DURING A NIGHT OP; A B737-300 FLT RUNS OVER A TXWY EDGE LIGHT ON TAXI OUT FROM THE RAMP AS THE PIC MISTAKENLY IDENTS THE EDGE LIGHTS AS CTRLINE TAXI LIGHTS ON TXWY U AT OAK; CA.

Narrative

UPON TAXI OUT AT OAKLAND; I INADVERTENTLY RAN OVER A TAXI LIGHT. AS I DEPARTED THE RAMP AREA; I WAS INSTRUCTED TO KEEP TO THE FAR R OF THE RAMP TO ALLOW INCOMING TAXI ACCESS TO THE GATE AREA. THIS POS REQUIRED A 60-70 DEG R TURN TO ENTER TXWY U. THE TXWY U HAS 3-4 GREEN CTRLINE LIGHTS TO AID ENTERING THE TXWY; THEN ONLY A CTRLINE MARKING. AS I ENTERED THE TXWY; I INSTRUCTED THE FO TO CONTACT TWR AND DETERMINE IF A 'U' INTXN TKOF WOULD EXPEDITE OUR DEP. AS THE FO WAS CHANGING THE RADIO FREQ; I INADVERTENTLY STEERED TOWARD THE BLUE EDGE LIGHTS THINKING THAT THEY WERE CTRLINE LIGHTS. SINCE THE FO WAS HEADS DOWN CHANGING THE RADIO FREQ; I TAXIED THE ACFT TO APPROX 3-4 FT OF THE TXWY'S DOUBLE STRIPPED EDGE MARKING WHEN I REALIZED THAT THE LIGHTS I THOUGHT WERE CTRLINE LIGHTS WERE ACTUALLY TXWY EDGE LIGHTS. I IMMEDIATELY CORRECTED TO THE TXWY'S CTRLINE. AT THE TIME; I WAS UNAWARE OF STRIKING ONE OF THE EDGE LIGHTS AND DID NOT FIND OUT ABOUT IT UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. IT WAS VERY DARK THE NIGHT OF THIS OCCURRENCE AND I BELIEVE IF ADDITIONAL GREEN CTRLINE LIGHTS (IN ADDITION TO THE 3 OR 4 HDG LIGHTS ON RAMP ENTERING TO TXWY U) WERE INSTALLED ON THE TXWY; IT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED ME FROM MISTAKING EDGE LIGHTS FOR CTRLINE LIGHTS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 591777: I LOOKED DOWN TO CHANGE TO TWR FREQ; HOPING TO DEPART RWY 29 FROM INTXN U. WHEN I LOOKED UP; I SAW THAT WE WERE WELL L OF THE TXWY CTRLINE; NEAR THE BLUE EDGE LIGHTS. BEFORE I COULD SAY ANYTHING; THE CAPT WAS ALREADY CORRECTING BACK TO THE R. WE DID NOT THINK WE HAD BEEN FAR ENOUGH L TO HIT ANY LIGHTS AND WE HAD NO INDICATION (BUMP; NOISE; ETC) THAT WE HAD STRUCK ANYTHING. THE FLT WAS NORMAL AND POST-FLT OF THE TIRES REVEALED NO CUTS; SCRAPES; ETC. I BELIEVE THAT THE ANGLE FROM WHICH WE APCHED TXWY U; THE LIMITED NUMBER OF GREEN CTRLINE LIGHTS ON THAT TXWY; THE DARKNESS; AND THE FACT THAT I WAS HEADS DOWN AT THE TIME PROBABLY ALL CONTRIBUTED TO THIS EVENT.