4 ms·

A lot of people here are talking about how the warmer "yellow" lights feel nicer on the eyes or generally give more of a glow than a bright LED. I agree that th

A lot of people here are talking about how the warmer "yellow" lights feel nicer on the eyes or generally give more of a glow than a bright LED. I agree that the yellow lights are nicer to look at but a brighter LED does provide more illumination and can help people feel safer and actually be safer when traveling at night. There are always trade offs. Is safety for those who must commute late at night a fair trade off for lights that are less pleasant on the eyes?

alistairSH 6y ago
I'm sure there's a happy middle-ground. I get the impression many places are just tossing lowest-bid LEDs into existing lamps and calling it good enough. Somebody needs to drag the local politicians/town council to Home Depot (or the UK equivalent) and show them the warm-white vs bright-white vs other consumer LED bulbs. And if they still choose the bright-white, fire them/vote them out.
- varispeed 6y ago
  More likely it works like this - someone "connected" finds cheapest possible LEDs one can get away with on alibaba, then the tender is setup so that unlikely anyone else will meet the criteria, money change hands and residents enjoy poor lighting... meanwhile council cries they have no money and another apartment is bought in Spain.
stfp 6y ago
Meanwhile traffic crashes and pedestrian deaths are up because people driving (even during the day) can't resist speeding and looking at their phones. Also meanwhile, cars are getting super bright headlights that actually make it harder to see at night in the city (signs and windows will reflect a lot more than people, you'll be blinded by oncoming cars...) My point being, there is no safety tradeoff being evaluated - we're getting super bright, super white LEDs because of economics (white/cool LEDs are cheaper) and a general fascination/desire to get the brightest thing possible.
- DangerousPie 6y ago
  > Also meanwhile, cars are getting super bright headlights that actually make it harder to see at night in the city (signs and windows will reflect a lot more than people, you'll be blinded by oncoming cars...) Any sources for that? I always read that the only times bright (LED) lights blind oncoming traffic is when they are improperly installed aftermarket.
  - evanlivingston 6y ago
    This might be more of an issue in the U.S. where car illumination standards are different. At night, nearly every vehicle I come across produced > ~2018 has blinding headlights that require me to squint drastically.
  - mtalantikite 6y ago
    I don't drive much since I'm in New York, but I certainly feel blinded by oncoming traffic whenever I'm in a car outside of the city. SUVs with bright LEDs in oncoming traffic make it super hard to see personally. I don't ever recall that as a problem when I was younger, but maybe it's my aging eyes and more SUVs on the road (I still think it's the LEDs though).
    - bobbylarrybobby 6y ago
      Interesting. Walking around downtown Manhattan at night I'm frequently blinded by traffic.
      - mtalantikite 6y ago
        Yeah true, main streets in the city will do that to you too, for sure. I live in Brooklyn, so there's far less traffic around at night over here.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    I see lights at different heights for SUVs and pickup trucks than for cars, I don’t see how it matters how the light is installed when it’s eve level for people in cars. I can see the light’s blinding reflections in other cars’ rear view mirrors at night when a higher vehicle is behind them.
mtalantikite 6y ago
> There are always trade offs. Is safety for those who must commute late at night a fair trade off for lights that are less pleasant on the eyes? Are you referring to people that commute by car or in general? I don't generally have a problem with very bright lights on a highway, but do we really need them on residential streets? I didn't feel unsafe taking subways and walking at 3-4 am in NYC pre-LEDs. In fact I much preferred it, the city felt dreamier (for whatever subjective measure of "dreamier" is, of course).
- Taylor_OD 6y ago
  > I didn't feel unsafe taking subways and walking at 3-4 am in NYC pre-LEDs. In fact I much preferred it, the city felt dreamier (for whatever subjective measure of "dreamier" is, of course). In general. Because you didnt feel unsafe it does not mean that you were unsafe and that other didnt feel unsafe. I agree that the yellow lights look nicer in general.
  - mtalantikite 6y ago
    I guess to clarify, I didn't feel any more unsafe pre-LED than I did post-LED. And of course my experience isn't everyone's experience. Probably the most unsafe I've felt in the city was a random fight between passenger's on the subway in mid-day when the guy I was standing next to flashed a gun. Probably should have moved away from him now that I'm thinking back on it, for some reason I just kept standing there -- NYC sort of trains you to just accept wild situations I guess. Except if the person starts taking off their pants, then you definitely have to move to the next car.
dijksterhuis 6y ago
> Is safety for those who must commute late at night a fair trade off for lights that are less pleasant on the eyes If folks are that concerned about their safety at night time then they shouldn't live in London. London is not a safe city and never will be, no matter what part of it folks live in. That's part of the London-ness of living in London tbh. I'd vote to keep the non-white lights. Adds to the duttiness. London needs more dutty after the oligarchs took over central and general gentrification silliness.

alistairSH 6y ago

I'm sure there's a happy middle-ground. I get the impression many places are just tossing lowest-bid LEDs into existing lamps and calling it good enough. Somebody needs to drag the local politicians/town council to Home Depot (or the UK equivalent) and show them the warm-white vs bright-white vs other consumer LED bulbs. And if they still choose the bright-white, fire them/vote them out.

varispeed 6y ago
More likely it works like this - someone "connected" finds cheapest possible LEDs one can get away with on alibaba, then the tender is setup so that unlikely anyone else will meet the criteria, money change hands and residents enjoy poor lighting... meanwhile council cries they have no money and another apartment is bought in Spain.

stfp 6y ago

Meanwhile traffic crashes and pedestrian deaths are up because people driving (even during the day) can't resist speeding and looking at their phones. Also meanwhile, cars are getting super bright headlights that actually make it harder to see at night in the city (signs and windows will reflect a lot more than people, you'll be blinded by oncoming cars...) My point being, there is no safety tradeoff being evaluated - we're getting super bright, super white LEDs because of economics (white/cool LEDs are cheaper) and a general fascination/desire to get the brightest thing possible.

DangerousPie 6y ago
> Also meanwhile, cars are getting super bright headlights that actually make it harder to see at night in the city (signs and windows will reflect a lot more than people, you'll be blinded by oncoming cars...) Any sources for that? I always read that the only times bright (LED) lights blind oncoming traffic is when they are improperly installed aftermarket.
- evanlivingston 6y ago
  This might be more of an issue in the U.S. where car illumination standards are different. At night, nearly every vehicle I come across produced > ~2018 has blinding headlights that require me to squint drastically.
- mtalantikite 6y ago
  I don't drive much since I'm in New York, but I certainly feel blinded by oncoming traffic whenever I'm in a car outside of the city. SUVs with bright LEDs in oncoming traffic make it super hard to see personally. I don't ever recall that as a problem when I was younger, but maybe it's my aging eyes and more SUVs on the road (I still think it's the LEDs though).
  - bobbylarrybobby 6y ago
    Interesting. Walking around downtown Manhattan at night I'm frequently blinded by traffic.
    - mtalantikite 6y ago
      Yeah true, main streets in the city will do that to you too, for sure. I live in Brooklyn, so there's far less traffic around at night over here.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  I see lights at different heights for SUVs and pickup trucks than for cars, I don’t see how it matters how the light is installed when it’s eve level for people in cars. I can see the light’s blinding reflections in other cars’ rear view mirrors at night when a higher vehicle is behind them.

mtalantikite 6y ago

> There are always trade offs. Is safety for those who must commute late at night a fair trade off for lights that are less pleasant on the eyes? Are you referring to people that commute by car or in general? I don't generally have a problem with very bright lights on a highway, but do we really need them on residential streets? I didn't feel unsafe taking subways and walking at 3-4 am in NYC pre-LEDs. In fact I much preferred it, the city felt dreamier (for whatever subjective measure of "dreamier" is, of course).

Taylor_OD 6y ago
> I didn't feel unsafe taking subways and walking at 3-4 am in NYC pre-LEDs. In fact I much preferred it, the city felt dreamier (for whatever subjective measure of "dreamier" is, of course). In general. Because you didnt feel unsafe it does not mean that you were unsafe and that other didnt feel unsafe. I agree that the yellow lights look nicer in general.
- mtalantikite 6y ago
  I guess to clarify, I didn't feel any more unsafe pre-LED than I did post-LED. And of course my experience isn't everyone's experience. Probably the most unsafe I've felt in the city was a random fight between passenger's on the subway in mid-day when the guy I was standing next to flashed a gun. Probably should have moved away from him now that I'm thinking back on it, for some reason I just kept standing there -- NYC sort of trains you to just accept wild situations I guess. Except if the person starts taking off their pants, then you definitely have to move to the next car.

dijksterhuis 6y ago

> Is safety for those who must commute late at night a fair trade off for lights that are less pleasant on the eyes If folks are that concerned about their safety at night time then they shouldn't live in London. London is not a safe city and never will be, no matter what part of it folks live in. That's part of the London-ness of living in London tbh. I'd vote to keep the non-white lights. Adds to the duttiness. London needs more dutty after the oligarchs took over central and general gentrification silliness.