PUBLIC LIGHTING, PROFIT OR COST TO SOCIETY? A STUDY THROUGH ACCIDENT RISKS

Some saving measures lead to reduce or completely shut off the public lighting during night or part of the night. It would be interesting to know if this kind of saving measures is not achieved at the expense of road users' safety or to the economic detriment of society when comparing with the cost of an accident. Using statistical analysis, we compared the accident rates on different types of roads with the percentage of such roads which are lit or not. This study includes a rough economic analysis of the cost / benefit of public lighting. In conclusion, and despite the large amount of data, we have not been able to demonstrate a significant positive or negative impact of street lighting on accidents. However, the average cost of an accident is so high that even minimal positive influence of street lighting allows savings at society level and not just for the public authorities.