Whenever I walk down a street at night, the chances are that a streetlight will wink out as I approach. This happens almost every time I go for a walk at night. Anyone else have this experience? Is this unusual?

This is an example of confirmation bias.

Also, people tend to remember the "hits" and forget the "misses". The "hits" in this case are more memorable due to the dramatic change of the area around you going from light to no light. Walking past a light when nothing happens would not cause many people to take notice or remember the non-event. Keep a log of every street light you pass over a period of time. That way you will be conscious of all the ones that don't turn off when you pass them.

Certain types of streetlights (I think that they are the yellowish sodium lights) tend to blink off for a few seconds every few minutes. Usually, these lights are positioned slightly closer together (i.e., more lights are used) so that there will always be light on the desired area.

When I was a kid I was told that your guardian angel sometimes accidentally knock the streetlights out as they fly over you keeping you safe.
riding around in my first car one night, my teenage friend told me that it was an ominous sign that heaven was no longer watching you or protecting you from harm. then (right on cue) a streetlight over me switched off.
can the solar switch be catching a headlight to make them switch off?

Bill's explanation is one I've heard before, and it seems most likely. So much for my magic powers!

Heheh - I use that for an example of cognitive theory connections to magical thinking - I sometimes then pull out a gimmicked lighbulb and have it light up over certain people's heads as I talk about the very phenomenon you speak of!

Before I retired, I worked at a very high security national lab. The sodium lights that flooded the area would blink off randomly for a few seconds from time to time. However, there were so many of them that there was never a moment of real darkness.

With the fences and armed guards, it was really a safe place to work, even late at night.

We used to create this effect with BB guns. But pre-rigging would keep the police away a lot better.....