Honest question: Do you mean that most pedestrians are actually using (not have carrying on their person) a torch while walking along lit streets? I have essentially never seen that where I live, except some joggers have lights attached to their clothing but that's just so others can see them better. I can't imagine street lighting being so bad that that would be necessary. That's a terrible state of affairs which, in itself, is a gross anti-pedestrian move.

(Or did you just factiously mean that people have smart phones on them which can function as torches?)

Clearly you have lived your entire life in a city under streetlights.

Here, if you go the the pub at night as the streetlights are turned off at midnight, so you take a torch (your phone as a backup). Its perfectly commonplace. To suggest this is "anti-pedestrian" is a bit silly. Rather, it's anti-light pollution.

> except some joggers have lights attached to their clothing but that's just so others can see them better.

Yes, generally the purpose of the light is so others can see you.

My god, we spend all of our lives blasting lights into our eyes (some people call these lights "screens"), we've forgotten how to live without it!

I use the flashlight on my phone to flash at drivers to increase the likelihood that I am seen.

I mean I quite often see people holding a torch (or maybe a lit up phone) while they're walking.

I'm in an urban area, but it's not as well-lit as a downtown environment. There's street lights every 2-3 houses and they're not super bright.

I personally prefer this over a downtown-like bright environment since it makes it easier to sleep and the ambience is just better at night.