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It's generally my experience that street lighting is not very helpful while driving. It often reduces the contrast ratio between an object illuminated by my hea
by Zak 8y ago
It's generally my experience that street lighting is not very helpful while driving. It often reduces the contrast ratio between an object illuminated by my headlights and the background as well as the light fixtures themselves being a source of glare.
- Angostura 8y agoSo the obvious answer is to remove all street lighting on major roads.
- Zak 8y agoI'm not sure if that's serious, sarcasm, or reducto ad absurdum. Regardless, I've actually looked in to published research on the matter in the past. I don't have links to studies handy, but here's what I remember finding: Street lighting does not reduce car-car collisions, and in most conditions, does not reduce collisions at all. The major exceptions were pedestrian crossings without traffic lights, and when illuminating curves or obstacles. I don't recall finding a comparison between overhead street lighting and reflectors or marker lights for curves and obstacles, but it seems to me those might provide the same benefit with less glare, energy consumption, and light pollution.