No Lights On Motorway
Discussion
I rarely drive when dark but the other day did a journey to Birmingham at about 430am ( M6 then the M42 )
I thought at that time it would be nice and quiet but I was evidently wrong, it was very busy -- not only that but hammering it down with rain.
One thing I noticed on the M6 is the lack of lighting. Did some googling and found statistically more accidents have occurred since removing the lights.
What's more important, the budget or peoples lives ?! Surely they should light up the motorways, not be removing them
I thought at that time it would be nice and quiet but I was evidently wrong, it was very busy -- not only that but hammering it down with rain.
One thing I noticed on the M6 is the lack of lighting. Did some googling and found statistically more accidents have occurred since removing the lights.
What's more important, the budget or peoples lives ?! Surely they should light up the motorways, not be removing them
Ashtray83 said:
Cars have lights. Drive to the conditions
+1Other than street lights for personal pedestrian safety and reassurance motorway and other road lights should not be necessary. They are an unnecessary waste of energy and create light pollution.
Being rather aged i tend to drive more cautiously at night and leaned a technique from my ex RAF pilot Dad many decades ago. Never stare and keep eye movement.
It's a weird one as you can't expect the whole motorway network to be lit up because that would cost billions but I understand the safety argument.
I'm pretty sure the places that are lit tend to be around the busier stretches of motorway and where two motorways may merge. Although there are quite a lot of areas that are lit and you probably wouldn't justify it if the road was new and being built today.
M6/M42 is quite a busy stretch so not sure as to why that section isn't lit whereas the M5 from junction 8 to the M42 is lit and there aren't any complicated junctions on that stretch.
I'm pretty sure the places that are lit tend to be around the busier stretches of motorway and where two motorways may merge. Although there are quite a lot of areas that are lit and you probably wouldn't justify it if the road was new and being built today.
M6/M42 is quite a busy stretch so not sure as to why that section isn't lit whereas the M5 from junction 8 to the M42 is lit and there aren't any complicated junctions on that stretch.
I'm thinking 1st world problem, as for motorways being unexpectedly busy, it would be more surprising if they weren't busy.
There is no reason for everything to be lit up, vehicles have headlights which can be used unless the OP is feeling charitable and wants to pay the electricity bill himself.
Sounds like an eyesight test might be beneficial.
There is no reason for everything to be lit up, vehicles have headlights which can be used unless the OP is feeling charitable and wants to pay the electricity bill himself.
Sounds like an eyesight test might be beneficial.
MakaveliX said:
I rarely drive when dark but the other day did a journey to Birmingham at about 430am ( M6 then the M42 )
I thought at that time it would be nice and quiet but I was evidently wrong, it was very busy -- not only that but hammering it down with rain.
One thing I noticed on the M6 is the lack of lighting. Did some googling and found statistically more accidents have occurred since removing the lights.
What's more important, the budget or peoples lives ?! Surely they should light up the motorways, not be removing them
4.30am on the M6 is usually quite busy. It just gets even busier later on.I thought at that time it would be nice and quiet but I was evidently wrong, it was very busy -- not only that but hammering it down with rain.
One thing I noticed on the M6 is the lack of lighting. Did some googling and found statistically more accidents have occurred since removing the lights.
What's more important, the budget or peoples lives ?! Surely they should light up the motorways, not be removing them
Personally, I'd rather drive without motorway lighting as you see only red lights in, effectively, a one-way street and you don't have to bother with oncoming headlights.
I find cat's eyes and my headlights to be enough. I was driving home from Sheffield last night and on the M180 my biggest problem was that brief stretches of L1 didn't have them. Personally, street lighting on motorways is a bit pointless away from major junctions. With the strength of LED headlights these days (I wish my car had them) and using your mirrors to see whats going on, it's enough to focus the mind.
Michael
Michael
A few points. Motorways were originally unlit and sections with street lighting were introduced due to collision stats and sometimes local common weather conditions.
Secondly in my early advanced training I asked how to deal with the issue of visibility at night vs speed, bearing in mind lights were not as good then. The advice given, which has stood me in good stead, is that if it's a normal drive then find another who is travelling at the same sort of pace you intend, establish a following position well back and use them as a pathfinder. It works.
Finally something mentioned on the smart motorway threads. Considering point 1 above it was more than disappointing to learn that in one of the design iterations for smart motorways National Highways or one of the previous versions stated quite clearly that to reduce the cost of upgrading the removal of systems of lighting should be considered. That suggests it's about the money, stuff safety. Though all that is really for different thread.
Secondly in my early advanced training I asked how to deal with the issue of visibility at night vs speed, bearing in mind lights were not as good then. The advice given, which has stood me in good stead, is that if it's a normal drive then find another who is travelling at the same sort of pace you intend, establish a following position well back and use them as a pathfinder. It works.
Finally something mentioned on the smart motorway threads. Considering point 1 above it was more than disappointing to learn that in one of the design iterations for smart motorways National Highways or one of the previous versions stated quite clearly that to reduce the cost of upgrading the removal of systems of lighting should be considered. That suggests it's about the money, stuff safety. Though all that is really for different thread.
cb31 said:
I think it is a disgrace, they moan about tired drivers but driving in the full dark is much more tiring than with lighting. It's all about money as usual.
Surely if someone driving at night needs the streetlights on and is reliant upon the streetlights to keep themselves awake then they shouldn't be at the wheel, especially on a motorway at night.If the body needs to shut down then it will, even with streetlights on or bright sunshine.
It is more an observation than anything. In my opinion, and this is backed up by stats and figures, the motorways would be much safer with better visibility
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/8920827/motorways-...
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/8920827/motorways-...
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