Street lights and other lighting

Roy said:

Velux window, it’s nice to watch the stars on a clear night

You lucky devil. We can see some here but the eerie glare of the nearest city covers a lot. It's a shame for humanity but I remind myself personally that they will always be there as they always have been. Even if we can no longer see them. And they are still visible in certain parts.

Thanks, it’s not her complaining skills, it’s the way she can get very angry, very quickly.

Roy said:

the Xenon headlights on cars are practically blinding.

The glare from those is horrendous for me and I no longer drive at night as a result.

I did try some yellow tinted glasses, which are supposed to be good for reducing glare, but I can't say it made any noticeable difference.

Roy said:

I sent my menopausal wife around to complain, it had been moved by the next day!

You could rent her out as a professional complainer!

I find the led lights on cycles too bright and the Xenon headlights on cars are practically blinding. I did have a neighbour behind our house put a security light on the back of their house, the beam shot straight into our bedroom window, I sent my menopausal wife around to complain, it had been moved by the next day! What’s nice is we live in a village with no street lighting, above our bed is a Velux window, it’s nice to watch the stars on a clear night.

Yes it's worse for me too if I'm already in a hypervigilant state.

I guess it's the sensory shock aspect too, going from dark to light in an instant. Similar to the kind of sensory shock I get from sudden loud noises.

The anxiety spike is what happens to me too and its worse if I'm already in a heightened state. I was out walking of an evening a few weeks back and still had my sunnies on after sunset. They gave the white lights a warm hue which I am more accustomed to.

I hate those security lights too. It's partly the sensory aspect of the dazzling bright light. However I've also noticed another effect they have on me.

If I trigger one while walking outside I get a massive anxiety spike and tend to freeze, like a rabbit in the headlights. I assume it's because I don't like being in the spotlight and anything which draws attention to me.

I have to confess that I had a solar motion detector security light in my garden, mainly so that I could see where I was walking when it was dark. To explain, if I have cause to venture out, I find it easier to access my home via my garden. It's unclear if my light had ever bothered any of my neighbours, but I had done my best to angle it in a way that wouldn't be a nuisance for them.

As it happened, it ended up annoying me. 

If the neighbourhood cats wandered into my garden and set the light off, I would end up panicking, thinking that a human intruder had got into my garden. It was possibly a blessing in disguise when the light ended up getting accidentally broken by some workmen.

Maybe speak to your neighbours. This is what I'm going to do (again) if it continues. Often people are not aware.

They will never make sense to me!

I can relate to your frustration. Although motion detector security lights can offer peace of mind for the people that have them, they can also be an absolute source of irritation for other people.

I feel your pain. I've got three houses on my street who have these giant security lights which come on and off all throughout the night.

So bloody annoying. IMHO there should be a law against the brightness density of some lights, especially on a street and at night. Ridiculous.

I have thought of going over and "disabling" them but apparently that's illegal. I feel like it should be illegal them being allowed to burn my retinas out.

It's back! The security lights are back on from a house down the side and I feel like telling the neighbours to **** off and punching them in the face. Is this a kind of *visual* misphonia. 

Even next door have them coming on at a pretty low level but it still drives me UP THE WALL that I can't sit outside in the darkness. And they come on all of a sudden for no reason. 

Yep and we wonder why our pollinators are declining. It isn't just daytime pollinators which we have.

British researchers have admitted that "environmentally friendly" LED (light-emitting diode) lights are more dangerous to nature than traditional sodium lamps. According to scientists, LED lighting on the streets was a "killer" of insect populations and endangered the ecosystem.

The double vision  !!!!  I had to give up my licence. I carried on for ages even though i was having to close one eye all the time. I knew i shouldn;t have been on the road some days, but i was a raxi driver. So i didn't say anything for as long as i could, but eventually i thought if i have a crash, even a small bump, even if it wasn't my fault, the police would come along, then my insurance would say we're not paying out 'cos you never declared all the facts. Now i wont even go out on my bike if it's sunny 'cos even with sunglasses i'm blinded When i close one eye, usually my left, i can manage.

See i dont mind some bright lights such as at a music concert.

I'm sorry to hear that,  do you have to wear sunglasses or tinted glasses? That must be difficult in the day time on a sunny day.

I've always disliked bright lights  and it's got worse as i've gotten older. I've got Diplopia (double vision). I have to keep closing one eye to make it go away, Even typing here on the keyboard i only use one finger and still i hit the wrong letters and need ro go back and delete. Any sort of bright light makes it worse, even sunshine. I have to walk down the road looking down rather than ahead of me, and i can't recognise people sometimes until they speak,

My neighboyr's security light is back again shining into the house. I asked him a few weeks ago to re-angle it (I was quite charming actually)- he explained he'd had building work done and it must've got moved then. He actually turned it off till it could be re-angled. Ahh peace. It got re-angled (still not great but a compromise). Its since been moved again so its glaring. It's one of the white LED ones. I don't know if he knows it's moved again.

We have blackout curtains as we have a street light out the front and its not great at yhe back either. (I get blinded taking from another house when the bin out). I sometimes use a mask too. It shines in through a side window so it goes into both bedrooms via the gap in the doors (which are mostly closed but we have to keep slightly ajar) and the bathroom (there's blackout blinds in the bathroom but it comes in down the sides).

Getting up for a wee, it's like it's coming light outside. I've gone down to make a brew and its like it's coming light outside. It's well known that blue wavelength light upsets natural circadian rhythms. But then using blackouts means I miss waking up with natural light.

I'm not well at the moment and I feel like it's going to send me over the edge, not to mention how it interrupts my already interrupted sleep. The light gives me anxiety but then I become fixed on it (hence reviving a 3 year old post) and can't ignore it (look! there's a *** of it coming through the blinds!)

Why do people feel the need for security lights anyway?  No one appreciates the darkness of the night. Its an assault on the senses, intrusive and offensive. Not to mention how it confuses the moths and wildlife. Also what good does it actually do in the middle of the night? I'm probably repeating myself here but I'm not reading previous posts. I don't want special treatment because of autism, im sure other people who are not autistic but highly sensitive will agree. It's just another example of how the minority have to adapt to the majority. Ideally I would prefer not to have blackouts and wake up naturally with morning light. Also it's the principle of the matter of both the neighbour and wider society. I just think a lot of people through no fault of their own are ignorant. I mean this in the kindest way possible.

Well done if you got this far.

Yes!! I find the change to LED really disturbing.