Dataset Information

The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many local authorities in England and Wales have reduced street lighting at night to save money and reduce carbon emissions. There is no evidence to date on whether these reductions impact on public health. We quantified the effect of 4 street lighting adaptation strategies (switch off, part-night lighting, dimming and white light) on casualties and crime in England and Wales.

Methods

Observational study based on analysis of geographically coded police data on road traffic collisions and crime in 62 local authorities. Conditional Poisson models were used to analyse longitudinal changes in the counts of night-time collisions occurring on affected roads during 2000-2013, and crime within census Middle Super Output Areas during 2010-2013. Effect estimates were adjusted for regional temporal trends in casualties and crime.

Results

There was no evidence that any street lighting adaptation strategy was associated with a change in collisions at night. There was significant statistical heterogeneity in the effects on crime estimated at police force level. Overall, there was no evidence for an association between the aggregate count of crime and switch off (RR 0.11; 95% CI 0.01 to 2.75) or part-night lighting (RR 0.96; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.06). There was weak evidence for a reduction in the aggregate count of crime and dimming (RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.70 to 1.02) and white light (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.77 to 1.03).

Conclusions

This study found little evidence of harmful effects of switch off, part-night lighting, dimming, or changes to white light/LEDs on road collisions or crime in England and Wales.

SUBMITTER: Steinbach R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4680141 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

Steinbach Rebecca R Perkins Chloe C Tompson Lisa L Johnson Shane S Armstrong Ben B Green Judith J Grundy Chris C Wilkinson Paul P Edwards Phil P

Journal of epidemiology and community health 20150728 11

<h4>Background</h4>Many local authorities in England and Wales have reduced street lighting at night to save money and reduce carbon emissions. There is no evidence to date on whether these reductions impact on public health. We quantified the effect of 4 street lighting adaptation strategies (switch off, part-night lighting, dimming and white light) on casualties and crime in England and Wales.<h4>Methods</h4>Observational study based on analysis of geographically coded police data on road traf ...[more]

PMID: 26219885

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Dataset Information

The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

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