29
Jul
2015
By Calvin at 09:35 GMT, 8 years ago
Some of you may have seen this study being aired on SKY News this morning. If you didn’t here’s a link to today’s Independent for a fuller account.
The Independent’s first couple of paragraphs tell us that:
‘Turning street lights off late at night to save money does not seem to trigger an increase in either traffic accidents or crime according to a survey of local councils in England and Wales where such cuts have been made.
‘Data gathered from 62 out of 174 local authorities on road casualties and on crimes that may have benefited from streets being in the dark has failed to find a link with reductions in street lighting, scientists said.’
Under the headlines though, the very clear message for me comes from the very qualified author himself, Dr Phil Edwards, who says “It doesn’t mean we can just turn street lights off at midnight all over the country because some roads are more risky than others. He goes onto say that “risk assessments are already made before the lighting is changed,” and from what I have learned from my colleagues around the country this is generally happening.
I would concur with this caution and ask that we don’t simply throw the baby out with the bathwater! During my many years in crime prevention I worked with a number of council street lighting engineers to improve street lighting to reduce crime. By and large the outcomes were positive, but (and this is an important ‘but’) only to a certain point, beyond which other interventions had to be made. (See Lighting for Streets and the Built Environment on this site)
Unfortunately there will be downsides for this ongoing nationwide switch off or dim down, because people have become adapted to brightly lit streets. When the lamps are suddenly switched off or dimmed they really notice the difference and for those who fear the dark or have to be out beyond midnight I can see why many won’t and haven’t welcomed the change.
But don’t panic too much! I grew up in a house that was on a private road where the few street lights that we had (paid for and maintained by the residents) used to go off at midnight. If we had to go out after midnight, particularly on a moonless cloudy night we’d take a torch and wear light clothing and walk on the right towards oncoming traffic (Mum was very insistent about this). But this was luxury compared to my wife’s experience, because she grew up on a farm in rural Herefordshire where the closest street lights were a mile away and even these were turned off at midnight - fantastic view of the stars though!
Source: Independent Online http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/turning-off-street-lights-does-not-cause-increase-in-traffic-accidents-or-crime-says-study-10421845.html
