4 ms·

> there are no street lights in the entire city. Doesn't this cause issues? Sounds like it would turn 20 minute walk into a dangerous excercise. Do people wal

> there are no street lights in the entire city. Doesn't this cause issues? Sounds like it would turn 20 minute walk into a dangerous excercise. Do people walking on foot carry torches? This sounds really crazy from road safety perspective I don't mean crime, i mean getting lost and collisions.

hnlmorg 4y ago
Cars are usually equipped with headlights. ;) On a more serious note, it’s pretty common for UK roads to lack street lights. Particularly in more rural areas. The majority of my drive home from work is unlit.
- justincormack 4y ago
  I live in a small village with no streetlights, and lovely views of the stars. It is very dark here at night, was a real shock coming from the town, I used to walk around where I was previously, that was not well lit but the amount of ambient light was actually quite high. Very different here.
cld8483 4y ago
> Do people walking on foot carry torches? At night, if there is insufficient moonlight? Yes of course. Street lights only exist in urban areas, if you're walking anywhere else in the world at night, a flashlight seems like a logical choice.
- antisthenes 4y ago
  OP clearly stated they have an HOA. If you have an HOA - you live in an urban area. So I'm not sure what your comment alludes to. If I live in such a place, I expect to be able to walk on sidewalks without a flashlight.
  - a1pulley 4y ago
    > If I live in such a place, I expect to be able to walk on sidewalks without a flashlight. We don't have any sidewalks. People either take trails adjacent to roads or walk on the roads themselves. Everyone is aware that pedestrians and equestrians are first class citizens, so residents drive slowly. That's not true for some delivery drivers and domestic workers, but we find the risk-reward tradeoff reasonable enough to have left the lighting provision in our CC&Rs for the last eighty years. Sometimes, expectations are at odds with the realities of what is tolerable in terms of safety, good for local flora and fauna, and pleasurable for ourselves.
  - cld8483 4y ago
    I distinctly remember trick-or-treating in suburbia with a flashlight. A flashlight at night is not so odd, that's pretty much what they're for. (And yes, there were sidewalks...)
  - sammalloy 4y ago
    > I expect to be able to walk on sidewalks without a flashlight. There are any number of ways to provide illumination that also mitigates light pollution. This generally means placing metal hats on any external light sources (vertical or horizontal) that effectively pushes the light down and minimizes leakage. The worst offenders in my area are the globular light sources that emit light in all directions.
- pard68 4y ago
  Half the month, in really dark places, the moon is sufficient.
  - sammalloy 4y ago
    > Half the month, in really dark places, the moon is sufficient Came here to say this. Unfortunately, most people in urban environments have no idea. I spent literally decades walking at night in an area with no streetlights. Your eyes adjust to the dark, and anyone who comes along with a flashlight really annoys you. Edit: I should note, that in all my time doing this, the only time I ever ran into a problem was when a herd of deer came running at me in the darkness. I don’t think a flashlight would have helped.
    - twobitshifter 4y ago
      light would have stopped them in their tracks
      - sammalloy 4y ago
        I guess you are correct, but I was too busy enjoying the night sky.
  - cld8483 4y ago
    Weather permitting too, but yes. Moonlight is quite bright once your eyes have adjusted to it.
    - pard68 4y ago
      When you look at those darkness maps where I live is about as dark as the darkest places in the USA. For us the moon is the real light pollution. Accidentally look at the moon directly and your night vision is shot for a few minutes.
  - lll-o-lll 4y ago
    Yeah, not so much in Australia. We have a crap ton of dangerous snakes, and you need that torch to be able to see them on the path. “Don't ever step on a snake Or you're making a big mistake! For the sake of your protection I suggest you change direction Get out of there for good, for goodness sake!” (Don Spencer)
a1pulley 4y ago
> Do people walking on foot carry torches? It depends. If there's a full moon out, I often walk without a light. It's wonderful. Otherwise, I use a headlamp. > Doesn't this cause issues? No. I think the main effect is that people finish their walks, bike rides, and so forth before dark. Obviously that's impossible for much of the year for people who work 9 to 5, but given the demographics of this community—small business owners with flexible schedules and retirees—it works for most. In particular, there is one woman from a nearby street who walks past my office window every afternoon: in the winter she walks by at 3, and in the summers she walks by around 6 with her husband. > getting lost I don't think this is a realistic concern for those with smart phones. Moreover, the hilly topography and lack of cycles in the road network (barring one) make it very easy to remain oriented.
nanomonkey 4y ago
> Do people walking on foot carry torches? I find a flashlight and a small pocket knife are essential every day carry. It's a quality of life issue for me, I want to be able to examine something at any time of day, plus street lights are intermittent and I walk a lot. I live in Oakland, a major city, but still insist on turning on a flashlight when I cross the street. People don't pay enough attention.
- fl0ps 4y ago
  I'd be carrying more than a pocket knife as essential in Oakland, lately.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > small pocket knife are essential every day carry In Britain we imprison people for carrying butter knives https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1487762/Butter-knife-an-offensive-weapon.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1487762/Butter-knife...
gnicholas 4y ago
I walk through my neighborhood at night, and some houses have streetside lights, but most do not. I always bring a flashlight but typically don't use it. I do teach my kids they have to be very careful of cars, because they are too short to be seen.
xjay 4y ago
A safety reflector or other high-visibility clothing is a passive method for sending light back at the driver. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_reflector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_reflector
- hackernewds 4y ago
  There are numerous others that support it https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/projects/crime-lights-study https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/projects/crime-lights-study YMMV but it also seems intuitively apparent?
jakeogh 4y ago
Fortunately, no[1]. I live in Tucson AZ, and it's wonderful. We are the home of https://www.darksky.org/ https://www.darksky.org/ You excluded crime from your comment, but I want to say that anecdotally, places where there are street lights are where the street crime happens. [1] https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/lighting-innovation/fewer-street-lights-dont-increase-crime-or-crashes/ https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/lighting-innovation... Losing the Dark - Flat Screen Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd82jaztFIo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd82jaztFIo

hnlmorg 4y ago

Cars are usually equipped with headlights. ;) On a more serious note, it’s pretty common for UK roads to lack street lights. Particularly in more rural areas. The majority of my drive home from work is unlit.

justincormack 4y ago
I live in a small village with no streetlights, and lovely views of the stars. It is very dark here at night, was a real shock coming from the town, I used to walk around where I was previously, that was not well lit but the amount of ambient light was actually quite high. Very different here.

cld8483 4y ago

> Do people walking on foot carry torches? At night, if there is insufficient moonlight? Yes of course. Street lights only exist in urban areas, if you're walking anywhere else in the world at night, a flashlight seems like a logical choice.

antisthenes 4y ago
OP clearly stated they have an HOA. If you have an HOA - you live in an urban area. So I'm not sure what your comment alludes to. If I live in such a place, I expect to be able to walk on sidewalks without a flashlight.
- a1pulley 4y ago
  > If I live in such a place, I expect to be able to walk on sidewalks without a flashlight. We don't have any sidewalks. People either take trails adjacent to roads or walk on the roads themselves. Everyone is aware that pedestrians and equestrians are first class citizens, so residents drive slowly. That's not true for some delivery drivers and domestic workers, but we find the risk-reward tradeoff reasonable enough to have left the lighting provision in our CC&Rs for the last eighty years. Sometimes, expectations are at odds with the realities of what is tolerable in terms of safety, good for local flora and fauna, and pleasurable for ourselves.
- cld8483 4y ago
  I distinctly remember trick-or-treating in suburbia with a flashlight. A flashlight at night is not so odd, that's pretty much what they're for. (And yes, there were sidewalks...)
- sammalloy 4y ago
  > I expect to be able to walk on sidewalks without a flashlight. There are any number of ways to provide illumination that also mitigates light pollution. This generally means placing metal hats on any external light sources (vertical or horizontal) that effectively pushes the light down and minimizes leakage. The worst offenders in my area are the globular light sources that emit light in all directions.
pard68 4y ago
Half the month, in really dark places, the moon is sufficient.
- sammalloy 4y ago
  > Half the month, in really dark places, the moon is sufficient Came here to say this. Unfortunately, most people in urban environments have no idea. I spent literally decades walking at night in an area with no streetlights. Your eyes adjust to the dark, and anyone who comes along with a flashlight really annoys you. Edit: I should note, that in all my time doing this, the only time I ever ran into a problem was when a herd of deer came running at me in the darkness. I don’t think a flashlight would have helped.
  - twobitshifter 4y ago
    light would have stopped them in their tracks
    - sammalloy 4y ago
      I guess you are correct, but I was too busy enjoying the night sky.
- cld8483 4y ago
  Weather permitting too, but yes. Moonlight is quite bright once your eyes have adjusted to it.
  - pard68 4y ago
    When you look at those darkness maps where I live is about as dark as the darkest places in the USA. For us the moon is the real light pollution. Accidentally look at the moon directly and your night vision is shot for a few minutes.
- lll-o-lll 4y ago
  Yeah, not so much in Australia. We have a crap ton of dangerous snakes, and you need that torch to be able to see them on the path. “Don't ever step on a snake Or you're making a big mistake! For the sake of your protection I suggest you change direction Get out of there for good, for goodness sake!” (Don Spencer)

a1pulley 4y ago

> Do people walking on foot carry torches? It depends. If there's a full moon out, I often walk without a light. It's wonderful. Otherwise, I use a headlamp. > Doesn't this cause issues? No. I think the main effect is that people finish their walks, bike rides, and so forth before dark. Obviously that's impossible for much of the year for people who work 9 to 5, but given the demographics of this community—small business owners with flexible schedules and retirees—it works for most. In particular, there is one woman from a nearby street who walks past my office window every afternoon: in the winter she walks by at 3, and in the summers she walks by around 6 with her husband. > getting lost I don't think this is a realistic concern for those with smart phones. Moreover, the hilly topography and lack of cycles in the road network (barring one) make it very easy to remain oriented.

nanomonkey 4y ago

> Do people walking on foot carry torches? I find a flashlight and a small pocket knife are essential every day carry. It's a quality of life issue for me, I want to be able to examine something at any time of day, plus street lights are intermittent and I walk a lot. I live in Oakland, a major city, but still insist on turning on a flashlight when I cross the street. People don't pay enough attention.

fl0ps 4y ago
I'd be carrying more than a pocket knife as essential in Oakland, lately.
ClumsyPilot 4y ago
> small pocket knife are essential every day carry In Britain we imprison people for carrying butter knives https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1487762/Butter-knife-an-offensive-weapon.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1487762/Butter-knife...

gnicholas 4y ago

I walk through my neighborhood at night, and some houses have streetside lights, but most do not. I always bring a flashlight but typically don't use it. I do teach my kids they have to be very careful of cars, because they are too short to be seen.

xjay 4y ago

A safety reflector or other high-visibility clothing is a passive method for sending light back at the driver. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_reflector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_reflector

hackernewds 4y ago
There are numerous others that support it https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/projects/crime-lights-study https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/projects/crime-lights-study YMMV but it also seems intuitively apparent?

jakeogh 4y ago

Fortunately, no[1]. I live in Tucson AZ, and it's wonderful. We are the home of https://www.darksky.org/ https://www.darksky.org/ You excluded crime from your comment, but I want to say that anecdotally, places where there are street lights are where the street crime happens. [1] https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/lighting-innovation/fewer-street-lights-dont-increase-crime-or-crashes/ https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/lighting-innovation... Losing the Dark - Flat Screen Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd82jaztFIo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd82jaztFIo