Dutch streetlights: Dimmed by default
ENEGRY SAVING STREETLIGHTS THAT BRIGHTEN WHEN THEY SEE YOU COMING
The Dutch love their roadside sensors. We at Decision Science News learned this when we got a big fat speeding ticket at the Choice Symposium in Nordwijk last year. Now those clever Dutch have found another way to make the roads safer, streetlights that brighten up when they see you coming, as discussed in this Salon article. It saves electricity and reduces light pollution, sort of a no-brainer now that the technology is there. The smart lights can even detect a bicycle or a pedestrian.
Here’s a video that shows it in action.
With so much emphasis on behavioral nudges, it is nice to remind ourselves that much can be done by leaving behavior alone and making the everyday environment (which is largely artificial anyway) smarter.
Story H/T Adam Alter.
