Mary Dejevsky: I've seen the light about dark streets

Notebook

Some local councils are threatening to turn off the street lighting between certain hours, citing, of course, central government "cuts" to their budget. As someone who regards adequate street lighting, along with a decent sewage system, as a measure of civilisation, I'm not exactly overjoyed and half-think they must be scare-mongering. It's not as though lighting in many of our towns and cities is particularly impressive as it is. Oh, I know about the supposed damage from "light pollution", but you do rather need to see where you are going, and who might be walking behind you – and drivers need to be able to see you, too.

A couple of years ago, I was so exercised by the dimness of the lighting between Belgravia and Pimlico – and the fact that private security systems lit up your path as you walked far more effectively than the municipal lamps – that I made representations to Westminster council, who replied that their lighting conformed to EU standards (whatever they are; the lighting seems much brighter to me in most other European capitals).

Since then, the gloom has only intensified as councils have gone in for beautifying the streetscape with "period" lamps that are certainly prettier, but even less effective than their ungainly predecessors. Drivers are no better served either. Returning to London this weekend by car, in the dark and the rain, there were times when I could barely distinguish other traffic, let alone the many dark-clad pedestrians who darted out from the shadows. I'm amazed more people aren't killed on city roads than are.

Which prompts a suggestion. Among the soaraway commercial successes of recent years must be the companies who make "Hi Viz" gear. Where once it was a uniform that signalled public authority or responsibility, now it's the high visibility vest. From police officers to dustmen to traffic wardens, Hi Viz is de rigueur. In many countries on the Continent it is now illegal to drive without a sufficient number of these vests inside the car (not in the boot) for all the passengers to don, in the event of an accident or breakdown in the dark.

So I wonder, given the winter predilection of Britons for dark clothing, why don't we go one better? City councils that deprive people of lighting should compensate by issuing every man, woman and child with a Hi Viz vest and make it an offence not to wear it after dark. In the absence of ID cards, the really rigorous authorities could require you to be identifiable. In Germany recently, I learnt that you can now choose your own personalised car registration plate, so long as it is prefaced by the regional code and so long as no one else already has the same combination. (You have to check on the internet.) Why not do the same with Hi Viz vests? Choose your own – your Facebook name or your email address or your licence plate, it's up to you – and venture boldly forth. Social networking could take on a whole new nocturnal dimension.

No war between the generations, after all

It has become modish to observe, and I'm as guilty here as anyone, that inter-generational warfare is at hand between the haves of the baby-boom generation and their children, who will inherit nothing but care-home bills and debts for nigh-worthless university degrees. David Willetts's book, The Pinch, has a lot to answer for. But I'm not sure this is the whole story. After last week's student demonstration turned ugly, I was struck by the letter Tony Greenstein from Brighton wrote to this newspaper, saying this: "It was with pride that I learnt that my daughter and her fellow students had picked up the baton which we had dropped in the fight to retain the principle of equal access to higher education, irrespective of means."

And this reminded me of an observation I heard after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Why had the authorities refrained from breaking up the encampment in central Kiev by force? Because, I was told, those on the square included the sons and daughters of those in power and those who would be ordered to remove them. This is also seen as one reason why there was such division in the Chinese leadership before they finally gave the go-ahead for the assault on Tiananmen Square, and perhaps why there was such agonising in Iran over the post-electoral opposition Green protests. It's not all about inter-generational conflict; family solidarity is also a force not to be underestimated.

Simplicity makes for happy hubbing

Confession time. Last week, I complained loud and long about the practicalities of changing one's Internet Service Provider; not least, how everything had to be done at the last moment. Well, this is what happened. The box with the wireless "hub" was delivered in the morning, just as I was leaving for work. Halfway through the evening I had a text message to say that the line had been switched. I arrived home around 11pm and decided to have a go at connecting things up. Among other things inside the box, I found – oh bliss – a booklet called "BT Total Broadband Quick Start".

Now there really ought to be one of these for every stage in life. Here were six illustrated steps, rather like an Ikea flat-pack, except written in English that did not seem to have been translated from Swedish via Mandarin and Polish. To give you an idea, Step 1 shows you the contents of your box, labelled; Step 4 tells you how to connect "the broadband cable (grey ends)". That's the sort of technical direction I can handle. What's more, it worked, and it still does! I rewarded myself with a large whisky. Good for the ego, not so good for the health.