Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26219885›Full record

ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2015

The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

Rebecca Steinbach, Chloe Perkins, Lisa Tompson, Shane Johnson, Ben Armstrong, Judith Green, Chris Grundy, Paul Wilkinson, Phil Edwards

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Leveraging computer vision for predicting collision risks: a cross-sectional analysis of 2019-2021 fatal collisions in the USA.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Artificial light at night: a global disruptor of the night-time environment.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
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  15. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Rebecca SteinbachDepartment of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Chloe PerkinsDepartment of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Lisa TompsonDepartment of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, UK.
Shane JohnsonDepartment of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, UK.
Ben ArmstrongDepartment of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Judith GreenDepartment of Health Services Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Chris GrundyDepartment of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Paul WilkinsonDepartment of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Phil EdwardsDepartment of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4431-8822

Funding

Department of Health 11/3004/02
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany local authorities in England and Wales have reduced street lighting at night to save money and reduce carbon emissions. There is no evidence to date on whether these reductions impact on public health. We quantified the effect of 4 street lighting adaptation strategies (switch off, part-night lighting, dimming and white light) on casualties and crime in England and Wales.

methodsObservational study based on analysis of geographically coded police data on road traffic collisions and crime in 62 local authorities. Conditional Poisson models were used to analyse longitudinal changes in the counts of night-time collisions occurring on affected roads during 2000-2013, and crime within census Middle Super Output Areas during 2010-2013. Effect estimates were adjusted for regional temporal trends in casualties and crime.

resultsThere was no evidence that any street lighting adaptation strategy was associated with a change in collisions at night. There was significant statistical heterogeneity in the effects on crime estimated at police force level. Overall, there was no evidence for an association between the aggregate count of crime and switch off (RR 0.11; 95% CI 0.01 to 2.75) or part-night lighting (RR 0.96; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.06). There was weak evidence for a reduction in the aggregate count of crime and dimming (RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.70 to 1.02) and white light (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.77 to 1.03).

conclusionsThis study found little evidence of harmful effects of switch off, part-night lighting, dimming, or changes to white light/LEDs on road collisions or crime in England and Wales.

Indexed as

Accidents, TrafficCarbon FootprintCost ControlCrimeDatabases, FactualEnglandHumansInterrupted Time Series AnalysisLightingPoisson DistributionWalesACCIDENTSEnvironmental epidemiologySPATIAL ANALYSIS

Identifiers

PMID26219885
PMCPMC4680141

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.