Hacker News Reader

Comment by globular-toast | Hacker News Reader

I wish we could just stop using street lights or at least turn them down significantly. I've done a lot of walking at night and a lot of the time you can see just fine. On darker nights (no moon) you can simply carry a torch. There's simply no need to floodlight entire streets all night long.

There is a lot of research into the effects of light on sleep quality and it's bad. I have to put significant effort into blocking out street lights in my bedroom which means using blackout curtains even in winter. It's also bad for birds and other wildlife which rely on lighting to determine the time of day. I used to live on a street which turned the lights off completely at about midnight and it was so much better.

View on HN

Plenty of people feel unsafe walking around poorly lit parts of a city at night.

The problem isn't the lighting. Its the city.

One of those is a lot easier to remedy than the other.

I agree, but I think the issue is that LOTS of people just don't have good night vision. I have excellent night vision, and I feel safest with low lighting because it allows me to retain my night vision to see into unlit corners etc. I also don't feel as much "on display". But yeah, for a significant minority of people who have poor vision, the brighter the better, because they just can't see in the dark normally.

Then bring a torch. The torch will help you see into dark corners too. You wouldn't drive without lights. I'm not sure why people walk around without one.

A few years ago my local government installed lighting over 14 miles of highway only because they could get federal funding to do so. There were 0 light related accidents and 0 crimes that would not have occurred without lighting. Now we get the privilege of some of our taxes going to maintain the lighting and pay the electric bill.

Yes, I am bitter. A decision like that should be backed by evidence that it will actually improve something.

That's most likely an age thing. I feel the same as you but then my grandma complains about those same dark lights that I find too bright. I also remember finding nights even brighter as a kid.

Not everyone has 20/20 vison and may well have poor night vison.

For context, a woman was kidnapped off the street and murdered fairly early in the evening in an area that's considered pretty quiet and safe in London recently.

I don't see the relevance. Criminals aren't cave bats - they're not going to reconsider an act because there's a street light. They'll just move on to another opportunity or do it anyway.

I echo globular-toast's complaints because I have a bright LED street lamp right outside my window which prevents me from sleeping unless I close my curtains, meaning I can't wake up to natural light in the morning.

Street lighting is excessive and unnecessary and unless there's a study that says otherwise, I doubt it has any impact on crime.

According to the ONS, more violent crimes happen at night than during the day, so lighting does have a measurable effect on crime.

The conclusion that lighting itself is causing that effect cannot be drawn from that information. There could be a number of other factors for why violent crimes happen at night.

The relevance is that it is politically difficult, especially currently, to not want street lighting. Evidence isn’t so relevant and arguably the psychological benefits to the citizenry are worth the costs.

Is there any reason to think different lighting would have prevented Sarah Everard's murder?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com