Night walks feel risky because they are, and it's not your route. Here's why:
Dark fur disappears the moment the sun does.
A black or brown dog at dusk is a shadow moving at ankle height. By the time a driver's headlights actually pick them out, the reaction-time math has already gone wrong. You know it too — it's why you tighten the leash at every corner.
Reflective gear only works when light hits it.
Vests and reflective collars are passive. They need a headlight beam to strike them at the right angle, and a car turning across your path hasn't pointed its lights at you yet. Passive gear is better than nothing. It is not the same as your dog making light.
The pavement doesn't cool down when it gets dark.
Asphalt stores the day's heat and holds it well into the evening. In a Texas summer you can't walk at noon and the sidewalk is still punishing at nine — so the walk gets skipped, and everyone knows a skipped walk isn't really the solution.
Most dog boots are off within a block anyway.
One strap, wrong shape, and they rotate off the paw before you've left your street. You've probably bought a pair like that. Half the reviews in this category are people describing where on the walk they lost the fourth boot.
It isn't that you walk at the wrong time.
It's that nothing on your dog is making its own light — down where cars are actually looking.