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AODENDOM Liability & Safety Analysis vs Fully Shielded Lighting Summary-— As a Board of Managers for the Polo Grounds Condominium, our primary fiduciary and legal responsibility is to protect the residents and insulate our community from liability. Our neighborhood consists of 49 established, 7-7.5-foot-tall lampposts illuminating the common areas, including 20-foot-wide roads with no sidewalks or streetlighting. Our residents- with an average age ranging from 73 to 76- must walk directly on the asphalt at dusk and night to walk dogs or go to a nearby neighbor’s home. While “fully shielded” lighting is highly effective on tall commercial highway poles (25+ feet), enforcing it on low-height residential posts creates an immediate safety hazard by blinding drivers to the presence of pedestrians. 1. Physics of Distance: Why full Shielding Creates Blind Spots By international lighting and dark-sky standards, a fixture is only “fully shielded” if it mechanically blocks light from traveling at flat, horizontal angles (80-90 degrees relative to the post). On atall 25-foot municipal streetlight, blocking these flat angles is safe because the light is meant to project straight down. However, given the height of our lampposts, the math changes completely: e The Current Setup: Our lampposts have a solid top that blocks 100% of skyward light pollution. However, the translucent side panels allow light to travel horizontally. When a resident walks 20 feet +/- away from a lamppost, these horizontal rays strike their body, illuminating their chest, face, clothing, and pets as appropriate. They are highly visible to oncoming vehicles. e The fully Shielded Alternative: if we force these lamppost heads to be fully shielded, the internal barriers will completely chop off those horizontal light paths. At 20 feet +/-, the light will pass entirely beneath a pedestrian’s waist. A driver looking down the road will see the illuminated asphalt, but the actual torso and face of the resident will be cast into deep shadow.