OPINION: New LED lights make it dangerous for pedestrians in New Bedford

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Many of the street lights in New Bedford have been/are being replaced with LED’s in order to improve energy efficiency (which is hopefully being powered by the multiple municipal solar projects), which I support. However, I’ve noticed the lights that they have already replaced in the West End throw off very few lumens, meaning they do not emit nearly as much light as the classic sodium vapor lamps.

Being a runner and giving that it is dark by 5pm this is a concern – we do not live in the safest of cities. Though my dog and I are lit up like the Vegas strip with reflective gear and safety lights, this does not make up for the dimness of the new street lights. It would be considerably more difficult to see another pedestrian or someone on a bicycle, and certainly compromises safety.

LED’s are a great technology – one that warranted the Nobel Prize in physics this year. But, if being used to replace street lights that emitted a certain quantity of light, that replacement should be equal.

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