Car Lights Brighter,Sheffield Street Lights Useless.

[ivan edake 13]

Car lights seem to be getting brighter and brighter, many cars have lights which are now absolutely brilliant white and produce instant dazzle,  and are making driving at night more dangerous than it has ever been. There used to be a limit on light intensity but that now seems to have now  gone. On the other side of the coin Sheffield street lights are absolutely useless. The lights are too high and they are weak, there aren't enough of them,  and many are not even working.  Why on earth the sodium lights were removed is anybodies guess because they were far superior. I have no doubt it was a cost cutting exersise as usual and  not something to improve road safety. Just like removing the hard shoulder on motorways.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

The vast improvement in street lighting in this and every other city is a result of the positioning, type of light source, quality of light and controllability.

Travel through a suburban areas in other countries will remind you how varied,  inconsistent, the pools of dark and range and glaring our lights used to be.

 

Aesthetically most people can't remember the mercury lights that were superseded by sodium

 

[Resident 1,185]

5 hours ago, ivan edake said:

Car lights seem to be getting brighter and brighter, many cars have lights which are now absolutely brilliant white and produce instant dazzle,  and are making driving at night more dangerous than it has ever been. There used to be a limit on light intensity but that now seems to have now  gone. On the other side of the coin Sheffield street lights are absolutely useless. The lights are too high and they are weak, there aren't enough of them,  and many are not even working.  Why on earth the sodium lights were removed is anybodies guess because they were far superior. I have no doubt it was a cost cutting exersise as usual and  not something to improve road safety. Just like removing the hard shoulder on motorways.

1. There still are limits with car headlights however the limits are wattage based and were set before HID/LED were a thing. Both HID/LED are more power efficient therefore are brighter at lower wattages so don't LEGALLY breach the limits as the legistlation is slow to adapt to newer technologies. 

2. You're right, it's down to costs. LEDs last longer & use less energy which saves money. 

[dave_the_m 61]

I think a lot of people perceive the new LED street lighting as dimmer than the old sodium lamps simply because there is less sideways spill - the old ones lit up the sides of all the houses, whereas the new ones mainly illuminate the ground (and the people and things there). So if you look along a street at night now, all you see down the street is lots of dark unlit sides of houses and the black tarmac, which gives an overall impression of the street not being well lit. But close up, visibility is a lot better. You can better see dropped keys, muggers, parked cars etc.

[Ant68 21]

I think I’m right in saying that the fact that the newer LED street lighting is more focussed, is due to light pollution. We’re trying to cut it down, so as to allow nature as much as anything to have a ‘night’ (birds etc).

I agree that the sodium lights were (or maybe its my rose tinted specs) ‘better’. But sadly, much more costly to run than the LED. I just wish they would use an led on the warmer scale of the light spectrum, not those massively bright white ones. As soon as you are back in the dark after walking under one, my eyes need to adjust again !!

My car is quite low down, and I’m constantly being dazzled by lorries, and 4x4s with insanely bright lights. Whilst better headlights are a good thing for safety etc, I would have thought that the technology we have these days the car could ‘sense’ that its in a lit up area and dim them a bit !!

[Arthur Ritus 30]

Funny you posted this, I was just thinking the same last night walking along Penistone road. Difficult to pick out the dog crap on the path but  to look at the lights was almost painful due to their intensity and colour. Light is very complicated perhaps its lack of reflected light, the colour spectrum of the LED's being absorbed more by surroundings.

Some OBA in dog food and more UV in the LED's might help my case.

 

It is illegal to drive a vehicle on the public road with  LED lights if the vehicle originally was equipped with tungsten its even now (post Brexit) been added to the MOT so a vehicle fitted with them should fail.

Cars OE led would have to have type approved or OM light units as replacement which would comply with regulations and been tested by the government body to be allowed to be sold in the UK.

But still they come.

[bassett one 449]

if my memory serves me right,the council can turn them up if needed?

[Guest]

On 13/11/2021 at 08:58, Ant68 said:

My car is quite low down, and I’m constantly being dazzled by lorries, and 4x4s with insanely bright lights. Whilst better headlights are a good thing for safety etc, I would have thought that the technology we have these days the car could ‘sense’ that its in a lit up area and dim them a bit !!

I'm in the same boat, older hatchbacks just aren't high enough 😂

 

As for streetlights, it depends on the area, some are much better, whereas some do seem dim. Hated the horrible orange lights, at least you can see colour with LEDs.

[ivan edake 13]

On 13/11/2021 at 08:30, dave_the_m said:

I think a lot of people perceive the new LED street lighting as dimmer than the old sodium lamps simply because there is less sideways spill - the old ones lit up the sides of all the houses, whereas the new ones mainly illuminate the ground (and the people and things there). So if you look along a street at night now, all you see down the street is lots of dark unlit sides of houses and the black tarmac, which gives an overall impression of the street not being well lit. But close up, visibility is a lot better. You can better see dropped keys, muggers, parked cars etc.

You are wrong here.  The main problem with L.E.D lights is that you can't see parked cars properly.

[sheffbag 227]

On 12/11/2021 at 23:13, Annie Bynnol said:

The vast improvement in street lighting in this and every other city is a result of the positioning, type of light source, quality of light and controllability.

Travel through a suburban areas in other countries will remind you how varied,  inconsistent, the pools of dark and range and glaring our lights used to be.

 

Aesthetically most people can't remember the mercury lights that were superseded by sodium

 

I respectfully disagree, the new lights are more direct and only cover a small overspill around the actual lamppost. As a result of this in streets near where I live you have sections where it goes from light to dark the back to light. Contrast that to the old yellow/orange lighting which is still in place in certain areas and you have a full range of vision which is a lot safer.

 

I understand the need for more environmentally and cheaper lighting but I would challenge any councillor to walk through Clifton park at night on their own and tell me they feel secure with the lighting in place there.

[Bargepole23 337]

1 hour ago, sheffbag said:

I respectfully disagree, the new lights are more direct and only cover a small overspill around the actual lamppost. As a result of this in streets near where I live you have sections where it goes from light to dark the back to light. Contrast that to the old yellow/orange lighting which is still in place in certain areas and you have a full range of vision which is a lot safer.

 

I understand the need for more environmentally and cheaper lighting but I would challenge any councillor to walk through Clifton park at night on their own and tell me they feel secure with the lighting in place there.

Where's Clifton Park in Sheffield?

[HeHasRisen 3,374]

Haha, oh dear.