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I'd be fine with more darkness, or just enough light. With infrared cameras, there's lil need for a non24hr place to have many lights on. Actually LEDs typically have a short range, maybe if street lights weren't so tall, what if they were LED units built in to the curbside, like in a swimming pool? Ambient light in sidewalks.
I have never understood the desire for "security lighting". I see it all the time here in our rural setting, and in businesses in town.
Why would anyone want to make it easy for the criminal to see so he can get around with no fear of tripping and falling? I want it to be dark, so he can't see the rake laying there with the tines up, waiting for him to step on them. I want it dark, so he can trip over the garden hose and smack his head on the concrete curb. I want it dark, so he can bash his shins on the trailer hitch on the truck. I want it dark so he can walk into the electric fence or the backyard fire pit.
Have the "security lights" in a store ever prevented a burglary, or did they make it easier for the burglars?
Lights on sports fields? Why? Can't they schedule the games during daylight hours?
I bet they could if they wanted to or had to.
I think we could learn to live without so many lights if we wanted to. Think of all the electricity we could save (read: coal, oil, and natural gas being burned in power plants to keep those lights unnecessarily on.) Think of the CO2 being spewed into the air to keep those lights on. well, OK, just THINK!
City government should have standards on how bright lights can be and how directed. If not they should add that to the city code. I think Tucson Arizona is a dark sky community so you might check their codes.
On my way into Glasgow the other night I noticed how bright all the lights of the city were from afar and wondered just how much light is being wasted from street lights etc,that could be harnessed, has anyone else thought about this, there is no need for so many street lights when so much is going to waste shining up into the sky.
It's just the nature of light.
If you want a light to illuminate, say, a street, you're going to shine that light down at the street. And you're going to make it bright enough that the light that hits the street (and the sidewalk and the cars and the building fronts and so forth) bounces off those surfaces to be picked up by human eyes. Some of that bouncing (reflected) light will obviously head up and out to be viewed from afar.
You're not going to have dark cities. That's simply a non-starter.
If you want a light to illuminate, say, a street, you're going to shine that light down at the street. And you're going to make it bright enough that the light that hits the street (and the sidewalk and the cars and the building fronts and so forth) bounces off those surfaces to be picked up by human eyes. Some of that bouncing (reflected) light will obviously head up and out to be viewed from afar.
You're not going to have dark cities. That's simply a non-starter.
No I dont mean dark cities, far from it, Im talking about saving on energy with these big lights where the light glows as much up as down, if you know what I mean, there are companies who make eco lighting like this to save on power.
Why would anyone want to make it easy for the criminal to see so he can get around with no fear of tripping and falling? I want it to be dark, so he can't see the rake laying there with the tines up, waiting for him to step on them.
There are some really backward states out there and all, but in quite a number of them, allowing such "mantrap" situations to lie about your property would expose you to some potentially rather severe civil liability.
There are some really backward states out there and all, but in quite a number of them, allowing such "mantrap" situations to lie about your property would expose you to some potentially rather severe civil liability.
There is a big difference between deliberately setting a booby trap (like a string tied to the trigger of a shotgun) and not putting your tools away, or leaving the ball mount in the receiver of the truck, etc.!
Yes, setting a booby trap is illegal in many states. Having an electric fence or a firepit or a rake or a garden hose, with no light, is not.
There is a big difference between deliberately setting a booby trap (like a string tied to the trigger of a shotgun) and not putting your tools away, or leaving the ball mount in the receiver of the truck, etc.! Yes, setting a booby trap is illegal in many states. Having an electric fence or a firepit or a rake or a garden hose, with no light, is not.
The generality is that you are not obligated to take special steps to protect trespassers from harm on your property. Just guests and trades, business, and service personnel. But the earlier post plainly suggested the knowing and deliberate creation of a hazard in the specific hope and anticipation that a trespasser would be injured by it. That in most states will leave in a very bad way before the law. Something for "tough guys" to keep in mind out there in the real world.
The generality is that you are not obligated to take special steps to protect trespassers from harm on your property. Just guests and trades, business, and service personnel. But the earlier post plainly suggested the knowing and deliberate creation of a hazard in the specific hope and anticipation that a trespasser would be injured by it. That in most states will leave in a very bad way before the law. Something for "tough guys" to keep in mind out there in the real world.
Ah, yes, "plainly suggested"...
Well, actually, no; no such "suggestion" was made, merely a statement of the common hazards that a stranger MAY encounter when prowling around a strange place in the dark. Not necessarily even MY place!
Speaking of "suggestions", when reading between the lines of your post, it seems that you are suggesting that we all have an obligation to provide light so that a trespasser will not come to harm when invading our space.
IF, in fact, that was intended, I strongly disagree. We have absolutely no obligation to ensure the safety of a criminal on our property, IMO!
In fact, IMO we do not have to spend the money for outdoor lighting if we don't want to. I do not choose to do so. Both because of the light pollution and the expense.
I have never understood the desire for "security lighting". I see it all the time here in our rural setting, and in businesses in town.
Why would anyone want to make it easy for the criminal to see so he can get around with no fear of tripping and falling? I want it to be dark, so he can't see the rake laying there with the tines up, waiting for him to step on them. I want it dark, so he can trip over the garden hose and smack his head on the concrete curb. I want it dark, so he can bash his shins on the trailer hitch on the truck. I want it dark so he can walk into the electric fence or the backyard fire pit.
Have the "security lights" in a store ever prevented a burglary, or did they make it easier for the burglars?
Lights on sports fields? Why? Can't they schedule the games during daylight hours?
I bet they could if they wanted to or had to.
I think we could learn to live without so many lights if we wanted to. Think of all the electricity we could save (read: coal, oil, and natural gas being burned in power plants to keep those lights unnecessarily on.) Think of the CO2 being spewed into the air to keep those lights on. well, OK, just THINK!
......."Can't they schedule the games during daylight hours "?
Most people who want to attend those games actually work for a living and have day jobs.
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