[Chaos-l] Motion detector streetlights etc. [was: LED...]

[Jon Stewart-Taylor]

Hi all.  A well-meaning Crook (which may be an oxymoron, or may not,  
but we know Terry isn't any kind of moron) said:

> The motion detector idea is BAD as pedestrians, animals, stalled  
> vehicles, miscreants would not be seen until TOO LATE!

Um.  Pedestrians could also trigger the detectors, or you could tie  
the "light on" signal to the "push to cross" button.  Besides, the  
majority of streetlights are mounted only at intersections.   
*Rhetorical question mode on* Are the animals, stalled vehicles, and  
miscreants always polite enough to only cross, become disabled, or  
creant at the intersections?  Besides, i don't believe the proposed  
motion detectors would be tied into those strange and seldom-used auto  
accessories some refer to as "headlights", so those few cars equipped  
with them would still function as they currently do. *Rhetorical mode  
off*

Seriously, i'm not a traffic engineer, but i'm willing to bet that the  
street light at e.g. the intersection of Honeysuckle Road and  
Sedgefield just up the street from here doesn't need to be on dawn to  
dusk.  Given the supposedly 25 MPH speed limit on both roads, i  
strongly suspect a motion detector with a sufficient range and a lamp  
with a quick enough on-off cycle would equal the safety value of the  
current installation.  I'm not going to assert this is true in all  
locations, but i believe it is true in at least some locations.

Besides, it would be fun to see the streetlights turn on then off all  
the way down the street as cars pass them.

> [...] there is still the matter of people safety & crime prevention.

Certainly.

> [...]  good illumination does serve to discourage illegal behavior

Right, but where is the illegal behavior taking place?  Is a  
streetlight the best application of the illumination, or should a more  
targeted source be installed?

> & enhances other defensive measures

I've read studies which show light appearing in places which are  
usually dark attracts more police attention than unusual activity in  
places which are usually lighted.  Proximity/motion activation of  
illumination  can be useful here also.

> Such hi-population density areas are the usual sources of light  
> pollution but also the most vulnerable to criminal behavior.

Anecdotally, our family has been robbed the same number of times  
during the 10 years we lived 2 blocks from the largest open-air drug  
market in Northern Virginia, as we have during the 10 years we've  
lived here in Chapel Hill (to whit, once each).  In NoVA, they walked  
up to our house on a brightly lighted sidewalk in broad daylight, and  
broke in through a basement slider while we were on vacation (they  
stole two wine glasses and my spouse's high school class ring).  In  
Chapel Hill, they walked up to our house on an unlighted driveway in  
broad daylight, and broke in through a back-deck slider while we were  
on vacation (they stole a 4-year-old laptop, a GameCube, and a bicycle).

The moral of the story is, install streetlights instead of sliders.   
No, that's not right, it's don't go on vacation.  No, that's not right  
either.   The moral is that you should install doors which are more  
lockable than sliders.  In either case, i doubt they'd have broken in  
if our dogs weren't in kennels while we were on vacation.  Maybe the  
moral is not to have your dogs go on vacation.

Anyway, anecdotal evidence isn't worth as much as you usually pay for  
it, which is usually nothing.  But, i still don't think a dawn-to-dusk  
illuminating system on either door would have prevented the break-ins.

> The other ideas are good & should be promoted vigorously.

Kind of you to say.  Ok, folks, you heard Terry (i  am a) Crook.  Go  
promote vigorousness.  Um, i mean, go promote, vigorously.

J.
-- 
Jon Stewart-Taylor:  joncst at earthlink.net

The 5 rules of Only Good Lighting (tm):

1) Only illuminate it IF it needs to be lighted.
2) Only illuminate it WHEN it needs to be lighted.
3) Only illuminate it  AS MUCH as it needs to be lighted.
4) Only Illuminate it FROM ABOVE.
5) Only illuminate IT, nothing near it.