouring down
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or it's starting to snow and all I have
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is a non-water resistant non-waterproof
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light jacket or sweater or something
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like that no gloves my hands are
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freezing I can barely feel them from
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trying to change my tire and failing
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all these things right so a lot of us
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get rid of clothes all the time
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seasonally great to donate stuff but why
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not hold on to like one thing you don't
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really care about but could be very
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effective as just that like backup that
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hopefully you never need and you
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probably will never need in the trunk of
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your car as far as a super old jacket
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and some warm clothing lastly I do want
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to talk about personal safety
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selfdefense and weapons of opportunity
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or weapons so if you are in a precarious
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situation if someone is presenting as a
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threat to yourself what are you going to
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do do you have the training do you have
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the mindset do you have the fitness do
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you have any of the tools do you have
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anything that is a weapon or could be
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used as a weapon these are the things I
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would hope everyone can think a little
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bit about not to be paranoid but just to
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be aware and so that you have a plan
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you're not trying to figure it out in
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the moment right we commonly know that
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when we are extremely stressed we're GNA
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we're going to do a couple things we're
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going to fight flight or freeze and I
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would prefer everyone has thought about
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how they want to fight if they have to
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or flee if they have to but not freeze
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Right freeze generally doesn't lead to
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good things for someone is who is trying
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to do harm to you or somebody with you
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so again thinking about these things
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being mindful to the approach can
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absolutely help you be prepared
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awareness is key be patient give
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yourself Grace with the process you can
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even make it fun with a buddy my goal is
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not to make you afraid my goal is to
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make you prepared