ROADWAY LIGHTING
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES OVER THE SAFETY BENEFITS OF HIGHWAY LIGHTING. ONLY A FEW STATISTICALLY CONTROLLED STUDIES HAVE BEEN MADE, BUT IT APPEARS THAT THE SAFETY BENEFIT/COST RATIO FOR CONTINUOUS ROADWAY LIGHTING IS EITHER NONEXISTENT OR VERY SMALL. FURTHERMORE, 35% OF THE FIXED OBJECTS INVOLVED IN FATAL COLLISIONS ARE LIGHT SUPPORTS. HOWEVER, BENEFITS OF SPOT LIGHTING ARE WELL DOCUMENTED. A CALIFORNIA STUDY FOUND NIGHT ACCIDENT RATES REDUCED BY SPOT LIGHTING AS FOLLOWS: 65% AT INTERSECTIONS, 52% AT RAILROAD CROSSINGS HAVING POOR ALIGHNMENT, AND 28% AT BRIDGE APPROACHES WITH POOR ALIGNMENT. THIS IS A TYPICAL EXAMPLE. IN A BRITISH STUDY OF 64 LENGTHS OF ROAD, THE FREQUENCY OF INJURY ACCIDENTS IN DARKNESS DECREASED BY 30% AFTER INTRODUCTION OF BETTER LIGHTING. PEDESTRIANS SEEM TO DERIVE MORE BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED LIGHTING THAN OTHER ROAD USERS. STUDIES IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA AND KANSAS CITY SHOWED THAT INCREASED ILLUMINATION LEADS TO DECREASED NIGHT ACCIDENT RATES. /HSL/
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Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 40, No 6, PP 30-34, 17 REF
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Authors:
- Williams, W L
- Publication Date: 1970-3
Media Info
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alignment; Benefit cost analysis; Bridge approaches; Crash rates; Highway safety; Intersections; Night; Pedestrians; Railroad grade crossings; Street lighting
- Old TRIS Terms: Continuous highway illumination
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00221427
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Oct 3 1971 12:00AM