Streetlights or Darkness « on: January 22, 2018, 08:49:18 AM » Author: F96T12 DD VHO
Many parts in Colorado are street lit in some ways. Denver is lit up with mostly HPS, but I live in Aspen, CO and the drive is too far Point is Would you ever drive at night with streetlights or nothing at all
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #1 on: January 22, 2018, 01:12:53 PM » Author: Medved
It depends. Inadequate streetlight design is mostly worse than no street light at all, in many places the car headlights are good enough. Outside dense city (no pedestrians,...): On roads without direction division with dense traffic, so when you can not use high beam due to opposite traffic, the streetlights may help. On divided roads or with so light traffic so you may use high beam all the time, it is in most cases better to have no streetlights at all. Inside city, where a lot of pedestrians are walking around, the the street lighting gets more "favor" points, mainly when a strong opposite traffic gives off strong headlights glare (all vehicles together, not speaking about misaligned ones). What is quite a problem are sudden transitions from brightly lit sections to completely dark ones and back. These are the worst spots - a lot of glare (I'm talking only about the glare coming from the illuminated road itself, not from a poor lantern optics), but not much visibility. Gradual transitions are (according to my view) really a must, a system dimming the light level according to the traffic is very strong plus (it provides enough illumination against oncoming headlights with heavy traffic, but does not make that much glare at light traffic hours), but it is not so often installed.
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #2 on: January 22, 2018, 01:14:19 PM » Author: RyanF40T12
Denver is quickly converting over to LED.
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #3 on: January 22, 2018, 05:38:08 PM » Author: Rommie
Quote from: RyanF40T12 on January 22, 2018, 01:14:19 PM Denver is quickly converting over to LED.  Tell me somewhere that isn't  I don't drive much these days, but when I do, I prefer SOX or HPS lighting, I detest driving under LED's. But even they are better than no lighting at all, I find driving on completely unlit roads at night very tiring.
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #4 on: January 22, 2018, 06:43:04 PM » Author: Mandolin Girl
When driving at night it is far better to get illumination from a source that gives you optimum visual acuity. As drivers we don't need to see colours vividly, we should all know the sequence at traffic signals so that's not a factor. So daylight spectrum LED street lights are not the driver's friend. To my way of thinking they can hamper their vision by distracting it through glare. So sodium lighting is the way to go for me.
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #5 on: January 22, 2018, 06:44:55 PM » Author: Rommie
Quote from: Miss Cuddly on January 22, 2018, 06:43:04 PM So sodium lighting is the way to go for me. Especially as SOX in particular gives light at the very point in the spectrum where the human eye is at its most sensitive.
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #6 on: January 22, 2018, 09:39:01 PM » Author: xmaslightguy
Quote from: RyanF40T12 Denver is quickly converting over to LED.  I've noticed that in the surrounding areas - for main streets, not in neighborhoods. (I'll just believe you on the city itself since I don't go there often) Where I live there's still allot of HPS in use, but all the main & semi-main roads have been being converted to LED (I don't expect it to happen on neighborhood streets anytime soon though) I noticed something last night: a cloudy night, and after a snowstorm - (exactly when skyglow is the brightest)... The orange 'nuclear waste' glow (as some call it .lol. ) in the sky is now not as orange as it used to be \ ---------
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #7 on: January 22, 2018, 10:03:09 PM » Author: HomeBrewLamps
Quote from: xmaslightguy on January 22, 2018, 09:39:01 PM I've noticed that in the surrounding areas - for main streets, not in neighborhoods. (I'll just believe you on the city itself since I don't go there often) Where I live there's still allot of HPS in use, but all the main & semi-main roads have been being converted to LED (I don't expect it to happen on neighborhood streets anytime soon though) I noticed something last night: a cloudy night, and after a snowstorm - (exactly when skyglow is the brightest)... The orange 'nuclear waste' glow (as some call it .lol. ) in the sky is now not as orange as it used to be \ --------- Thats Unfortunate... I like the nuclear waste glow.... around here it is still very much orange... as for the question at hand... I tend to be a night roamer, I take dark back paths on my night rides, I don't usually use flashlights with me into the woods or abandoned places and I Don't mind dark places in general, even if they'd usually be deemed "Scary" For instance the abandoned factory, I have been to, at night alone, my friends think I'm a nutter for that (probable)... I like the dark, Although I am also a lighting enthusiast, so this question causes internal conflict at a very deep level.....
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #8 on: January 24, 2018, 07:03:51 PM » Author: nicksfans
I like streetlights when I'm walking out in public at night, but I'd rather live in an area with no streetlights.
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #9 on: January 24, 2018, 08:07:44 PM » Author: CEB1993
Quote from: nicksfans on January 24, 2018, 07:03:51 PM I like streetlights when I'm walking out in public at night, but I'd rather live in an area with no streetlights. I agree with you Nick.  When I'm downtown, I feel much safer walking and parking my car in well lit areas.  However, at home I would prefer not having streetlights nearby, so I can sleep well at night and not have to deal with bright white HID or LED light shining in my windows.  At my college, I always had bright metal halide lights from the parking lot and nearby sidewalks shining in my windows at night.  I bought some blackout curtains and they did the trick
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #11 on: January 25, 2018, 07:54:32 AM » Author: Mandolin Girl
Quote from: Mercurylamps on January 25, 2018, 05:34:28 AM Where I live there are SOX street lights nearby. I like living near them as the monochromatic light is rather unobtrusive at home, yet I can easily see my cars without having to the turn on the lights at the front of the house. I totally agree, the soft glow of sodium lighting is the best for residential areas as they don't disrupt the circadian rhythms of humans and animals like the LED lights do. In fact sodium lighting is best all round.
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Hugs and STUFF Sammi xXx (also in Aberdeen)
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	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #13 on: January 25, 2018, 08:17:52 AM » Author: Mandolin Girl
Quote from: Mercurylamps on January 25, 2018, 08:07:37 AM In fact, I rather drive under SOX than any other light source at night. It's easier on the eyes to me. We agree on that as well.!!
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Hugs and STUFF Sammi xXx (also in Aberdeen)
Published Author
There are two kinds of light  -  the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
James Thurber
SMILEY ONLY ANSWERS WILL BE DELETED FROM MY POSTS

	Re: Streetlights or Darkness « Reply #14 on: January 25, 2018, 08:33:53 AM » Author: Rommie
Quote from: Miss Cuddly on January 25, 2018, 08:17:52 AM We agree on that as well.!! Absolutely Our bedroom window doesn't face the main street, but there is a post-top lantern out there with an HPS lamp in it, but it's not positioned so that we get much light from it. We have a roller blind on the window anyway. The main street outside is HPS lit, we can but hope it stays that way for as long as possible, the LEDisease is spreading fast
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