The Massachusetts Medical Society wishes to be recorded in
support of H.2858 and S.1937, identical bills that would limit excess lighting
produced by outdoor lighting fixtures.
Much of the light generated by roadway and security lighting
never achieves its intended purpose. It
never lights anyone’s way, or produces any security, visibility, or guidance to
anyone. Instead, it shines straight up
into the sky. In contrast, well-designed
lighting illuminates the ground without the overuse of energy and without being
a burden or a nuisance to the environment or other people and property. The most straightforward means to create a
glare-free nighttime environment is to utilize fully-shielded lighting fixtures
which emit all of their light downward (below the horizontal) and none of it
directly up into the sky.
While there are significant energy savings and environmental
advantages to adopting fully shielded lighting fixtures, the MMS is
particularly concerned about the medical and safety implications of the current
unfettered outdoor lighting. Poorly
designed lighting causes harsh glare that blinds and distracts drivers,
especially in bad weather and for drivers with poor visibility – this
disparately affects our older patients, particularly those with cataracts. Thus, many individuals are faced with the
choice of driving under unsafe conditions or severely limiting their mobility
at night due to unnecessary and easily preventable glare. This bill would be a positive step in
remedying this problem.
This bill would encourage energy-efficient lighting
practices throughout the Commonwealth by requiring the use of fully-shielded
exterior lighting in new or replacement installations, and to install that
lighting only where it is needed. These
steps will result in lowered energy consumption and less glare.
The bill would apply only to new or replacement lighting
installations — existing lighting (such as municipal streetlights) would not be
affected, and provisions are included to permit waivers when deemed necessary
by special circumstances. It would not
add to project costs, because well-designed, fully-shielded lighting is now
commonly available from a wide range of manufacturers.
The MMS support for these bills is consistent with the
American Medical Association’s (AMA) advisory on street lighting, published in
2016 that states: All street lighting
should be shielded to prevent glare to drivers, for driving safety. Improperly
shielded street lights cause disability glare and impede vision, causing safety
hazards. Review of published studies has shown that as the eye ages, it becomes
much more sensitive to disability glare, impairing safe driving.
We urge the Committee to report H.2858 and S.1937 out of
Committee favorably.
