Poor lighting puts people off driving, according to Yotta research

Just over a quarter of UK adults in a recent survey said they avoid driving after dark because of poor street lighting on their local roads. The research, commissioned by technology company Yotta, polled 1,000 UK adults. The results found that many people are also put off from walking or cycling through local green spaces after dark by poor lighting. Nearly one-third (30%) said they are less likely to visit them because of the quality of the lighting. In addition, more than one quarter (26%) of respondent
January 9, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Just over a quarter of UK adults in a recent survey said they avoid driving after dark because of poor street lighting on their local roads.

The research, commissioned by technology company 8110 Yotta, polled 1,000 UK adults. The results found that many people are also put off from walking or cycling through local green spaces after dark by poor lighting.

Nearly one-third (30%) said they are less likely to visit them because of the quality of the lighting. In addition, more than one quarter (26%) of respondents overall said the quality of street lighting in their town or city made them feel less safe about going out after dark, compared to just 19% who said the lighting quality made them feel safer.  

Despite concerns about the quality of street lighting, 17% of UK adults believed the council are inefficient at fixing broken street lights in their local town or city.

In addition, when respondents were asked what public areas they would be happy for lighting to be switched off to help the council reduce costs,  the “no areas” option received 32% of the vote. Minor roads were cited by 19% of respondent and motorways by 18%.

Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tackling Europe’s urban road safety problems
    June 12, 2019
    Urban road safety is a key problem in Europe, an issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. That is the finding of a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The ETSC’s report reveals that road deaths on urban roads decreased at around half the rate of those on rural roads over the period 2010-2017. The report also shows that vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, account for 70% of those killed and seriously injured on urban roads. Dovilė Adminaitė-
    Read More
  • European Transport Safety Commission makes call for traffic safety boost
    July 10, 2015
    In 2013, 7,600 people died in road traffic while cycling or walking in European Union (EU) countries – the equivalent of a commercial airliner full of passengers being lost every week Because of this risk of death, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) wants vehicle manufacturers and local authorities to pay special attention to improving safety for cyclists, walkers and pedestrians. In a new report, the ETSC said the numbers being killed are falling more slowly than those for vehicle occupants. Over
    Read More
  • Safer roads needed for the gig economy
    May 14, 2019
    Roads everywhere are becoming high-pressure workplaces for millions of gig economy workers, meaning traffic police need a new way to regulate how highways are used. Geoff Hadwick reports from Manchester, UK The way in which the world’s highways are designed, built and used needs to change fast as the gig economy becomes a global phenomenon. Millions of low-paid and badly-trained freelance drivers are now using road as their workplace, all of them working hard under huge amounts of pressure. The tren
    Read More
  • Riding the sustainable cycle
    October 5, 2020
    It’s taken a while in North America, but “vehicular cycling” has been replaced by “sustainable cycling”, says transportation engineer Tyler Golly.
    Read More

Highlighted Content