Road lighting and accidents: Cyclists, lighting, accidents and responsibility

Local authority lighting engineers have a responsibility to optimise the energy used by road lighting, to meet budgets and to meet environmental targets. Reducing the provision of road lighting can, however, lead to public criticism - articles in the Lighting Journal have shown part-night switch-off blamed for a fall (Nov, 2015, p4), for death from a road accident (Jan 2014, p5) and for a series of crimes (June 2014, p5). This article considers road accidents associated with cyclists, the benefit of lighting, and the possible effect of a change in legal responsibility for accident compensation.