This paper concerns road lighting for pedestrians and how this aids reassurance, their confidence when walking alone after dark. Evidence from past studies that lighting enhances reassurance is supported by the findings of an unfocussed approach that aimed deliberately to avoid focus on lighting or fear, thus to counter the unintended potential for focussed, quantitative methods to lead towards such a finding. Review of the characteristics of lighting suggests an optimum illuminance of 10 lux, of high S/P ratio, and aimed toward the pedestrian and natural elements of the environment, will enhance reassurance. Further research is needed to validate the optimum illuminance, the appropriate metric for characterising lamp spectral power distribution, and the most desirable aims of spatial distribution.

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The paper reports a study that examines how to determine if a road traffic collision took place in daylight or in the dark. An innovative method was developed, based on solar altitude, to establish cut-off points of daylight and darkness determined from a study of daylight availability in England, Scotland and Wales. This approach provides a rigorous method to differentiate daytime and night-time collisions. The criteria were used in a study of the collisions reported in the STATS19 data set for the weeks either side of the clock changes that are necessary between Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time. By comparing periods with the same clock time either side of the time change, using the aforementioned method, it was possible to isolate collisions within the same time period that during one week occurred in darkness and in the other week in daylight. The initial finding was that there are 19.3% more collisions in the dark periods and there is an even greater increase (31.7%) in pedestrian injuries.

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Due to our social behaviours, people spend at least 80% of their time indoors, mostly under artificial light. In research and building design, daylight is considered a valuable asset because it is the primary source of free, good quality light and it is suggested that it has a positive influence on human performance, health and sleep quality. There is a tendency in the population for increasingly poor sleep quality with age, and this affects at least 50% of the elderly population. Research on sleep disruption has found that especially in the elderly population, interrupted sleep can affect alertness, cognitive performance and mood. This increases the risk of falls, increases fatigue and reduces some other mental functions. Exposure to daylight (indoors and outdoors) is expected to reduce sleep disruption. Physical activities and sleep quality were assessed using 32 participants living independently in the UK, aged between 65 and 95 years old. The study was divided into two seasons due to a considerable difference in daylight availability in summer and winter. In each season participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and a seven-day sleep diary/log activity; where time spent outdoors was identified. It was expected that participants who reported less exposure to daylight during summer and winter would report worse sleep quality. However, this was not the case; subjective sleep quality did not differ greatly between summer and winter, even though exposure to daylight varies greatly between seasons. This study explores the relationship between exposure to daylight throughout two different seasons and people’s chronotypes, physical activities and sleep quality (between and within participants). This information is essential to find means of supporting an ageing population. Practical applications: In the built environment, daylight is an important feature to consider for the occupant’s health and wellbeing. This research provides real-world insight into the amount of daylight that active aged people are exposed to during two seasons in London, and how this could impact their overall sleep quality. The findings suggest that exposure to daylight could benefit people over 65 years old with poor sleep quality by reducing the number of awakenings during the night. This research provides a step towards understanding how daylight exposure effects people, and can be used to inform housing design for the ageing population.