Road lighting in change: User advice for designers

Abstract

Road lighting practice in Europe is currently under change, the changes being induced by the European Union Ecodesign regulations, the rapid development of LEDs and the new CIE system of mesopic photometry. This makes it a good time to listen to the opinions of the end users of road lighting. What are the aspects of road lighting that the drivers value? What are the most difficult visual tasks faced by drivers at night? Are drivers willing to reduce the amount and quality of lighting to save energy? All these questions and more were presented to over 100 drivers aged 20–79 years in a questionnaire in Finland during the autumn of 2010. This paper summarises the results and discusses the expectations of drivers that should be considered when preparing future guidelines for road lighting.

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