Really, Really Bad Lighting

Good lighting is used only when needed, only where needed, in only the amount needed, and shielded so that the light does not emit into the sky. We’ve shared examples of good lighting, but every once in a while it’s useful to share examples of lighting that is extremely bad – and why. We present to you four examples of the some of the worst of the worst in outdoor lighting.

Flagpole Lighting Gone Rogue

This fire station, which won an award for being an environmentally sustainable building, didn’t take outdoor lighting into consideration. This security light is so bright that you can see the shadow of the flag in the sky! (See bottom image.)

If a little light is necessary for safety, will more lighting make us even safer? There is no clear scientific evidence that increased outdoor lighting deters crimes. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that streetlights don’t prevent accidents or crime, but do cost a lot of money. Read more about lighting, crime, and safety.

Streetlights Gone Wild

This photo, taken by Andrej Mohar, of streetlights in Bulgaria, is an example of streetlights gone wild. Each pole along this street has two nearly downward pointing lights that, by themselves, would be sufficient to safely light the roadway for vehicles and pedestrians. Yet, directly above the downward-facing lights on each and every pole also has sixteen globe lights! Virtually all the light from these many, many globes along this street goes outward and upward – shining in windows of the nearby buildings and the sky itself. Very little of their light shines downward where it could actually be useful. This is an extreme example of excessive, and unnecessary lighting that has no practical purpose.

STOP!

Outdoor lighting is often used for the intended purpose of increasing public safety, but can it actually decrease it? Yes, it can. We apologize for the bad angle, but have a look at this photo from Florida.

Yes, that’s a STOP sign with two spotlights mounted on top that are pointed directly at oncoming drivers. They produce enough glare to blind drivers, making the STOP sign all but invisible. By all indicators, this could qualify as the Least-Safe STOP Sign in America!

Door of Glare

Finally, we present to you an old example from the files of IDA. We’re told that this photo shows a lighting installation (that’s thankfully since been fixed) at a professional astronomical observatory.

So what’s wrong with this picture? At night when someone approaches the door, they will get a heavy dose of glare and then step into total darkness just as they need to negotiate the step and the door. This is another example of a light creating an unsafe situation.

All too often people don’t think carefully about what a light is supposed to accomplish. With a little education and some consideration, all examples of bad lighting across the globe could be fixed in our generation. Imagine all the improvements in safety, energy savings and our views of the night sky that we would enjoy if it came to pass!