Hi money friends, many of our street lights are being turned off to save money. Do you have any opinions?

Doesn't affect me as there are no street lights for miles ......... so logically it is therefore not essential to have street lights on (as many people have none anyway) so switching them off must be a good thing. Perhaps not in cities where dodgy-types might lurk in dark corners though???

I suppose it depends on the circumstances lillie. Young people walking
the streets late at night are very much at risk if the areas are known
to be dangerous. Where I live I don't think they need to be on
as late as they are as there is hardly anyone about and most of the
properties have security lights and porch lights etc. so it would not
be all that dark. I wonder how much they will save?

Oh, back to the 1970's!

We don't have streetlights where I live, but I remember living in London when everything was switched off.

No street lights for miles around here, but then no pavements or anywhere to walk to either. Sure I read somewhere that some councils dim them between certain hours and maybe thats an acceptable compromise. It was only when I moved to the country that I realised how much light pollution there was even in the town I lived in before.

I don't think it's a good idea in towns and cities. It'll definitely lead to more crime. I don't even think dimming the lights is a good idea. Even motion sensors would be dodgy - you'd be telegraphing you were approaching from quite some distance away, while the mugger / rapist / murderer wouldn't trigger anything as they'd be hidden in a nice, dark unlit corner somewhere.

Our street lights have been turned off in many places but kept on at approaches to roundabouts and any vulnerable areas. It seems to be working well and the council have put them back on in some places if people thought they should be on. Generally I think there are too many lights on so to switch some off seems a good idea. In some roads they've just switched alternate lights off so it's well enough lit.

I thought this was a good idea, Lillie, until last weekend, when I was at a friend's house and left to drive home very late at night. The street lights in my friend's street are turned off late evening, and I had to reverse out of a tight parking space, with other cars parked next to me, turn round and drive to the nearest main road in pitch darkness! The road was lined with parked cars, some not very well parked, and some on bends etc. What a nightmare!

I had my headlights on at full beam, but still had to drive at a geriatric snail's pace to avoid hitting any of the cars. Frankly, if anyone had walked out into the road or suddenly got out of their car, I probably wouldn't have seen them! And I'm well used to driving on very dark, rural roads and lanes, some single track, with no streetlights. I can honestly say it was a scary and stressful experience!

A very good point fruity. You could have injured yourself
and others just for the sake of keeping a few lights on
a bit later. I don't think the Council's have looked into
the problem sufficiently and just decide "Oh we'll turn
those off" instead of giving it more thought.

They do this in my area but fail to moniter the street lighting thats burning during daylight hours I have personaly emaied the local authority on several occasions reporting the lights on in the daytime.

At first thought I like the idea of less street lighting both as a money and fuel-saving option and to reduce 'light pollution' that stops us from seeing the night skies and affects wildlife. But I live in a quiet rural area and we have no street lights in our road anyway so this issue does not affect me directly. If I lived in the inner city, however, I would probably be scared stiff to walk at night if there was no lighting because of the fear of attack.

People would have to take much greater care to wear high-visibility jackets and perhaps always carry a torch if councils do decide to reduce lighting further.

If this is a great inconvenience (i.e disability/old age, lone lady in the house living in an isolation area like the counryside) leading to a safty issue, you can ask the local authority to leave on the light immediately outside your house on. All they do is disconnect the timmer and leave the lamp on a sensor so it comes on and stays on during the darkness.