Red is used in some situations (aircraft, for example) because the human eye is very insensitive to red light ... at infra-red we can't see it at all ... so our pupils do not open up as much when we encounter red light compared to other colours (blue, which our eyes are very sensitive to, is the worst).
Our brains, on the other hand, is very sensitive to red light, because it's the colour of blood and is important to our fight-or-flee decision tree for maximum survival. So we perceive red-lit areas as brighter than they actually are.
The short summary of all that is our eyes themselves do not react to red light much, but our awareness under red light is enhanced, so the net effect is it appears well lit to us. However, they eye's reaction to red light is poor, so when viewing unlit objects at night, there is no or almost no difference in our night vision when instruments are red lit; we can see as well outside as inside the cockpit.
This is not relevant in your home at the computer screen, since the screen itself is quite bright relatively, so there is not going to be a night vision advantage to red illumination of the keyboard. Similarly, it's not effective in cars, since the road ahead is lit by headlights and is not actual darkness.
Some "sports" cars use red lighting, however, to catch the tail of the aircraft mystique. It's basically the same as putting fins on our 57 Caddies, but there you go.
