Motorway lights are being turned off

What would happen if the government just decided to turn the motorway lights off at night?

The move, which will leave stretches of road put into darkness between midnight and 5am, will also fight the UK’s carbon footprint.

That’s fine government- it’s not as though anyone drives after midnight and needs motorway lights to see or anything is it?! Thanks for looking out for the common driver.

Critics warned about road safety, proposals to switch off motorway lights at low usage times was one of the 1st policies after the new government called for the public to put forward ideas for the new Government.

The idea was described by the Department for Transport as one of the “constructive ideas” which it welcomed from voters.

The initiative coincides with the largest public spending squeeze in a generation, with the Department for Transport, receiving Whitehall’s largest cuts.

Trials are already being carried out in Southern and South West England with lights being switched off on sections of the M2, M4, M5 and M27.

Now the Department for Transport and Highways Agency are looking to extend the programme,

According to the Highways Agency the initiative has also cut its maintenance bill as well as reducing light pollution.

There are stretches, including junctions, where lighting won’t be turned off for safety reasons. All the same there are other parts of the network, where it is now felt, that lighting throughout the night is unneeded.

Similar initiatives have been adopted on local roads by highway authorities across the country.

They include Cornwall, Surrey, Blackpool, Luton, Neath, North Somerset, Plymouth, Medway and Warrington.

In a lot of cases they are installing equipment which allows lighting to be dimmed rather than switched off completely.

This can be viewed as a lesser of two evils, but limiting still poses a risk to drivers at night time. If they want to reduce the carbon footprint then they could perhaps use solar panel technology or something.

Is this a sensible move?  What’s your view?

What do you think the repercussions of turning the motorway lights off will be?