Reflective clothing is a good start but to be really visible when jogging at night, you'll also need to wear a light – especially if there are patches of your run with no street lamps.
Your best bet is a headlamp, says fitness columnist Urs Weber from the specialist magazine Runners World, arguing that you will not only be seen better but that you will also see things better yourself.
Parked cars and pedestrians are not your only potential collision, and you may easily find yourself running into a poorly illuminated cyclist, which is where a headlamp will help.
How bright does the lamp need to be?
This depends on how you are using it and your personal preference. Too bright for one person is still too dark for another, according to Weber. A headlamp with 100 lumens will be enough for the vast majority of people, he said.
"A good headlamp must be able to tell you, at a distance of 10 meters (around 32 feet), whether there's an object in the way," Weber said. For this reason, you will need a light that does not produce a narrow beam but something that offers broader illumination.
If you often wear glasses or a cap while running, you should try on the headlamp first to see if it fits.
If you can't wear a headlamp, there are also kinds you can wear with a strap around the hips or your chest. "One advantage of these is that you won't shine the light straight into someone's face," Weber pointed out. "That can be unpleasant with bright LED lamps."
If you are switching from a headlamp, the hip and chest versions will require some adjustment because the stream of light won't come all the way from the top. "This means with larger objects, the shadows are somewhat larger," Weber said. "But that is not a real disadvantage."
