In recent years there has been talk of turning off street lighting in certain areas or roads. The reason for doing this has often been to lower energy consumption and lower the co2 omissions. Many think this is not the real reason for turning the street lights off. Many think that the real reason is to save money.
Of course even if this is not the real reason it will indeed help cut down on co2 omissions which can’t be a bad thing.
Whatever the reason the Highways Agency has already done this on motorways in Kent, Hampshire, Berkshire, Somerset, Avon and Devon. They now plan to turn the lights off on the M6 from junction 27 to junction 29 between 12 midnight and 5am. This is the quietest time on this stretch of road.
This stretch of motorway has a track record of being safe and having a low number of accidents and this is why they feel that at a time of the day when there is little traffic it is perfectly safe to turn the lights off.
Only time will tell whether this move turns out to increase the rate of accidents or make little or no difference to the rate of accidents. My guess is that it will not make any difference to the accident rate, as it is at a time of the day when very little drivers are up and about. Not only this, but I think this new initiative will simply succeed in lowering co2 omissions and costs.
