Street lighting in the city

intellectual dosser

Hi all,

I'm just wondering if anyone has noticed that street lighting in the city is very poor, I've noticed that all the lamps seem to be in qorking order but they're not that bright at all. I've really started noticing this yesterday and today.

Last night I was parked up from the Coach Station up towards the Radisson and I couldnt distinguish anyone of the pedestrians from the person I was waiting to collect, from about 50 feet.

Tonight I nearly hit someone on the Sean Mulvoy road, they were making a daring dash across the road, I didnt see them until very late (when my headlights hit them) and came to a very sudden stop, she had stopped crossing anyway.

Just wondering if anyone has noticed this too? My eyesight has always been solid enough - I dont think its a factor. Is it possible the city are using low powered bulbs to save on the electricity bills? I think it's dangerous.

Note: I had a very quick look back at threads in the forum and didnt see any on this topic, apologies if I'm mistaken.

ErnieBert

All street-lamps have a number stuck on them so phone or email Airtricity and they will replace it fairly promptly.

biko

Can't say it's something I've noticed but just to note it will take a while before they get bright after they have started up. Also at dawn and dusk the ambient light difference will be less, and thus you can see better when it's proper dark, the contrast is higher.

Mrs OBumble

We've been here before:


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82066372

intellectual dosser

Not sure how I didnt notice it before - I honestly think it's a safety concern it was that bad. The incident last night happened around 8:15pm, so it was pretty dark.

Iwannahurl

A large part of the problem, in my view, is those hideous sodium-vapour street lights.

They are somewhat energy-efficient but produce light only in a very narrow spectrum.



This inhibits vision effectiveness in low light conditions. In my experience pedestrians in particular are not very visible on streets lit by sodium-vapour lamps, and this is made worse by the ubiquitous black tarmac.

The solution is to get rid of the sodium lamps and switch to LED street lighting. In my opinion that would be a win-win situation: better street lighting and lower energy consumption.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/justingerdes/2013/01/25/los-angeles-saves-millions-with-led-street-light-deployment/
http://www.newscenter.philips.com/main/standard/news/press/2012/201217-led-street-lighting.wpd#.UymDgKiKV8E

Another advantage would be a renaissance in night-time photography.