Street lights

robfosters · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:03

Does anyone else have their street lights turned off at night?

Our council has started a pilot area (we are in it) where the street lights will be switched off between midnight and 5:30am.

At first I was OK with it, but now following a member of my family tripping over and the effects of no lighting, I am against it.

I kid you not, it is utterly pitch black along our road after midnight. It has become virtually impossible to walk along it and people even have to turn the torches on their phones to see the way from their drive to their front door.

I appreciate those of you who live in rural areas are used to this, but in an inner city area with adequate street lighting installed, I really do not think it's acceptable.

Has anyone else had this, frankly dangerous, measure forced upon them?

McBain · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:04

Quite the opposite, we have those crazy bright lights in the street.

LED lamps I think they're called? But yeah, they're bright.

cainer · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:07

Mynight · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:07

Yeah they've just replaced all the bulbs round mine with mini Suns.

Brookert · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:07

As a rural member of the community, all I can say is................get a torch. I don't see what the fuss is about but I would be interested to see crime statistics pre and post light turnoff.

robfosters · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:08

Brookert said:
As a rural member of the community, all I can say is................get a torch. I don't see what the fuss is about but I would be interested to see crime statistics pre and post light turnoff.

How many people in the city would think of taking a torch to the pub with them for their journey home?

Kosmiche · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:10

Eh I thought the point of street lights was for security in dark hours?

mjt · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:10

robfosters said:
How many people in the city would think of taking a torch to the pub with them for their journey home?

How else would you be able to tell effective ghost stories?

Mynight · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:11

None because we haven't had to do it before. However I do wonder how much power the lights use and if it's money could be better spent elsewhere.

shame haven't moved to solar versions yet.

robfosters · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:13

Eames said:
Eh I thought the point of street lights was for security in dark hours?

It's not the security that bothers me, it's the hazards it presents to pedestrians. As I said, one member of my family has already gone over through not being able to see a raised paving slab.

The council won't think it's so money saving when the first injury claim lands on their doormat.

Brookert · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:13

robfosters said:
How many people in the city would think of taking a torch to the pub with them for their journey home?

I'm not justifying what is happening, I'm just offering a simple solution. Head torches are good (if you can pull the look off) if you want to keep your hands free townies

Skeeter · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:14

Big old street lamps illuminating my room when I'm trying to sleep is a pain. But the solution isn't to turn them off, the solution is to replace them with efficient LED street lamps that are properly designed to illuminate the street and not the inside of peoples houses.

Destination · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:16

At my previous residence i had a streetlight at the front, and qhen i purchased this place it is the same, i would not be happy to know it was off at night.

Brookert · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:16

robfosters said:
The council won't think it's so money saving when the first injury claim lands on their doormat.

...........or you could just buy a torch. :confused:

I'm sorry is this the theory of relativity or something?

Tunney · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:17

My parents live in Hertfordshire. The local council started switching all of the street lamps off at night about four years ago to save money. It's pretty eerie when I go back there and everywhere is dark!

robfosters · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:17

Skeeter said:
Big old street lamps illuminating my room when I'm trying to sleep is a pain. But the solution isn't to turn them off, the solution is to replace them with efficient LED street lamps that are properly designed to illuminate the street and not the inside of peoples houses.

The council are doing this for busier roads, but insist it's too expensive for the quieter ones.

Boycey0211 · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:18

Who is wandering the streets between midnight and 5am? Criminals! You want them tripped up so its ok in that respect.

Secondly the amount of people without a torch on their phone is very slim these days.

I'd much rather one person had to use their torch than an entire street be lit for 6 hours a day for no purpose whatsoever.

Oh and those new led ones are a PITA, theres one just around the corner at the bottom of the road, looks like headlights so have to wait a good 10-15 secs longer every time just to make sure it isnt.

Mynight · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:20

The new led traffic lights absolutely kill my eyes they seem to be angled specifically to blind A3 drivers

.

Dis86 · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:20

I love it when they're off!
As others have said if you have no night vision...buy a torch

robfosters · 8 Nov 2015 at 00:20

Boycey0211 said:
Who is wandering the streets between midnight and 5am? Criminals! You want them tripped up so its ok in that respect.

Quite a few people travel or return from work during those hours. During the weekend, I see lots of people returning from the pub or nights out.