Counter to conventional wisdom that brighter is always better for nighttime safety, strategic reductions in street lighting may actually enhance visual performance for pedestrians. This finding challenges the widespread assumption that maximum illumination optimizes nighttime navigation and could reshape urban lighting policies aimed at balancing safety with energy conservation. The controlled field experiment with 70 participants revealed that reducing luminous flux by 50% produced superior outcomes across multiple visual metrics compared to a dramatic 90% reduction. Participants experienced enhanced perceived visibility, sharper visual acuity, and higher overall lighting quality ratings under moderate dimming conditions. The improvements suggest that excessive brightness may create visual interference or glare effects that compromise rather than support optimal night vision. However, the benefits varied significantly based on footpath layout and individual characteristics. Women consistently reported lower perceived safety scores regardless of lighting conditions, highlighting that subjective security concerns extend beyond purely visual factors. Age emerged as another critical variable, with elderly participants showing reduced visual acuity and different descriptive patterns when evaluating lighting environments. These demographic variations underscore the complexity of designing lighting systems that serve diverse populations effectively. While the research provides compelling evidence for strategic light reduction, the study's scope remains limited to specific footpath configurations and moderate reductions. The findings represent an important preliminary step toward evidence-based lighting design that could reduce energy consumption while maintaining or improving pedestrian experience, though broader replication across varied urban environments would strengthen practical applications.