Britain Shuts Off 750,000 Streetlights With No Impact On Crime Or Crashes

Flash Modin writes: English cities are hard up for cash as the national government dolls out cuts. And in response, the country's councils — local governing bodies — have slashed costs by turning off an estimated 750,000 streetlights. Fans of the night sky and reduced energy usage are happy, but the move has also sparked a national debate. The Automobile Association claims six people have died as a direct result of dimming the lights. But a new study released Wednesday looked at 14 years of data from 63 local authorities across England and Wales and found that residents' chances of being attacked, robbed, or struck by a car were no worse on the darker streets.

Comments

I am all for it

[The-Ixian]

I see street lights as a waste of money.

If people want street lights on in their neighborhood, I think they should have to pay for them directly (adopt a street light).

On a related note, many stop lights are completely unnecessary as well... we could turn quite a few lower traffic intersections into round abouts or simply turn off the lights from 1am to 4am or something.