Street Lighting Policy

The Council, as the Highways Authority, has a duty of care to aid the safe passage of traffic on the highway and as such careful consideration is given to the placement and specification of any street furniture to provide core purpose and value, whilst also mitigating potential hazards for highway users.

Vehicular collisions at higher speeds with street furniture are likely to result in higher severity of injury, additionally in such areas street furniture is not the only potential source of a collision which could cause injury. Therefore in urban areas where speeds are below 40mph, or on housing estates, there is little advantage in using passively safe signposts and lighting columns, consequently passively safe products will typically not be considered.

For all new schemes on roads where the speed limit is 50mph or above, rural roads where the speed limit is 40mph or above, or urban dual carriageways where the speed limit is equal to or above 40mph a determination on the use of passively safe lighting supports should be undertaken in accordance with BS EN 12767:2007. This risk assessment should determine if passive equipment is appropriate and if passive equipment is required then the required class or equipment should be detailed.

It is not proposed that lighting columns should be replaced before they are life expired. However, the use of passively safe columns should be considered when there is a general replacement of lighting columns on existing roads where speeds are 40mph or above.

There may be instances whereby locations which do not meet the aforementioned criteria do require passive safe columns due to local factors. The risk assessment for existing roads is detailed below:

Locations where typically passively safe equipment will not be used:

• if the road is lined with parked cars the use of passively safe equipment is unlikely to be required
• if the geometry of road, road use and other factors effectively limits the speed to 25mph or less passively safe equipment is unlikely to be required
• there is a significant secondary collision item such as a tree or wall within 5m of the asset in the direction of travel
• if equipment is protected by existing Road Restraint System (RRS)
• there is a high risk secondary accident potential such as a bus stop or school crossing point where it is likely there is potential for significant stationary pedestrians, within 10m in the anticipated direction of travel

Locations where typically passively safe equipment could be used:

• if equipment is sited on a bend or in a high risk location passively safe equipment could be used
• traffic speed is equal to or above 50mph
• a history of repeated accidents