Forum: LED lighting safer, more energy-efficient

We thank Mr Ng Yee Cheng for his feedback (LED white lights make driving at night a hazard, Sept 26).

As technology improves, there are opportunities for us to adopt more environmentally friendly and cost-effective technologies. Light-emitting diode (LED) street lights are one such example.

LED street lights have been adopted in many countries. They provide top-down directional lighting that helps to disperse light rays uniformly on the roads.

This minimises the scattering of light rays beyond unintended areas, making it safer for road users.

They also reproduce the colours of objects more accurately compared with conventional high pressure sodium lighting, enabling road users to see better at night.

These provisions help to improve road safety for all. In addition, they are more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and reduce maintenance costs in the long term.

The Land Transport Authority's (LTA) LED street lights comply with international standards of illumination, which carry strict requirements on permissible glare levels.

In the automotive sector, manufacturers are increasingly adopting LED lighting for vehicle headlamps because of such benefits.

LTA approves the use of only factory-fitted LED vehicle headlamps that comply with global safety standards and regulations such as those set by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. These standards include requiring an auto-levelling feature to avoid causing unwanted glare and distraction to other road users.

We will continue to monitor developments in this area closely and make adjustments where necessary, to ensure safety for all road users.

Nedumaran Ramasamy

1 Deputy Group Director, Traffic and Road Operations

Land Transport Authority

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