The article in the url below is a report about the shift from stoplights made using old light bulbs to new stoplights that are produced using LED lights. The LED lights last longer, require less maintenance, are easier for motorists to see, and, important for environmentalists, use less energy than their predecessors. As a result:
“In the last seven years, Wisconsin has converted more than 90 percent of the lighting under state control to LED bulbs.”A side-effect of the new lights, however, is that they emit less heat, which is a direct result of consuming less energy. In the summer, this is fine. In the winter, however, less heat leads to the additional build-up of snow and ice on the lights, which obscures the lights and can have deadly consequences:
“Last April, the driver of a pickup truck approaching an intersection in the far western suburb of Oswego went past a red light obscured by snow and struck a 34-year-old woman turning left in her car. The woman died and four other people were injured in the accident.”The police are attributing the accident to the new lights:
''Do I think the accident would have happened if the light was not covered in snow?'' said Detective Rob Sherwood of the Oswego Police Department, referring to the accident in April. ''I'd be willing to bet that it would not have happened if the driver that went through the light had an unobstructed view of the signal. It was the first indication in this community that the LED lights were not melting the snow.''Have a good weekend.
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment (2e)
© Sage Publications, 2011
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LED Signals Seen as Potential Hazard
By SUSAN SAULNY
688 words
2 January 2010
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
12
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/us/02lights.html
