At present, the UK has a range of different requirements and expert viewpoints for the street lighting needed for traffic calming projects involving speed humps, speed cushions, and pinch points. This has resulted largely from the vague directions given by the Highway (Road Hump) Regulations 1996. Section 5 of the Regulations specifies three alternative approaches to lighting that can be used at road humps. This paper assesses the practical implications of these options, and shows that they can lead to unsatisfactory results. Its author proposes the following solution. The lighting should be sufficient for road users to see road humps clearly, and be able to determine the actions of other road users and pedestrians. Whichever option is chosen, the intensity of lighting at each column should always be that determined by British Standard BS5489, and spacing should enable avoidance of wide variations of illumination along the road. Therefore, despite the options allowed in the Regulations, the author recommends a lighting scheme which meets BS5489 in almost every case, to satisfy both lighting and safety considerations. At present, the UK has no definitive Regulations, Standards, or recommendations for lighting pinch points, and BS5489 is the nearest relevant Standard. The appropriate lighting requirements are discussed.
Abstract