White street lights v the old yellow ones
Discussion
Does anyone have a night time issue?
The contrast between the white headlight beam and the old yellow street lights made it easy to be aware of the presence of an as yet unseen car approaching a junction or tight corner at night. The new ones have no such contrast so the pre-warning is no longer there.
I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
The new lights also create very sharp shadows from which I've had people emerge to the road not knowing they were on the pavement to start with. The old yellow lights had a much more diffuse effect which gave a general light level all around.
The new ones may be cheaper to run, but I hate them.
The contrast between the white headlight beam and the old yellow street lights made it easy to be aware of the presence of an as yet unseen car approaching a junction or tight corner at night. The new ones have no such contrast so the pre-warning is no longer there.
I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
The new lights also create very sharp shadows from which I've had people emerge to the road not knowing they were on the pavement to start with. The old yellow lights had a much more diffuse effect which gave a general light level all around.
The new ones may be cheaper to run, but I hate them.
They recently replaced the street lights on our road at work and the level of light actually given out is dreadful. There must be at least a 50% reduction and,as it's residential, it makes it far dodgier to go walking at night. Residents have complained but the wise overlords that know better than us refuse to listen. Maybe this is a subtle way to reduce the world's population through fiery death and murder ?
Arkle said:
The contrast between the white headlight beam and the old yellow street lights made it easy to be aware of the presence of an as yet unseen car approaching a junction or tight corner at night. The new ones have no such contrast so the pre-warning is no longer there.
I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
Two questions for you...I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
1. How do you cope in the daytime?
2. What if whatever's just round the corner isn't a car with headlights on?
They are replacing street lights in our area with these new white lights
They are awful
They are almost blinding underneath them, but they cast out so little light around them that it makes the area look very dark and almost without light
As an example as I drive towards the road my parents live in and enter an area where they have these new lights my auto highbeams come on as it is that dark ., and that is on light summer nights
My parents (88 +79) say the new reduced lighting makes them feel unsafe in their home
And coincidently the headline in the local paper today is a police appeal for people to be vigilant in the area as there has been a sharp rise in burglary and theft from/of cars
Or maybe it isn't coincidental
They are awful
They are almost blinding underneath them, but they cast out so little light around them that it makes the area look very dark and almost without light
As an example as I drive towards the road my parents live in and enter an area where they have these new lights my auto highbeams come on as it is that dark ., and that is on light summer nights
My parents (88 +79) say the new reduced lighting makes them feel unsafe in their home
And coincidently the headline in the local paper today is a police appeal for people to be vigilant in the area as there has been a sharp rise in burglary and theft from/of cars
Or maybe it isn't coincidental
TooMany2cvs said:
Arkle said:
The contrast between the white headlight beam and the old yellow street lights made it easy to be aware of the presence of an as yet unseen car approaching a junction or tight corner at night. The new ones have no such contrast so the pre-warning is no longer there.
I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
Two questions for you...I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
1. How do you cope in the daytime?
2. What if whatever's just round the corner isn't a car with headlights on?
!
There'sve been three main evolutions in street lighting in my lifetime.
The yellow ones
Then the off-white / pink coloured ones that are currently almost everywhere.
Now there's the new "brilliant white" LEDs that are going up everywhere, a lot of the M6 through Birmingham has them.
I don't find them confusing with car headlights but I do find they hurt my eyes as they are too intense.
I have no idea why they have to be brilliant white like that, you can get LED lights in a "warmer" white, and indeed I have seen some councils use these and they are much better. Yet brilliant white seems to be the default choice everyone's gone with.
The yellow ones
Then the off-white / pink coloured ones that are currently almost everywhere.
Now there's the new "brilliant white" LEDs that are going up everywhere, a lot of the M6 through Birmingham has them.
I don't find them confusing with car headlights but I do find they hurt my eyes as they are too intense.
I have no idea why they have to be brilliant white like that, you can get LED lights in a "warmer" white, and indeed I have seen some councils use these and they are much better. Yet brilliant white seems to be the default choice everyone's gone with.
davepoth said:
TooMany2cvs said:
Arkle said:
The contrast between the white headlight beam and the old yellow street lights made it easy to be aware of the presence of an as yet unseen car approaching a junction or tight corner at night. The new ones have no such contrast so the pre-warning is no longer there.
I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
Two questions for you...I find this most disconcerting, even dangerous.
1. How do you cope in the daytime?
2. What if whatever's just round the corner isn't a car with headlights on?
The lights are brighter, but they have a poor width output. So as your eyes adjust to the increased brightness it makes everything inbetween seem darker, thus its much easier for someone to hide, unseen, in the dark spots.
Chris1255 said:
Had these installed for a few years now. Think they're one of those things that seem odd because they're different at first but you soon adjust and don't notice.
As with you, I've been used to them for a few years - I still miss the good old orange lights, just another bit of nostalgia, something that was better in the past replaced by a cheaper, "better" alternative. The new white lights with their harsh, ugly light make night drives somehow less enjoyable than they used to be.
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