Motorway lights being turned off - impact on safety?

ERICS_MUM

I used to travel from Chelmsford to Manchester and stay overnight every 2/3 weeks.

Letting the train take the strain was very stressful. Day 1, 6am: Taxi (too early for bus) from home to station, train to London Liverpool St, tube to Euston, train to Manchester, evicting a squatter from my reserved seat. Taxi to office, arrive 11.15am. 5+ hours travelling. Up and down dozens of steps to station platforms with overnight bag, laptop, briefcase & high heels. £7.00 for tasteless cheese and pickle sandwich, 2-finger KitKat and weak tea in a paper cup from trolley dolly.

Day 2 work til 5pm, journey home in reverse, walk through front door 10.30pm.

I chose to drive. 6am: Walk from front door to car. Throw overnight bag, brief case, laptop and high heels onto back seat. Drive M11/A14/M6. Arrive in office for 11am. (stopped for motorway breakfast 8am).

Day 2: work till 4pm. Throw everything onto back seat. Drive home, stopping for motorway burger. Arrive home 9pm.

im-lost

to be honest, if you don't feel 'safe' driving with only your headlights as illumination, I think its time for you to have a good hard think about your suitability to be out on the roads at night

Strider590

If it forces muppets to use their headlights instead of just the side/parking lights, then I ain't complaining.

Mankysteve

smashingyour... wrote: »

So what would you have done, swerved at 80?

Indeed how having motorway lights would have made any difference is a good question.

Tbh a lot of motorways don't have lighting if you don't feel safe either slow down to safer speed, you don't have to drive at 70 if the road conditions don't allow it, that includes poor visibility. Alteratively maybe you should consider giving up driving.

londonTiger

lighting up motorways is very expensive i bet, so no surprise they're doing this to reduce costs.

perhaps a smarter system like lighting based on traffic, low traffic light up every 5th post, and increase frequency based on higher traffic.

Or if there is a breakdown on the motorway - iluminate that and leave the rest turned off. basically an intelligent system which lights up where there is a need for it.

Strider590

londonTiger wrote: »

lighting up motorways is very expensive i bet, so no surprise they're doing this to reduce costs.

perhaps a smarter system like lighting based on traffic, low traffic light up every 5th post, and increase frequency based on higher traffic.

Or if there is a breakdown on the motorway - iluminate that and leave the rest turned off. basically an intelligent system which lights up where there is a need for it.

Pretty sure they use fluorescent lights, which are effectively the same as CFLs, use very little power for the light they emit, but have the disadvantage that power cycling reduces the working life quite significantly. Switching them on/off everytime a few cars go past, they'd end up paying out more for replacing them, than would cost to leave them on 24/7.

Where I work, "they" fitted occupancy sensors to the lights in corridors and toilets, with a 10s timer. These are all fluorescent lights and they're literally having to replace 2 lights per month (because they never get up to full working temp/capacity in those 10s). Not only this, but the sensors they fitted, use 9watts of power, to control a light unit that uses 15watts, so they're replacing lights, sending these things to landfill AND because they replaced the wall switch they're using 9 watts each all night (and weekend) long, instead of nothing at all.

This ^^ is what happens when idiots are put in charge of technical stuff, which they know nothing about....

Weird_Nev

It would be quite cool to have a "sweeping" lit section of motorway which bathes road users in light. Would look amazing from the air!

However, I prefer either all on or all off. The eyes become accustomed to a particular light level, and having it change all the time is fatiguing.

I have no issues with unlit motorways. A large section of my most commonly used section of motorway was unlit, and about as twisty as motorways get too. Apparently it had a bad accident record.

Cars have headlights, drivers have eyes, the cats eyes, reflective signs and road paint all add up to a very safe motorway network even without active lighting.

System

Believe it or not the majority of the motorway network doesn't have lights in the first place.

In rain they just add an extra dazzle factor.

dacouch

!!!!!! wrote: »

Believe it or not the majority of the motorway network doesn't have lights in the first place.

In rain they just add an extra dazzle factor.

Boring fact Belgium being the only country that has lights over the entire motorway network

Funky_Bold_Ribena

smashingyour... wrote: »

So what would you have done, swerved at 80?

Probably moved into the next lane. As it was empty at the time. Are you suggesting it's better NOT to be able to see things when you are driving?