LED Lighting Panels & Urban Safety

The government is rightly concerned with urban safety and how people in big cities and towns can be protected at all times – and white LED lighting panels in street lights are proving to be really useful in this regard.

Not only are these white LEDs particularly energy efficient so are great from a costs perspective for local authorities, but they also help to provide improved security and safety in urban built-up areas. Because the white light emanated is so much brighter than traditional street lights, buildings and people are much easier to recognise and spot, so there are fewer shadows and dark corners on city streets.

Salford City Council, for example, has had LED street lighting fitted around the city as part of a new scheme that hopes to save the local authority some £640,000 each year through reduced energy costs. This amounts to approximately £20 million over the 20-year life span of the LED panels.

It’s also thought that the LED lights will help to support the detection of crime because it improves night images captured on CCTV, while also allowing easier identification of car registration numbers and clothing colours to help the police and provide them with more descriptive and more accurate information.

Similarly, at the beginning of last year Southend Council announced it would replace all street lights with LED bulbs to save nearly two-thirds on energy bills, as well as making it easier for motorists to spot hazards on the roads at night and improve CCTV images after dark.