Do female pedestrians express a lower degree of reassurance than male pedestrians? And does road lighting help?

Female pedestrians tend to report feeling less safe than do male pedestrians, and this difference is greater after dark than in daylight. A field study of pedestrian reassurance was conducted to test whether this was affected by the illuminance offered by road lighting. The results suggest that the male-female difference in reassurance ratings decreases at high illuminance, and hence that higher illuminances might be useful support for female pedestrians. It is also noted, however, that self-report of reassurance may not be representative of the influence of light on walking behaviour and crime.