Police stats show increase in road casualties on unlit streetO

usignuolo

I recently wrote a post in which I said I did not feel as safe on unlit roads, although I know other people may not agree, and as a result I was having some brighter beams fitted on my dipped headlights.

One of the reasons for this was the poor visibility I found when driving in dark and overcast weather at night on motorway or trunk roads where the cat's eyes were worn out. Increasingly I was finding the motorways lights were being turned off but the Highways Agency - which said it was turning them to reduce carbon emissions and light pollution - said there was no increase in road accidents as a result.

However the papers earlier this week were reporting that in areas where street lights had been turned off to save money, there was a large rise in road casualties before and after between 2009-10 (pre turn off) and after (2011-12). Deaths rose by 39% and serious injuries by 27%. Hilary Benn, shadow communities secretary, said his own research had found that 2/3rds of councils were turning off or dimming street lights at night.

The view that turning off the street lights increases accidents is shared by the motoring associations. However the Local Government Association has rejected the findings, saying that the increase in road accidents after turning the lights off does not show that this is the cause and says that it is completely misleading to suggest it might be related to an increase in accidents.

neilmcl

When quoting stats, etc it's a good idea to quote your source.

Strider590

Can't be true, govt stats clearly show that almost every road accident is caused by speeding....... :rotfl:

gilbert_and_sullivan

Maybe if some pedestrians chose a colour other than black to wear, they might be easier to see before they get cleaned up, ditto many cyclists without a light to their name riding like the devil himself was hot on their heels and ignoring any and every rule of the road.

A ne'er do wells and burglars charter one would think, but apparently crime doesn't exist any more in this country, which has beaten the recession so fantastically and just in time for an election too, which all goes to show how reliable statistics and the media and govt spokespersons are.

iltisman

The reduction in carbon emissions stops the planet from falling out of orbit(or whatever the warmists claim) so killing a few evil motorists is acceptable.

headpin

Strider590 wrote: »

Can't be true, govt stats clearly show that almost every road accident is caused by speeding....... :rotfl:

No, the reduction in the National Debt is as a result of speeding. :rotfl:

usignuolo

I read it in the Times who had said they had analysed police statistics on road accident casualties for the years mentioned, comparing previously lit and now unlit roads.

specialboy

Rubbish, the street lights have been turned off on a local bypass and not one extra crash has been reported, you do realise that cars are fitted with headlights don't you?

Richard53

specialboy wrote: »

Rubbish, the street lights have been turned off on a local bypass and not one extra crash has been reported

That's hardly a convincing argument.

Johno100

neilmcl wrote: »

When quoting stats, etc it's a good idea to quote your source.

Here is a link, but it mainly just quotes the Times story.

http://www.trl.co.uk/trl-news-hub/transport-news/latest-transport-news/street-light-switch-offs-increase-road-accidents_801713878.htm

Anyone pay for the Times and can confirm who carried out this research?

Stoke

This is one of the things that gets to me the most. More and more roads are now unlit. The A500 now has large portions that are unlit after a certain time, usually just after midnight, a perfectly reasonable time to be driving for many people. Yet it's now illegal to fit HID's (even if they're correctly calibrated and adjusted for your vehicle's headlights). I have the brightest H4 bulbs you can legally buy (uprated wattage is also illegal, 55w is the legal limit) yet when I'm driving down a dark road, I feel like I've got two candles stuck on the end of my car, even on beam. It actually makes for very unpleasant driving.

A friend of mine with the same car has a set of 35w HID's fitted, adjusted correctly, shielded correctly with a beam pattern to MOT standards and the difference is incredible.