Lighting-up Time
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In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, lighting-up time is a legally-enforced period from half an hour after
sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...
to half an hour before
sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...
, during which all
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...
s on unlit
public roads A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...
(except if parked) must use their
headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for t ...
.


History

Lighting-up time was first introduced in the nineteenth century in local
by-law A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authority. The higher authority, generally a legislature or some othe ...
s and enforced nationally by the Lights on Vehicles Act 1907. In the 1920s,
service stations Service station may refer to: * Filling station, a gasoline or petrol station * Automobile repair shop, a place where automobiles are repaired * Service centre or rest area, a public facility on motorways or controlled-access highways for resti ...
started displaying cardboard clock-face displays, set to the lighting-up time for the day. The Road Lighting Act 1942 stipulated 1 hour after sunset/before
sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...
. It was amended to 30 minutes by the Road Traffic Act 1956 because of the increasing speed of traffic. These were the required times for showing all lights on all vehicles, including
bicycles A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. ...
and
horse-drawn carts A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by auto ...
, hence the name ''lighting-up time''. The current
Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The ...
tightened the requirements further. Lighting-up time is retained as the required period for use of motor vehicle
headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for t ...
on roads without lit
streetlights A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution b ...
, but with that exception, all vehicles must now keep conspicuity lights lit during the longer period of sunset to sunrise (unless parked, in a designated parking place and facing the same way as adjacent traffic and more than from the nearest junction on a road with a speed limit not exceeding Note: This exemption only applies for "a motor vehicle being a goods vehicle the unladen weight of which does not exceed 1525 kg;".s. 24 of The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 and the Highway Code). The conspicuity lights required are "front and rear position lamps" (side and tail lights) plus, for large vehicles, side marker lamps and end-outline marker lamps and, for motor vehicles, rear
number plate A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
lights. Different rules apply to bicycles; RVLR states that "Lights (and reflectors) are required on a pedal cycle only between sunset and sunrise. Lights (and reflectors) are not required when the cycle is stationary or being pushed along the roadside. When they are required, the lights and reflectors listed below must be clean and working properly." Headlights are also required at other times when visibility is restricted, e.g. by
fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...
, rain, snow,
overcast Overcast or overcast weather, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization, is the meteorological condition of clouds obscuring at least 95% of the sky. However, the total cloud cover must not be entirely due to obscuring phenomena near ...
sky or smoke. They should also be used in
tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
s. Streetlights are usually set to come on automatically near the beginning of lighting-up time, although modern lamps monitor the light level and turn on when this gets too low, and so are influenced by weather. They may also be set to switch off automatically when road usage is reduced, often at midnight, although currently most stay on until about the end of lighting-up time. Sunrise and sunset are defined by the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations as local sunrise and sunset so the times are different in different parts of the UK; they are earlier in the east and later in the west, and vary more with the seasons in northerly locations than in southerly locations. Lighting-up times were formerly commonly displayed in national and local newspapers in the UK and announced on national and local radio stations, but the widespread adoption of street lighting has rendered this largely redundant. As a result, most of the previous sources no longer provide them, but may still provide sunrise/sunset times.


See also

*
Civil twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surfac ...
, period when enough natural light remains that artificial light is not needed


References


General


Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations, 1989

Lighting-up time, sunrise/sunset and twilights
at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, United Kingdom

at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh * D. O'Leary, ''When to light up: a pocket treatise on the Lights on vehicles act, 1907 containing a full explanation of the act, with a table showing the lighting-up time'
Published 1908
* D. A. Schreuder, J. Kosterman, Adriana Morris ''Road Lighting for Safety'' Published by Thomas Telford, 1998
Page 231
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighting-Up Time Traffic law Vehicle law Road safety Transport law in the United Kingdom